The paper is almost two years old so forgive me if you've read it. Like I said it was new to me and whether you've read it or not I think it's worthy of discussion. It might seem obvious in a user centered approach that you find out from users what they want and then give it to them. But is asking users and giving them all the foucs really the best approach?
Yes, you should work to create a site for your users. In fact if your users aren't a central concern when developing your site you may as well not bother developing that site. The question is how much should what your users say they want be at the center of your design.
People's words and actions aren't always inline with each other. We all know people who insist they want something, but when they get it they hardly ever use it. The same thing can happen when asking users what they want from your site. It's quite possible they'll tell you one thing while really wanting something else. Or they may think they prefer something when in fact that something makes the site harder to use.
The Constantine paper talks about taking user centered design to the next level and calls it user performance design. Instead of focusing on what our users want we should instead focus on what makes their tasks easier.
Instead of focusing on user experience we should focus on user performance. I don't want to give up on providing a good experience to visitors of my site, but I agree that it's improving their performance on the site that's most important. And improving how well people can interact with your site will improve their experience.
Recently I've been involved in a small business forum thread where the thread starter urged people not to ask for reviews of their website. The conversation is really about something different than what I'm discussing here, but should you trust what people say about reviews of your site.
Asking your target market what they think of your site can yield valuable market data, but how much should you trust it. If you target audience prefers a certain color for instance does that mean you can't use any other colors? What if your users say they like websites that are heavy on images and Flash. Should you ignore the fact that it will slow the site down, possibly to the point where your visitors won't wait around for the Flash they wanted to load?
One of the other ideas in the Constantine paper was that focusing too much on what users say they want can stifle innovation. I think this is a very important point. Usability often goes hand in hand with convention and with good reason.
If visitors to your site are used to seeing navigation at the top of the page or along the left side then placing your navigation there will make it quicker for them to find it. But it shouldn't stop you from placing your navigation on the right side of the page. Many blog templates have done this and now it's probably safe to consider right side navigation as part of convention as well. At one time, though, conventional wisdom would have said not to place your navigation on the right side.
I'll admit I'm generally one that believes following convention leads to more usuable designs. As people grow accustomed to a certain interface their ease of use when interacting with a similar interface becomes intuitive. In truth it should be just as easy to drive on the right or left side of the road, but outside of a couple of places most of us drive on the right side.
Reversing things makes it more difficult when we first encounter the new way, but again it's not really any harder. Just different until we get used to it. The same is true for any interface. People get used to doing things a certain way and offering them the same way of doing things on your site should in theory make it more usable.
But the best ideas are often those that break with convention and are different from what most users would say works best for them. Some of the most successful sites are successful due to their originality. They broke with what had come before and found a new way of doing something. Placing too much emphasis on what your users say about your site can hinder original ideas and thoughts.
I want to make it clear that I believe in a user centered approach to design. Every decision you make about your design should be made because it includes the people who visit and use your site in the discussion. But just as you don't want to be a slave to convention you don't necessarily want to do everything that your customers would say they want you to do. Ask them what they want and place a lot of weight on their opinions, but keep in mind that sometimes what they say they want isn't really what they need or what will make your site most usable to them.
Place the emphasis on what users do when interactng with your site and be willing to use your own judgement about when to break away from the tried and true. Know that you take a risk whenever you do break with convention, but many successful designs are successful, because they found a way to break with that convention in a way that was more usuable than what had come before.
Improving usability means improving performance. Often your visitors will be able to tell you what would help improve their performance with your site, but sometimes they won't. Pay more attention to what they do when interacting with yoru site than what they say they want to do.
]]>One of the best ways to market a business has always been to network with others. Many businesses rely on word of mouth advertising to gain new clients and customers in the offline world. Online the same basic idea of networking can also prove valuable to new and existing businesses.
]]>One of the best ways to market a business has always been to network with others. Many businesses rely on word of mouth advertising to gain new clients and customers in the offline world. Online the same basic idea of networking can also prove valuable to new and existing businesses.
The web is one very large social network offering you a chance to connect with like minded individuals as well as potential customers. Within the web as a whole are many types of social networks. Some examples of social networks are:
These are by no means the only examples of social networks on the web. Even the wikipedia linked above is an example of a social network. I'll focus my thoughts on forums, but this discussion will apply to any social networking site.
The most important thing to understand when trying to benefit from a social network is that you don't want to actively market yourself. Many people make the mistake of joining a forum and starting a few threads talking about the wonders of their products or services. Actively promoting yourself like this doesn't work.
The only way to successfully market yourself through any community is to become part of the community. All communities have a way to tell when someone is motivated only to help themselves. Communities want to see you motivated to improve the community. Anything else and the community will soon turn against you and you can do more harm to your business than good.
So what's the best way to participate in the community? It's definitely not about comment spamming in posts to forums and blogs. Some ways you should participate include:
Each of the above involves being active in the community. The reason becoming part of the network is successful is because people are much more likely to help someone they know than someone they don't. They are much more likely to buy from someone they trust than someone they don't trust. Participating lets others get to know and trust you.
It's ok to add links back to your site under certain conditions. If the forum allows it you should add a link or several links to your site in your forum signature. Some won't let you add a link, but many do. Most people will visit your site through your forum signature. You don't need to point it out to them The know it's there and if you truly become part of the community they will visit through your signature link.
In general you want to be careful adding other links to yourself in your posts.When it's appropriate it's fine to do so, but try not to make them too self serving. If someone asks a question and you've written an article that answers their question link to it. Do mention that the link takes them to your site. They're going to figure it out anyway so best to be honest.
Before adding links to your signature or in posts check the forum rules to see what is and isn't allowed.
Most forums will provide a page or more of rules. You always want to read through the rules to understand what is and isn't allowed in any social network. Most forums will give you a second chance if you break the rules without meaning to, but some may not. In some communities you only get one chance to make an impression.
Beyond the written rules of the forum it's also a good idea to read through some of the threads before posting yourself. It may be allowed to add a link to your site in a post, but the forum members may turn against anyone who does. Spending time reading through a forum will teach you the unwritten rules, which may be even more important to know than the written rules.
A typical rule is that one of your first posts should be to introduce yourself. Every forum I've ever seen has a section for new members to introduce themselves and this is usually one place where you can talk about your business and link back to your site. Don't go overboard talking to yourself, but mentioning something about yourself in your introduction is usually encouraged.
Most people naturally think to join forums that are related to their industry and it's certainly a good idea to join these communities. Forums on topics related to yours can provide useful allies in marketing your site. Your best bet in finding link partners is in related industries. People within your field are more able to send targeted traffic your way. You can also learn quite a bit from others who know about your subject.
Another kind of forum to join, however, is one where potential customers and clients spend their time. Industry related forums can prove to be an excellent source of information and like minded people, but they are unlikely to buy your products of make use of your services. By finding forums where your customers spend their time you can set yourself up as an expert on your topic and prove to others that it would be in their interest to do business with you.
In the end it's all about giving to the community. The more you give the more you are likely to get back. If you come into a forum and promote yourself you'll likely lose that community now and forever. Whatever your business there is probably already another forum member in the same industry and all you do by actively promoting yourself is send more people to those other members.
It can take time before you gain customers, but if you truly join the community and help to make the forum a better place people will start to visit your site. Join forums related to your industry if you're looking to build relationships for thing like links and join forums where you think potential customers spend their if you want more customers. Both types of forums can be valuable ways to market yourself and your business.
]]>While design certainly takes aesthetics into account it is just as concerned with the functionality of the thing being designed. From the Wikipedia:
]]>While design certainly takes aesthetics into account it is just as concerned with the functionality of the thing being designed. From the Wikipedia:
Designing normally requires considering aesthetic, functional, and many other aspects of an object, which usually requires considerable research, thought, modeling, interactive adjustment, and re-design.
It's the 'functional and many other aspects' that are often overlooked as being part of design, but in many cases they are more important than the aesthetic considerations. How a thing looks is important, but if it doesn't function well it won't matter how beautiful it is.
When it comes to web design what are the other aspects that make for a successful design beside the overall look of the site? Some concerns beyond aesthetics would include:
I don't want to imply that the look of your site isn't important. First impressions do count in how your site is perceived and can make a difference in whether or not people stay on your site. On the other hand there are some who argue that an ugly site can actually convert better.
With the exception of industries like art, fashion, and perhaps even design, a beautiful site is not really necessary. Desired maybe, but necessary no. For most sites all that's really needed to is to remain above a certain line of professionalism, a line above which your site is clearly no longer considered amateur. Usually follow a few basic design principles will be enough to give your site that professionalism.
Much more than the way your site looks goes into the design process. While it's easy to think of aesthetics as design it's very far from the truth. Web design includes many other aspects including how well your site functions, how accessible it is to a variety of devices, and how well it converts.
When considering someone to design your site it's important to look past the obvious 'wow' your design can give you and look into how well they can create a site that effectively communicates your message and effectively helps increase your bottom line.
Read more about the topic:
]]>