Improving Your Web Sites Appeal

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Improving Your Web Sites Appeal

• Kevin Campbell
• Duke University/Grouchyboy.com

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Why Do I Care?

• I mean, it works, doesnt it?!
• If you build it they will comeSORRY!

• Because users do!
• Every website has a function, is yours clear AND
  easily accomplished?

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The Three Core Abilities

• Navigability
• Where do I go? What can I do?
• Readability
• Not just readableretainable
• Credibility
• Are you trustworthy?

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Navigation
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Where Am I? Where Do I Go? What Can I Do?

• The web has started to settle out
• Consistent design elements
• Look the same. Dont move.

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Color Used as a Navigation Tool

• Color can help our brains establish relationships
  quickly.

Dont make the user re-learn the navigation!
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Oh the places youll go!

• What can I do here?
• Where can I go?

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Consistent, consistent, CoNsIsTeNt!

• Adequate signage
• Primary navigation on every page
• The breadcrumbs had better lead out of the forest
• Think about structure FIRST
• Halls lead to bedroomsbedrooms have bathrooms
  and closet spacethere is a door from the garage
  to the house
• Link text does matter
• Simplify, man!
• Dont obfuscate in an attempt to impress or WOW
  people

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Readability
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Make it Scanable!

• No serifs
• Bullets, subheadings
• Short paragraphs

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Help Me Scan, please.

• Bold important points
• Contrasting colors
• Links need to look like links

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Dont Make Me Squint!

• Line Length
• Arc of our visual field is only a few inches
• As line length increases, reading slows and
  retention falls
• About 12 words per line
• Source Max Design http//www.maxdesign.com.au/p
  resentation/em

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Credibility
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Do You Have Street Cred?(Youd better)

• UCLA study Only 52.8 of web users think online
  information is credible

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Look Within

• Get inside the heads of your users
• What is the purpose of this organization?
• How much does it cost?
• What happens if?

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How to Get Cred

• Prove theres an actual organization
• Link to external references
• Staff bios and pictures
• Make contacting you easy
• Look professional (design AND structure)
• Free stuff or dynamic content
• No dead links
• Auto-email confirmation

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Final Thoughts (Conceptual)

• Dont make assumptions
• Our site meets our organizations goals.
• What you think matters less than what your users
  think.
• Our site has all the info our users need.
• Let them tell YOU. Users come first.
• Our site is just as good as our competitors.
• Very risky. What if their site sucks?

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Final Thoughts (Technical)

• Fancy graphics do not a good site make
• Large graphicsincreased download time
• Use a web speed analyzer (http//www.websiteoptimi
  zation.com)
• Search function is now standard
• Frames are bad
• Can make pages unprintable
• Pages cannot be bookmarked
• Fancy navigations used sparingly

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References

• Max Design
• http//www.maxdesign.com.au/
• Webcredible
• http//www.webcredible.co.uk
• Webmonkey
• http//www.webmonkey.com