007 - Usability Geek - Why Website Usability is Important for a Company

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

  • 8/3/2019 007 - Usability Geek - Why Website Usability is Important for a Company

    1/3

    usabilitygeek.com http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-im portant-for-a-compan/

    Why Web Site Usability is Important for a Company

    By Justin Mifsud / Posted in Practical / Published July 18, 2011

    On the World Wide Web, a companys web site is the only point of contact that a company has with anyonewho is interested in it. Thus, companies entirely rely on their web presence in order to achieve their onlinegoals, be they commercial or otherwise. This scenario, viewed from an alternative perspective means thatthe user of a companys web site will formulate a judgement about that company that is strongly correlatedwith the way they perceive its web site. If a companys web site is usable, then it is very likely that a user willachieve his or her goal for using it. This, in turn, will be an active contribution that will help that companytowards achieving its own goals. Now, take this successful scenario in view of the circa 2,100 million internetusers [1], and well, you can realize why web site usability is essential for any company with a web presence.

    A company typically sets its usability goals through a combination of user profiling, analysis of the main tasksand general business goals. These may be coupled with additional information such as marketinginformation, competitive analysis, technical support groups and informed opinions [2]. Due to the diversity ofsuch sources, a substantial list of goals is produced. The company then needs to qualitatively andquantitatively specify these goals and then prioritize them so as to determine its usability goals. The latter isthe the minimum set of high priority goals that need to be implemented in order for the company to reach therequired user performance and satisfaction criteria [2]. The degree to which the companys web site is

    successful then depends on whether its user interface balances between the companys usability goals andthose of its users [3]. Not surprisingly, this may sometimes be a very tough endeavor, especially since somemarketing practices (such as the definition of the groups that a web site is targeting as well as the companysgoals themselves), may be in conflict with usability aspects of that same web site [4].

    So, what makes a companys web site usable?

    Although the answer to this question largely depends on the nature of the web site and the companys goals,it is generally acknowledged that web sites which provide the user with useful, well organised, navigableinformation in a well-structured layout are likely to retain users who access them and also generate repeatvisitors [5][6]. Still, these general assumptions may be subject of debate. For example, the popular, yetunofficial three-click rule that aims to guide web site content and navigation, states that any information in a

    web site should be reachable within three clicks or less. Some authors such as Zeldman [7] support thereasoning behind the three-click rule since they claim that it is based on the same way that people think.Thus, adhering to it helps in developing intuitive, logical and well-structured web sites. Despite of this,authors such as Nielsen and Loranger[8] claim that during their tests, the usersability to locate products inan e-commerce web site increased by 600% following the alteration of the design in such a way that it wasreachable by four clicks instead of three. Thus, they concluded that adherence to the three click rule

    http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-8http://usabilitygeek.com/author/usab8904/http://usabilitygeek.com/category/practical/http://www.usabilitygeek.com/http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-8http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-7http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-6http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-5http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-4http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-3http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-2http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-2http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-1http://usabilitygeek.com/category/practical/http://usabilitygeek.com/author/usab8904/http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/
  • 8/3/2019 007 - Usability Geek - Why Website Usability is Important for a Company

    2/3

    typically results in an obscure and overloaded navigation as designers try to make everything reachablewithin three clicks, often causing more trouble in choosing which link to click than having the users gothrough an extra, yet more intuitive click [8].

    According to Nielsen and Loranger[8], the three most important characteristics that distinguish a usable website are simplicity, naturalness and ease of use. When good usability is implemented in conjunction with goodweb design characteristics, especially visual attractiveness, it results in a web site that positively affects userbehaviour and the trust that a user has in the company to whom the web site belongs [9]. This trust is alsoaffected by the users perceived usability, that is, the perception that the user has about the usability of a

    web site before he/she actually makes use of it, although this measure has been found to be stronglycorrelated with actual web site usability [9].

    What is the effect of a usable web site?

    Researchers such as Safavi [10] have proven that web sites having a user friendly design and an easy-to-use interface increase user satisfaction. At the opposite end of the spectrum, researchers such as Monteroet al. [11] have illustrated how web sites which violate usability conventions confuse users and result in aloss of revenue for the companies behind them. Research also shows that the importance of web siteusability increases in relation to the competition that exists within the environment that that web site isoperating in. Thus, a web site operating in the very competitive e-commerce environment is more likely tolose a potential customer due to poor usability (often to a competing web site) [12] rather than a web site

    that operates in a less competitive environment such as information provision. Surprisingly, this can happeneven if that site contains the information, product or service that that user is looking for [13].

    In conclusion, I can find no better quote than Jakob Nielsens famous phrase that on the web the userexperiences usability first and pays later [14], meaning that users are always at a click away from leaving aweb site they are in if they do not find it usable.

    Referenced Work

    1. Internet World Stats, 2011. World Internet Usage and Population Statistics.[Online] Available at:http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

    2. Breuer, H., 2003. Website usability or the WWW as practice. In First Latin American Web Congress

    LA-WEB03. Santiago, Chile, 2003.

    3. Blanger, F. et al., 2006. Web site success metrics: addressing the duality of goals. Communicationsof the ACM, 49(12), pp.114-16.

    4. Tiedtke, T., Mrtin, C. & Gerth, N., 2002. AWUSA a tool for automated website usability analysis. InPreProceedings of the 9th International Workshop on Design, Specification, and Verification ofInteractive Systems DSV-IS2002., 2002.

    5. Matera, M., Rizzo, F. & Toffetti Carughi, G., 2006. Web usability: principles and evaluation methods. InE. Mendes & N. Mosley, eds. Web Engineering. Berlin, Germany: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp.143-80.

    6. Palmer, J., 2001. Designing for web site usability. In Proc. 7th Annual Consortium for Computing inSmall Colleges Central Plains Conference on The Journal of Computing in Small Colleges. Branson,Missouri, United States, 2001.

    7. Zeldman, J., 2001. Taking your talent to the web. Indianapolis, Indiana, United States: New Riders.

    8. Nielsen, J. & Loranger, H., 2006. Prioritizing web usability. Berkeley, CA, United States: New RidersPress.

    9. Swaak, M., De Jong, M. & De Vries, P., 2009. Effects of information usefulness, visual attractiveness,and usability on web visitorstrust and behavioral intentions. In IEEE International ProfessionalCommunication Conf. Waikiki, HI, United States, 2009.

    10. Safavi, R., 2009. Interface design issues to enhance usability of e-commerce websites and systems. In

    2009 International Conference on Computer Technology and Development. Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia,2009.

    11. Montero, F., Gonzles, P., Lozano, M. & Vanderdonckt, J., 2005. Quality models for automatedevaluation of web sites usability and accessibility. In International COST294 Workshop on UserInterface Quality Model. Rome, Italy, 2005.

    http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htmhttp://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-14http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-13http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-12http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-11http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-10http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-9http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-9http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-8http://usabilitygeek.com/why-web-site-usability-is-important-for-a-compan/#importance-web-site-usability-company-8
  • 8/3/2019 007 - Usability Geek - Why Website Usability is Important for a Company

    3/3

    12. Scapin, D. et al., 2000. A framework for organising web usability guidelines. In Proc. 6th Conferenceon Human Factors and the Web. Austin, Texas, United States, 2000.

    13. Nielsen, J., 1999b. User interface directions for the web. Communications of the ACM, March. pp.65-72.

    14. Ruiz-Rodrguez, R., 2006. An auxiliary tool for usability and design guidelines validation of web sites. InProc. 15th International Conference on Computing CIC06. Mexico City, Mexico, 2006.