Document View

Good Web site design, while made up of many attributes, both technical and aesthetic, is actually based on a few core concepts. Concepts that, when carefully blended together in a holistic way, can yield tremendous results. Well-designed sites make the end user the primary focus from concept to launch and beyond. Most users appreciate designs that require minimal effort to use. Sites that have "ease of use" provide users with what they need with minimal clicks and minimal overhead-technical or mental. Extraneous content, whether words or graphics, does little more than confuse users who must expend the time and energy to identify which information or path is important to completing their goal. Well-designed Web sites provide users with a sense of where they are on the site, where they can go, and how they can get back to where they've been.

Designing an effective Web site can sometimes be overwhelming. After all, good design is actually the combination of many elements-the content users read, the colors and graphics they see, and the navigation they follow. Something as seemingly insignificant as the site's font can-and does-impact the overall design.

Good design, while made up of many attributes, both technical and aesthetic, is actually based on a few core concepts. Concepts that, when carefully blended together in a holistic way, can yield tremendous results. Best of all, these core concepts really don't require you to be a graphic artist, or even a high-end developer. You are likely already very familiar with them, since they are based on our own human desires for simplicity, consistency, awareness, recognition, and expectancy. Good design, at its very core, exploits all of these human needs.

IT'S all ABOUT THEM

Well-designed sites make the end user the primary focus from concept to launch and beyond. This open dialogue between designer and user is critical to managing a successful site and making sure that it evolves as user needs change. The relationship between designer (or Web team) and user begins right at the start, by outlining the objectives of your Web site: What do you want users to do when they visit your site? Your objectives should ultimately align with the needs of the users and in doing so support the behavior you hope they'll exhibit when on the site. Establishing clear site objectives prior to development provides the necessary foundation from which specific design elements can be identified.

Some of these design elements are general and should be expected from any site that is well designed, regardless of the site's overall objectives. Clearly visible and consistent navigational aids come to mind. Other design elements are specific to your audience and should match their interests and expectations. This is where knowing your user really counts. Elements such as how information is structured-labeling of key navigational paths, options available to search the site, and the types of transactions-require knowledge of your audience for effective design. Each should match your users' mental model as to how information should be structured with regards to layout of the text and the actual language used to convey the information. For instance, a physician looking for a clinical trial for a patient would likely have a different idea of how that information would be searched and structured than would a healthcare consumer looking for the same information. Knowing your end user helps the site be high-value.

MAXIMIZE RETURN WITH MINIMAL EFFORT

Most users appreciate designs that require minimal effort to use. Sites that have "ease of use" provide users with what they need with minimal clicks and minimal overhead-technical or mental. If all of the user's concentration is required to navigate or use the site, the experience may be of low value for the effort (not to mention exhausting). Amazon.com, for example, provides ease of use by pulling together a variety of useful bits of information that relate to a product triggered by a very simple search. Search for a book and you will see a reproduction of the cover, a table of contents, reviews, a physical description, and suggestions for additional books to read/buy. Click on the author and other books written by that person appear. Minimal effort also means providing critical tasks with as few clicks as possible, either by bringing these core areas closer to the top of the site and/or providing quick navigation to these key areas. These are often referred to as critical paths-paths that are essential for any user to interact with the site.

Time is another dimension to consider. Just as a good design allows users to navigate to needed information or capabilities on the site with minimal clicks, it also minimizes wait times along the way. Knowing where to integrate the most useful "shortcuts" will support the user's need for quick access to key areas, thereby increasing the site's overall ease of use.

DON'T CHANGE THE CHANNEL

Good design avoids mixing channels in a way that burdens the user. A Web site that provides users with a great PDF form to fill out on the Web, then requires them to print it out and physically mail it breaks the 24/7 self-serve model that we all appreciate.

In a way, the Web's immediate response meets some of our very human desires for instant gratification. We feel a little betrayed when the hope for a quick result within a model of self-reliance is broken midway through an interaction. Providing customer support via phone or chat can be an aid to Web transactions, as long as a minimal percentage of Web transactions require this type of cross-channel support just to complete the transaction.

KEEP IT SIMPLE AND CONSISTENT

I dislike sites that make me feel as though I'm walking between the tents of a carnival and the carnival barkers are vying for my attention, "Look here! No, look over here!" My reaction is to move as quickly as possible out of the chaos. Some of the very best sites are also the most simplistic. They avoid overwhelming the user with too many choices. Instead, they actually guide and focus the user on the task at hand. Extraneous content, whether words or graphics, does little more than confuse users who must expend the time and energy to identify which information or path is important to completing their goal. It's analogous to trying to focus on a single conversation within a crowded room when many people are talking. After a while, you just hear noise and cannot distinguish between one conversation and another.

The simplicity principle also protects users from information overload by providing exactly what they need, when they need it. Providing information "just in time" works well when designing the user interface: It is based on providing only minimally what is required to support or complete a task. Remember, less is more, and this is certainly the mantra you should remember for Web site design. Hypertexting, especially on Web sites where the information is well structured, allows users to decide for themselves what level of detail they need.

While simplicity meets the user's need for keeping focused in a nonlinear world, consistency helps define the boundaries or the scope of the Web site and what it offers. Web site consistency generally tends to be more tangible, as it is often something we can actually see. All of us draw comfort from consistency. We like to know what to expect. Consistency is packaged in many ways, from the actual template we use to present our content, the language we use to speak to our users, the navigation we provide for users to follow, and the actual placement of key elements from page to page. When Web sites are consistent with regards to how the site's offerings are packaged and displayed, the result is a more cohesive experience regardless of where the user may browse on your site.

HELPING USERS FIND THEIR WAY

"You are HERE." It's a phrase we see so often whether standing in the lobby of a large office complex or getting ready to catch the train. Humans have an innate need to know where they are, to feel oriented. The metaphors for orientation on Web sites all seem to be about avoiding that feeling of being lost. We talk about a trail of bread-crumbs, about navigation. We each have an inner Hansel and Gretel afraid of being lost in a dark forest. Being orientated on the Web is not as simple as marking your place in a book. That's a linear stream of text rather than the nonlinear architecture of Web pages. Even on the Web, however, it is possible to show users where they are.

Well-designed Web sites provide users with this sense of where they are on the site, where they can go, and how they can get back to where they've been. Sites allow the user to move from general to specific. Moving users through a hierarchy of information is a lot like walking between shelves in the stacks of a physical library, locating "like" topics together to facilitate browsing and location. In truth, the size and scope of Amazon.com would be incomprehensible and intimidating if it didn't provide orientation cues to users, letting them know where they are, where they've been, and where they can go. The sheer size of this site relies heavily on orienting the user with the use of breadcrumbs and other aids to facilitate user orientation. Even though understanding "where you are" may not be as tangible as standing in the train station or marking your place in a book, similar cues can and should be provided on the Web.

MANAGING USER EXPECTATIONS

On the Web, it's hard for users to know what they can expect as they move from page to page. Every button they push, every hyperlink they click triggers an expectation that may or may not be met. Well-designed sites take the guesswork out of navigating by providing cues or associated feedback before the user takes an action. In some instances, these cues are little more than hints to help the user through an activity, such as correctly formatting the data requested via an online form or prompting a user through a multi-step transaction.

Anticipating a user's needs is the hard work of the designer, who must constantly stay one step ahead of the user. But keeping an open and active dialogue with your users can mitigate this hard work by involving them in comprehensive user testing each time a new capability or service area is launched. Users generally don't like surprises, especially those that waste their time. They don't want to click on a link only to find the file takes 5 minutes to load. Courtesy cues, even minor hints such as file sizes, go a long way towards making your site more efficient to navigate.

HOW'S MY DRIVING?

Well-designed sites continually gather feedback from their users and facilitate this exchange from anywhere on the site. The familiar "feedback" label on a Web site is analogous to the bumper sticker on some trucks that says "How's my driving: Call 1-800...." This constant "ear to the ground" does two things. It offers an open channel to users from which significant knowledge can be gained regarding where the site may or may not be hitting its mark. It also sends a strong message to users that their input is valued. Asking for and responding to user input is the key to establishing loyal customers who in turn will be repeat visitors. This open communication channel is at the heart of any customer relationship management effort regardless of the vehicle used to serve customers.

Understanding good design is a lot like the Web itself-there's always more to learn. However, thinking of the entire palate of resources-colors, graphics-available when designing a site can be overwhelming. Defining your site's objectives based on user requirements and matching those objectives to these design concepts is analogous to creating a sketch before you actually paint the picture. It's why so many Web designers start first with a prototype on paper before one line of code is ever written. Remember the fundamentals- simplicity, consistency, awareness, recognition, and expectancy-and good design will follow.

Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400%