Simplicity is priceless
- Article 34 of 77
- Information Age, April 2002
Designing web sites that are simpler and easier to use may produce more benefits than adding more powerful technologies. So how can companies put in place the processes to give web users what they really want?
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Nielsen warns, however, that it is important to get an outside perspective on site design. “Cultural differences can apply inside and outside the company, and can be even greater than that between different countries.” There is a methodology for overcoming that difference, he says. “You do studies to get an outsider's perspective.”
Dealing with devices
The importance of usability issues looks set to grow and grow as accessing web sites on the move becomes more common. For example, Nielsen says that many sales people are now accessing corporate intranets via personal digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile computers. Over time, many consumers are also expected to access web sites via their mobile phones.
Simplicity and ease-of-use when connecting to a web site or intranet via a PDA or mobile will be paramount, says Nielsen. The systems will not be used if they do not deliver exactly what people want and make it ease to use, he warns. “With the web, people leave if it doesn't work. That's true even more with mobile. You live and die by the quality of the user interface. There's a lot to make different because the environment is so different.” Developers have to consider different modes of user input, screen sizes, the speed of various devices, and so on.
CTP's Guidroz says the most important point to keep in mind is that, when dealing with devices with small screens, such as PDAs and mobile phones, you have to limit the amount of information that you deliver. “A lot of people go into the channel [device] area without knowing what it can handle. Companies need to do a content audit, then decide what is appropriate for different devices. Sometimes it's hard to tell someone they can't put their entire corporate mission statement on a handheld because of the size of the display. So you have to show them what they can have, then work through what they can't.”
That type of audit, in common with Nielsen's iterative testing, needs to be done regularly – at least twice a year for intranets, monthly for public web sites.
The problem for many companies is deciding who should pay for changes to web site and intranet design in order to deliver usability benefits. “It's not going to be on the bottom line of the department that provides the usability,” argues Nielsen. “People won't consider doing it if it's not in their own interest. They don't think about the overall saving.”
So while improving usability may be a self-funding goal that will increase site 'stickiness' and intranet use, it will take company boards or a gracious IT department to bring such benefits to existing systems.
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