What is Usability?
Web usability means evaluating a site for function, design and appeal. Here is a breakdown of some basic principles from expert Jakob Nielsen.
Speed. Recent studies have shown:
- Users make a snap judgment about the speed of your site within one second.
- Users decide whether to stay or leave a site within the first 10 seconds.
- Users want to complete tasks (like find necessary information) within one minute.
- Most users won't spend more than 10 minutes on a site, even the good ones.
Based on these statistics, it is important that a site loads fast, is easy to navigate, and gets the point across succinctly (www.useit.com/alertbox/timeframes.html).
Design: Studies show users will ignore anything that gets in the way of their goal-driven navigation -- including:
- banner ads
- pop ups
- animated graphics
- sites designed to look like ads
Sites designed to be visually simple, clean and personal, with images of people rather than impersonal logos and graphics, are more likely to capture attention (www.useit.com/alertbox/banner-blindness.html).
Content: Eye tracking studies show that users do not read blocks of text online, they skim. Writing on the web should contain:
- subheads
- bulleted lists
- highlighted keywords
- short paragraphs
- the inverted pyramid
- a simple writing style, and
- de-fluffed language devoid of marketese
Nielsen has many reports on writing for the web at /www.useit.com/papers/webwriting
