Usability: Your Site’s Foundation

By Aaron Kahlow

Most websites are severely under-serving their customers online. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a Fortune 500 consumer goods company who’s commissioned a leading interactive agency to creatively design the website, or an old-school manufacturer who had their “IT Guy” develop the site. Often, both design- and development-centered efforts fall way short of the best practices of website usability. Why? Philosophically, they start from a misguided perspective.

Let’s take the creatively designed website that a consumer goods company commissioned an interactive agency to “design.” Eight times out of 10, the interactive agency comes from a traditional agency background including the push mediums of print, TV and radio. They rely on advertising that’s provocative, creative and demands attention. Additionally, much of the focus is around the design, with graphic designers driving the final direction and decisions for a particular project.

So, here’s the disconnect. Unlike with print, the creative design of a website is one of the smallest components in the success of that site. Why? The web is a pull medium with the user in complete control. In a print ad, for example, you must try very hard to get the attention of a consumer flipping pages. On your site, you already have their full attention. Consequently, you need to give them exactly what they want before they hit that back button and search for a competitor.

Equally troubling is the company with technically challenged upper management that defers to the “tech guys” to build the website. This is equivalent to letting your electricians draft the blueprint for your new house. The developers have their place in building/coding the site and integrating various technologies, but they should not be the ones to drive the site. The site is about getting customers the information they want, not about how technologically sound the site’s backend might be.

We need to start building our websites with our customers as the strategic foundation. So don’t ask a graphic designer or a tech guy to do something they aren’t trained to do-to think about the best interests of your customers.

USER SUCCESS EQUALS WEBSITE SUCCESS
If your website is going to be successful, you must serve the audience and serve it well. If you give the user what they want, how the want it and when they want it, then-and only then-will you be able to truly maximize brand equity, conversions and ROI.

Website usability is the cognitive science of studying why people do what they do on the web-and the discipline of building a site around these principles. In the course of business we see the same usability mistakes made again and again. The accompanying chart lists the top 10. Use the top 10 to assess your site and to start the usability conversation in your organization to get your stakeholders focusing on the user first.

Those that put the customer first will win in the competitive website landscape. Good luck!

Aaron Kahlow is managing partner of BusinessOnLine, a complete website optimization company offering search engine marketing, website usability, social media and web development services. He can be reached via email at [email protected].