Beyond the Brochure:Honing Your Web Strategy

Donica MensingReynolds School of Journalism

University of Nevada, RenoTalk given to the American Marketing Association

July 2004, Reno, Nevada

Why wouldn’t you put your company brochure

on television? Boring

Can’t read much on the screen

Pictures are static; no sound

Then why would you put your brochure online?

• It seems easy• It seems fast• It is cheap• You’ll do more later…

But online media can do much more…

• It’s a marketing, sales and service tool all in one

• Facilitates communication between you and your customers

• Provides timely updates• Makes customer service more efficient• Enables personalized service and information• Engages new and repeat customers over time

Example 1: The online brochure

• Static• Hard to read• Not Web friendly• Written in marketese

Examples 2 & 3: Interactive Web Sites

• Focused on the purpose of the company

• Specific services are easy to find• Updated frequently• Navigation easy to find and follow• Balanced, colorful layout

Good Web design is focused and purposeful• The Web has infinite space• People do not have infinite time• Be clear and concise • Know what your customer wants and deliver it

quickly

Examples 4 & 5:Two large organizations

• Cluttered, redundant, verbose• Simple, focused, well-

organized

Criteria for successful Web design

• Clearly organized sections• Consistent layout and navigation• Concise, well-written text• Appealing, relevant graphics• Useful, well-described links• Interactive• Quick loading

Know your customer

• Broadband or dial-up• Home or work• Technically saavy or novice• Frequent or infrequent• Examples: Reno Rodeo and

m-productions

How do you know if your site is well

designed?• Test it!

If your visitors can’t find the information they want, the

product they want, the page they want

-- quickly -- they will leave. Period.

The Good News

• User testing is effective, even if you only test with five randomly selected customers

For more information see Jakob Nielsen:http://www.useit.com

Components of usability testing

• Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design?

• Efficiency : Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks?

• Memorability : When users return to the design after a period of not using it, how easily can they reestablish proficiency?

• Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can they recover from the errors?

• Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design?

• Utility: Does it do what users need?

From Jakob Nielsen 's Alertbox, August 25, 2003 Usability 101http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html

Users can help create your information

architecture• Try card sorting as a way to develop your

organizational scheme and name sections of your site

• Jakob Nielsen: http://www.useit.com/papers/sun/cardsort.html

Finally…

• Start simply• Pay attention to your user logs• Focus on functionality for your

users• Use databases and dynamic

architecture where possible• Keep refining!

Questions?

Donica Mensingdmensing@unr.edu

More examples…

Reno Gazette-JournalReno-Sparks Chamber of

CommerceNevada Museum of Art