Making sure your website works Usability and Common Sense!
Posted on 24 May 2009
Usability is not an exact science. Nor is it a magic formula that can be applied in minutes to transform your website into a money making machine, sending conversion rates through the roof. It is, as Steve Krug writes, "a matter of common sense". Observing this basic common sense approach can ensure your site is communicating its purpose effectively.
The following steps should be considered when designing any type of website, they ring true especially when putting together an e-commerce solution or online shop. In this article, you will learn that common sense really can go a long way!
Page structure stick to what people know
Users visiting an online shop will expect a certain degree of familiarity with shops they have visited before. It may be tempting to let your brand run riot all over the page and to 'break out of the box' with weird and wonderful layouts, but if your time poor customers are spending longer trying to work out what's going on than they are buying your products, chances are they won't be returning!
Use icons as design metaphors
Users relate well to objects they recognise in the real world. This can be observed in interface design by the use of icons. Icons provide quick, universally understood labels on page elements. The 'Shopping Cart' icon is a great example, and has become a widely used tool of e-commerce sites, pointing users to the area of the site where 'the business is done'.
Consistency
Whether it is colours and styles of buttons, page layout or tone of voice in your copy, close attention to consistency will ensure your site is easy to use whilst building trust amongst your users. If for example, your nice bright 'shopping basket' button leads users onto a page headed 'shopping cart', something is not right and your users will notice.
Know your users
It is important to identify the demographics of your target audience and to make design decisions to suit. Don't risk alienating your users with functionality they wont use or understand know your customers and anticipate what they will use and how they will use it.
Simple and clear goals
When buying something online users often have a clear purpose in mind. They want to find and buy what they are looking for as quickly and easily as possible. There should always be a clear path from search, to selection, to purchase. This should be the primary function of an e-commerce store, as it is what's going to make you sales. Acknowledge areas of your site that may distract form this path, and reconsider their prominence.
Keeping the common sense approach in mind will go a long way towards ensuring your site is serving its purpose and will help to keep those dreaded exit rates down.
This blog entry was written by Zaf.
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