| What is Usability ? |
What is Usability ?Website usability is a measure of how easy it is for visitors to reach the goals of the site.Normally the goals of both the site owner and visitors are the same, so that a site can be tuned to function efficiently for the benefit of all. However, it is not easy for the owner to see things from the visitors' point of view, and, especially, it is not common for website builders to prioritise for easy visitor interaction. The First Stage of Good Usability A new website visitor may come to the site deliberately seeking the resources the site offers; or, during a search for similar resources; or by accident. In any event they should find the following to be true as soon as they land on the site's front page:
This is the first stage of successful usability management for a website. You can see that it depends on certain things being immediately obvious, and though one or two of these factors also depend on another important factor, credibility, the visitor must be shown that (a) they are in the right place, and (b) exactly what they can do next. The Second Stage of Good Usability The second stage is that steps taken by the visitor should proceed smoothly. If a desired objective is seen, then reaching that objective must be easy. Options should be presented that accord with the visitor's likely objectives, together with other options that may be of interest. The path to these goals must be quick, and easily traversed. The Third Stage of Good Usability The third stage is achieving the goal and leaving the site as a satisfied customer. Whatever the original goal of the visitor, the site should try to satisfy it or at least present an attractive alternative, or a series of options that should work well as alternatives. The visitor may have no concete aim, in which case they can be presented with options that may fulfil a need or be of interest. The pinnacle of good usability is when a visitor notices nothing at all about the site, but achieves their goal and leaves with a feeling of speed and success. From the perspective of the site owner, if a visitor is converted to a customer - especially if they did not come directly to the site as a motivated purchaser - then the site has succeeded. It is also worth remembering that most purchases, sign-ups, or orders - collectively known as conversions - do not take place on the first visit. Business is most often concluded on a subsequent visit. This means that a likeable site is even more important, as you must persuade the visitor to return, and to sign up on their next visit. Ecommerce website usabilityThese direct-sales sites were notoriously visitor-unfriendly in the past, and many still are. This is because of the complex coding required, and the many stages a prospective buyer must pass through in order to buy.There has been much progress here, though, in areas such as single-page checkouts, and buying without an account. It is important to choose an ecommerce application on its merits - and among its most important merits are usability. If your online store succeeds, then you might receive the ultimate accolade from a customer: "Your store is so much easier to use than the others". This testimonial is probably the hardest to achieve of all. How is good website usability achieved ?There are many individual points to work on. Always keep in mind the 3 Stages outlined above - these provide the basic outline for your task. Here are some of the items you can look at:
Finally - remember that just about every other factor on a website - and frequently the motivations of owner, site builder, and developers - all impact usability, more often than not in a negative way. If you give in to these pressures then visitor usability suffers and so will your bottom line. |