eTapestry

One of the most important things to think about when creating any application is usability. The phrase “form follows function” has been used for years to describe how important it is to have your application function over all else. This does not mean you cannot be as creative as you want with a website’s design. However, it does mean the design should not make the application harder to use by the average person.

What exactly is usability?

Usability is about making something that works well and is easy enough for someone with little to no experience to use it for the intended purpose. There are many aspect of usability. After a great deal of research and doing my own user testing, I have learned a few things about what people do and expect from a web page. Here are some of the things I discovered while researching this subject:

Web applications should be self explanatory. The person viewing your website should know within seconds what they are looking at and what actions they can take.

Don’t make the website visitor think. People do not like mysteries when visiting a website. They get frustrated when they have to do a great deal of guess work. This does not mean they will automatically leave your website, because many people will deal with their frustrations. However, it may keep the user from coming back. They should not have to ask themselves questions such as “Is this clickable?” or “Is that a button?” or “Where did they put the __?” A website should be intuitive.

Don’t waste their time. Website visitors are motivated by the desire to save time. Generally, the users tend to scan web pages instead of reading them. They look through the content and pull out parts that match their interests or task at hand. Everything else is considered irrelevant and gets disregarded.

Users use the back button often. The back button is the most used feature of the web browser. It is the main safety net used to rectify a mistake, such as clicking on the wrong link.

There should be a clear visual hierarchy. To create a clear visual hierarchy make more important things, more prominent; make logically related elements, visually related; and make nested items visually appear as parts of a bigger element.

People are creatures of habit. When they find something that works, they tend to stick with it and not to look for a better way. They will use a better way if they stumble across one, but they seldom look for one.

People form mental site-maps. When people return to something on a website, instead of relying on a physical sense of the location, they have to remember where it is in the conceptual hierarchy and retrace their steps.

Make it easy to get to the home page. Having a home button in sight at all times, offers reassurance to the website visitor. People like knowing that no matter how lost they get, they can always start over.

These are just a few things for web designers to keep in mind when creating a web application. For more information about usability, here are a few enjoyable reads about the topic:

Don’t Make Me Think – Steve Krug
Prioritizing Web Usability – Jakob Nielson and Hoa Loranger
Designing for Interaction – Dan Saffer