The User-centric Approach to Website Design

The Internet, in spite of the boundless opportunity for connection and interaction with others it provides, is fundamentally a user-controlled , solitary medium. Whether within the comfort of a home or the confines of an office cubicle, the typical Internet user will still be sitting there, alone, with a keyboard, a mouse and a monitor and will need to figure out how to go from A to B or accomplish Z. The trick for those who design and maintain websites is to provide Internet users with the best possible direction and guidance within a richly useful, pleasant environment.

In 2002 swandivedigital undertook a comprehensive review of online Best Practices as they relate to User Experience. Our findings served as the basis for the development of a proprietary User-centric Assessment , a weighted scale we use to rate Website efficacy along the qualitative lines of Usefulness, Ease-of-Use, Efficiency, Engagement and Trustworthiness. The lack of any one of these often intertwined components can negatively impact upon user experience.

Make it Useful :::: Make it Easy :::: Make it Efficient :::: Make it Engaging :::: Make it Trustworthy :::: Conclusion

Make it Useful

The useful site will first and foremost provide high quality, accurate content that is relevant for the audience. Generally, it should be updated frequently with graphics and/or animations that illuminate content or, in the case of dynamic content, perform a function.

Second, the useful site will be robust , with breadth and depth of content that makes the site understandable for first time users and valuable for repeat and highest value users. Reference resources, useful links, interactive tools and community elements can all add value to a site when employed in an appropriate, judicious manner.

Third, the site must support user goals . It should tell and show users what it can do through proper text and visual cues. It should help them accomplish tasks by helping them find what they are looking for and by providing proper support networks – search tools, FAQ’s, easy to access contact information – to help them when they encounter difficulties. Lastly the site must deliver on its promises, actually enabling them to do what it tells them it can do, either implicitly or actually.

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