5 NEW Common Sense User Experience Rules of Thumb
Do you care whether your website visitors have an enjoyable experience? ...well, you should care. But how can you make their experience better? And why does it matter?
Web users only spend a few seconds on your site before they decide it's worthwhile. Is it easy for your visitors to find what they want, or do they have to READ your entire site before they find it? Here are 5 NEW Rules of Thumb I'd like to offer:1.Don't bother with useless FLASH introductions
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE FLASH. However, a number of sites use it for the wrong reason. The vast majority of users don't care about your $5,000 FLASH intro... if your users are going to be "wowed" by your site, wow them with your site layout, design, colors, ease-of-use, or beautiful images. Flash menus are excellent. Flash-based videos (that your users can CHOOSE to watch) are excellent. Flash intros are a waste of time and money FLASH should only be used to aid you in making a smooth, aesthetically-pleasing experience. ("T-Mobile.com" has done a pretty fantastic job with their new layout. It's all done in Flash) . ***I don't believe I have EVER sat through an entire Flash intro. I only ever think: "Where's the "Skip Intro" button!!?"
2. Use 75% MORE IMAGES than Text on your "front-facing" and "product" pages
When your visitors first visit your Site, or your Products page, they aren't going to read the beautiful web copy you spent days and days to write; they're simply going to LOOK for what your company/product/site does. The key question is this: If all of your WEB COPY was removed from your site, would visitors still be able to get a general idea about what you offer?...Ok, maybe this isn't always possible. However, take a look at Apple's new iPad features page...(http://www.apple.com/ipad/features/)... how many images do you count? (I count 17). If you just scrolled down the page, would you be able to give an overview as to what the iPad offers in features?
3. Always add TEXT links next to IMAGE links.
Do you have an image that links to another page? (This doesn't include the navigation bar, necessarily) Well, treat your website like you would a classroom; there are "Visual" learners, there are "Read The Directions" learners. Not everyone looks at things the same way. Some visitors know what image links are as soon as they see them. Some don't. Some visitors always need "hints". (i.e. "Go to Portfolio" next to a "Portfolio" image) Give 'em both! ***(Personally, I nearly always click on the IMAGES themselves.)
4. Don't point a "FIREHOSE" OF INFORMATION at your users
Does your product have 5000 features? Who cares? Ok, maybe there are some who will care... but don't offer all that information up front. Most visitors to your site only want to know the basics. If I'm interested in buying a bike online, do I want to know the name of the manufacturer in China? Maybe, but allow me to CHOOSE to view that information. The majority of your visitors are not interested in knowing EVERYTHING. They only want to know what is needful. Many product sites (take Best Buy, Wal-Mart, etc) will offer you all the information you need, but they don't put it up in your face... it's easily accessible, but if all you want to know is the price and color, that's all you see at first glance.
5. Don't make your website ONE SOLID COLOR
Have mercy on people's eyes! IF IT WOULDN'T LOOK GOOD IN A MAGAZINE, IT DOESN'T LOOK GOOD ON THE WEB! Get some advice from a friend who has experience in color theory. Don't just throw your site up in DARK BLUE or DARK GREEN because "it looks cool". Chances are, if you don't have a professional choosing your site's colors, it's going to look like a 4th Grader's Art Project. There are some excellent resources on the web for finding good complementary colors, color contrasts, etc. (http://www.colorsontheweb.com/ is a good one) When all else fails, if you can't think of any good color combinations, just use more white space.
