Improving Your Web Site’s Appeal

Kevin Campbell

Duke University/Grouchyboy.com

Why Do I Care?

Because users do! Every website has a function, is yours clear

AND easily accomplished?

I mean, it works, doesn’t it?! If you build it they will come…SORRY!

The Three Core “Abilities”

Navigability– Where do I go? What can I do?

Readability– Not just readable…retainable

Credibility– Are you trustworthy?

Navigation

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

The web has started to “settle out” Consistent design elements –

– Look the same. Don’t move.

Color Used as a Navigation Tool

Color can help our brains establish relationships quickly.

* Don’t make the user re-learn the navigation!

Oh the places you’ll go!

•What can I do here?•Where can I go?

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 bedrooms…bedrooms have bathrooms and

closet space…there is a door from the garage to the house…

Link text does matter– Simplify, man!– Don’t obfuscate in an attempt to impress or WOW people

Readability

Make it Scanable!

No serifs

Bullets, subheadings Short paragraphs

Help Me Scan, please.

Bold important points Contrasting colors

Links need to look like links

Don’t 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/presentation/em]

Credibility

Do You Have Street Cred?(You’d better…)

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

Look Within

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

How to Get Cred

Prove there’s 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

Final Thoughts (Conceptual)

Don’t make assumptions– “Our site meets our organization’s 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 competitor’s.” Very risky. What if their site sucks?

Final Thoughts (Technical)

Fancy graphics do not a good site make– Large graphics=increased download time– Use a web speed analyzer (http://

www.websiteoptimization.com)

Search function is now standard Frames are bad

– Can make pages unprintable– Pages cannot be bookmarked

Fancy navigations used sparingly

References

Max Design– http://www.maxdesign.com.au/

Webcredible– http://www.webcredible.co.uk

Webmonkey– http://www.webmonkey.com