Guide to Creating a Website

If your website were a human, would anyone like him (or

her)?

Presented by J.C. Butlerdubizzle.com

Humans have been replaced by websites.

Feelings for websites?

= open, nice & helpful

users =

= rude & confusing

users =

Creating a website is like raising a child.

What qualities do I like in a person? And how can I give my

[website] those qualities?

3 key qualities...

• Open & Friendly

• Simple & Straightforward

• Polite & Helpful

Open & Friendly

Open: Right away you know what the web-site’s about.

Friendly: You quickly go from strangers to buddies.

Open & Friendly

NOT Open & Friendly

Simple & Straightforward

Simple: As in the opposite of complicated.

Straightforward: Focused and passionate about one thing.

Simple & Straightforward

NOT Simple & Straightforward

Polite & Helpful

Polite: Difficult to offend; forgiving when you make a faux pas.

Helpful: A good communicator & helps you out of a rut.

Polite & Helpful

NOT Polite & Helpful

Easy...

Easy right?Wrong!

Every parent thinks their child/website is a "perfect little angel"

Parent Teacher Conference[i.e. USER TESTING]

• ALWAYS find out something you didn't know

• As early as possible

• As often as possible

Example: Google Wave

Discontinued - August, 2010

"...despite these wins, and numerous loyal fans, Wave has not seen the user adoption we

would have liked."

Example: Google WaveWhat went wrong?

• Open & Friendly?

• Polite & Helpful?

No. I've been to Wave a few times & I still don't feel like we're friends.

No. I'm still not sure I understand exactly what Wave does.

• Simple & Straightforward?

Yes. It's very polite to the user, and makes tutorial help easy to find.

Example: Google WaveHow user testing could have helped

More quotes from Google:• "Google Wave has taught us a lot..."• "We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone

product, but we will [...] extend the technology for use in other Google projects."

What was learned?• Most users prefer to further their education rather than change

their major.

Example 2: Dubizzle, latest release.

Example 2: Dubizzle, latest release.Reaction?

• Hate mail. Lots of it.

• Open & Friendly? No.

• Simple & Straightforward? No.

• Polite & Helpful? Not really.

Example 2: Dubizzle, latest release.Tests, tests and more tests...

Moral:"It takes a village to raise a child."

• Your website is your child. Your users are your village - use them.

• Children don't have the luxury of private alpha. Websites do.