Optimize for the User Experience Part 1
As the web has evolved, it has gotten increasingly more complex to manage. We tend to get inundated with the technical minutia of things like search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click campaigns, animation, graphic design, HTML, CSS, and the list goes on and on. Unfortunately in our efforts to try to optimize for all of these technical elements we sometimes lose sight of the ultimate goal of our site. Ultimately our websites are meant to provide the user with an experience that will lead them to take some form of action. With that thought in mind, here are a few simple ways to optimize for the user experience without losing your ability to optimize the technical components of your site.
Tip 1: Standardize Your Tasks
According to a government-based usability report titled Research-Based Web Design and Usability Guidelines, users will learn certain sequences of behaviors and perform best when they can be reliably repeated. For example, users will become accustomed to looking at certain areas of your site for specific information.
While this seems fairly straightforward, it is one of the most common mistakes we find on a website. Here are some examples of how these consistencies can break down:
● Links appear different in different areas of a page, causing the user to become confused as to what is and is not clickable on a page.
● Navigation areas change locations when going from one area of a site to another
● Different forms throughout the site use different terminology and sequences to request the same general information
Look for parts 2 and 3 in upcoming blog posts!
Photo by bizaims.com
