Where’s the Darn Button?

The Value of an Intuitive Interface

www.ranked-one.com571-933-3706

Michelle Chance, CEORanked One, Inc.571-933-3706michelle@ranked-one.cominfo@ranked-one.com

Michelle has been creating websites for about 20 years, and implementing Tridion since 2006. Ranked One’s clients are primarily Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and non-profit organizations.

Ranked One offers both end-to-end solutions and specialized staff augmentation in support for Tridion CMS implementations, ECRM Solutions, Customized Decision Support Systems, system integrations, and training.

Introduction

How many times have you become frustrated when searching for information on a website? What makes you frustrated?

The Problem

Learn how to avoid the common pitfalls and leverage SDL Tridion’s power to deliver a better user experience.

“There is too much information on this page” “I know what I want, why are they making it so hard for me to get

to it?” “The website I was just on disappeared. Where did it go? How do I

get back to it?” “There was a button here before and now it’s gone” “Why does the Contact Us link keep moving all over the page as I

move through the site?” “27,153 search results! How do I find what I want?” “I’m getting errors…where do I go to fix them? How do I fix them?” “I am unable to tell if this content is current or outdated” “Why must I register on the site?” What are YOUR pet peeves?

User Obstacles

Facts:◦ Most people don’t go beyond the first page of

search results when using search engines◦ A 30% Bounce Rate is considered good◦ You have about 3 seconds to convince the User

that your website is worth reviewing◦ People spend 1-2 minutes on detail pages they

care about

Reality Check

Your Main Goal: Make visiting your website an enjoyable and rewarding experience for your Users.

Happy customers are repeat customers!

DEFINITION: A Target Audience is the primary group of Users that are or will become customers and regularly access your information.◦ Stakeholders may or may NOT be your target

audience◦ If it’s an eCommerce site, these are the people

who will or have bought products◦ You can’t please all of the people all of the time

Who is your Target Audience?

Step 1: Basic Usability TestingConduct 5 interviews of various types of Users◦ Use this data to create Personas◦ Have at least one person from each User Group◦ Ideally observe these Users working on the current site to understand how they

interact with the content and where the challenges are Step 2: Taxonomy (Card Sort)

Organize your content into categories and sub-categories◦ Use this data for your Categories and Keywords for content metadata tagging◦ Use this data for creating the organization of your Structure Groups

Step 3: Gap AnalysisIdentify the issues/challenges that exist between how the website is set up currently, and what the Users need it to do for them◦ Use this data to create a list of improvements to make the website

Better Organized Easier to Navigate Consistent Searchable Helpful User-friendly

Quick User Interface Process

Navigation Solutions “I can’t go back to the previous page” “The website I was just on disappeared.

Where did it go? How do I get back to it?” “I can’t go back and correct what I typed in”

Design Solution: Carefully design your navigation links to allow Users to move through

the site easily and efficiently; don’t rely on the browser’s buttons for your website.

Open files and other’s websites in a new browser window so Users can always navigate back to your website.

All types of forms should give the Users the option to skip a section, go back to a section, and review and edit their input prior to submission.

Organization Issues “I can’t find what I’m looking for” “There is too much information on

this page.”

Design Solution: Don’t overload your audience with too much information per page. Remove clutter. Present information in a consistent manner. Minimize the number of pages one must click through, but not at

the expense of a page that scrolls on and on. Always give User the option to “Browse” through your content or

“Jump” to the conversion.

Consistency Solutions “There was a button here before and

now it’s gone” “Why does the Contact Us link keep

moving all over the page as I move through the site?”

Design solution: Streamline page layout throughout your site. Create a Master Template to be set as the global

parameters for all of your pages so they are consistent. Global Headers and Footers make maintaining that

consistency easy.

Ease-of-Use Solutions “Why must I register on the site?” “I know what I want, why are they making it so hard

for me to get to it?”

Design solution: Reduce the number of steps to the conversion. Only ask for the information you MUST have to allow for

hassle-free browsing.

Search Solutions “27,153 search results! How do I find

what I want?” “I have to start the search AGAIN!!! Why can’t it just

remember what I asked for?”

Design solution: Use terms you Users will likely use versus terms used within your company,

and avoid acronyms. Carefully design your taxonomy so the Categories and Keywords you use to

tag your Components will really help your Users find what they are looking for.

Offer Users advanced search features like filters and faceted search so they can manually manipulate the data to drill down to what they are looking for.

Feedback/Support Solutions “I’m getting errors…where do I go to fix

them? How do I fix them?” “I am unable to tell if this content is current

or outdated” “Who do I ask for help?” Design solution:

Provide straightforward, easy-to-understand error messages. Make sure that the placement of the error message will be easily visible by

the Users regardless of their device or screen size. Provide timestamps on the content to indicate when it was last updated Help the Users help themselves by giving them the tools to find answers

and contact the organization if they need to. o Include contact information on every pageo Provide a detailed FAQs page and an easy-to-find link to ito Provide Users a Feedback Form so they can communicate with you and provide

you with comments and suggestions

Is all of your content organized into categories and sub-categories and reflected in your navigation?

Is your content concise and current? Are you using standardized templates and Global Headers/Footers to ensure your

navigation is consistent? Does your navigation allow Users to freely move from page to page, make edits to

forms, and always opens up a new browser window when a file or another website is being accessed?

Is your Search intuitive to your Users (their language, technology level, geared towards their needs), and provides them with the ability to fine-tune their search results via filters, faceted search, etc.?

Is your Contact Information easy to find and accessible from every page? When the information on a form is validated, are the error messages clearly visible

to the Users and explain what needs to be modified? Have you set up your website with the fewest number of barriers possible, by only

collecting the data you MUST have instead of what you want to have? Whenever possible, include time to observe a sample of Users doing usual tasks on

your website to see how they really interactive with the content versus what your best guesses are.

Quick Resource to Ensure Usability

Case Studies: Avery

Case Studies: Avery

Case Studies: Motel 6

Case Studies: Sallie Mae

What are your challenges on your projects?Ask the Expert

Michelle Chance, CEORanked One, Inc.571-933-3706michelle@ranked-one.cominfo@ranked-one.com

Where’s the Darn Button?

The Value of an Intuitive Interface

www.ranked-one.com571-933-3706