Making your website ‘user-centric’Danielle RoddickWeb Services Unit

What is a user-centric website?

•The audience/ user is front and centre.•Content authors and developers know the

demographic profile of the audience – including interests, wants, needs, and skill-sets.

•The audience is considered when every decision is made – from the content, to the designs, and IA.

YouTube: ‘The ROI of User Experience with Dr. Susan Weinschenk’

•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O94kYyzqvTc

Source: ROI of User Experience. http://www.humanfactors.com/project/index.asp

What are the features of a user-centric website?•It depends on the user!

Sources: http://www.brainpop.com/ http://www.scienceresearch.com/scienceresearch/

Key featuresUser-centric websites Maker-centric websites

• Use simple, clear language.• Contain objective and

neutral content.• Speak to the audience

(Using terms such as “we” and “you”).

• Are active and task-orientated

• Have simple navigation, which makes it easy to locate information.

• Are engaging and dynamic.

• Use internal jargon or industry terms.

• Contain content that is not objective.

• Speak from a company perspective (“The University” and “our staff”).

• Are inactive and information-orientated.

• Have complex navigation, which makes it difficult to locate information.

• Are unengaging and “corporate”.

My Aged Care:A ‘consumer-centric’ website

•First asked the question: “Why are we creating this website?” (What does this website need to deliver/ accomplish?)

•Researched the consumers’ information needs and how they would usually locate this information. (Focus groups and user testing)

•Considered the emotional state of consumers at the time of accessing aged care services.Source: Fermor, K. & Thwaites, D. (29 April 2014) Case Study: ‘Designing and Launching the

‘My Aged Care’ website: A consumer centric approach,’ Presentation at the 5th Annual National Public sector Communication Officers’ Conference, Canberra.

Considering the user in design choices

Source: Fermor, K. & Thwaites, D. (29 April 2014) Case Study: ‘Designing and Launching the ‘My Aged Care’ website: A consumer centric approach,’ Presentation at the 5th Annual National Public sector Communication Officers’ Conference, Canberra.

Considering how the audience should be represented

Source: Fermor, K. & Thwaites, D. (29 April 2014) Case Study: ‘Designing and Launching the ‘My Aged Care’ website: A consumer centric approach,’ Presentation at the 5th Annual National Public sector Communication Officers’ Conference, Canberra.

Carefully considered language

Source: Fermor, K. & Thwaites, D. (29 April 2014) Case Study: ‘Designing and Launching the ‘My Aged Care’ website: A consumer centric approach,’ Presentation at the 5th Annual National Public sector Communication Officers’ Conference, Canberra.

The result!

Source: http://www.myagedcare.gov.au/

Put yourself in the shoes of an academic….Imagine you are sitting in your office and you are thinking:

•I have established myself as a leader in my school•I am building a solid reputation in my field of research•I have published papers in international journals•I am collaborating with leading experts in my field•All while maintaining a large teaching load…

…Surely I would qualify for promotion from Senior lecturer to Associate Professor!I wonder when the next round of academic promotions begins?

What next?

Would you have looked in the OPC website?

Would you have also looked in the OD website?

‘Academic Promotion’ ‘Academic Mentoring Program’

Creating user-centred content

Consider:•Are any similar issues at play in your websites?•Is there any information that your website is currently missing, that might be useful to your audiences? Is it located anywhere else on the UWS website?•Could this be an opportunity for cross-unit collaboration?

Final tips for user centric websites•Prominently position important/ popular

content.•Use your Google Analytics Reports.•Have a clear picture of who your audience

is.•Don’t be self-serving.•Try to identify and solve problems.

Thank you!Any questions?

webteam@uws.edu.au d.roddick@uws.edu.au