Transcript Web Site Design: The Good, the Bad, and the Recommended

Connie Hancock
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Extension Educator
[email protected]
Know why you are on the Web?
Reasons Why People Shop the Web…
Easy to place an order
Large selection of products
Cheaper prices
Faster service and delivery
Detailed and clear product information
No sales pressure
Easy payment procedure
Reference: http://www.useit.com
Factors driving repeat visits to a Web Site
High Quality
Ease of use
Minimal download time
Updated often
Reference: Forrester Survey
Elements to consider…
Home page
Navigation
Bandwidth
Browser compatibility
User interface
Color palette
Frames
Accessibility
Where am I?
Where have I been?
Where can I go?
Where is the home page?
Where is the home “home” page?
3 clicks
and you’re out!
Download time…
1 – 2 seconds
< 13 seconds
> 20 seconds
GONE!!
Decrease download time by…..
Designing for 56k modem
Keeping page sizes < 75k
Applying the KISS rule
“Remove graphic; increase traffic.
It’s that simple.”
Reference: Dr. Jakob Nielsen; Web Usability Speciality; http://www.useit.com
NETSCAPE
EXPLORER
NETSCAPE
EXPLORER
Browser Testing –
Netscape
Explorer
Foxfire
Mozilla
Opera
AOL
Web TV
Lynx
How are your customers
accessing your site?
Desktop
Laptop
Hand-held
Web TV
How are your customers
accessing your site?
PC
Mac
Color Considerations….
 Artistic
 Cultural
 Sales
 Technical
Black – United States & Europe
White – China & Japan
Yellow – Egypt & Burma
Purple – Thailand
Blue – Iran
Red – South Africa
Frames . . .
 Browsers don’t like them
 Printers don’t like them
 Search engines don’t like them
 People/customers don’t like them
FRAMES
How’s this for readability?
Recommendations . . .
 Good background/text contrast
 Avoid patterned backgrounds
 Easy to read fonts
 Make words count
 Short paragraphs
 Bulleted lists
serif
sans-serif
For Example . . .
 The visually impaired use special readers that read only text.
 Blinking text can trigger seizures in some visitors.
 Poor color choices may render text unreadable to color blind
visitors.
 Mouse-dependent site navigation can be difficult for visitors
with physical limitations.
 Information contained in sound clips is inaccessible to
hearing-impaired visitors.
www.w3.org/WAI
www.cast.org/bobby
The key is consumer confidence…
Fun and easy to navigate sites
Pages that appear professional
Clear and accurate product information
Real time answers
Good prices and clear representation of
all charges
The key is consumer confidence…
Payment options
Secure transactions
Easy to use return or exchange policy
Quick processing time and delivery
Shopper privacy
The Bottom Line . . .
 Getting customers to come to your site,
 Getting customers to make a purchase
once they get to your site, and
 Getting customers to return to your site and
purchase again, again, and again!
Resources
• Designing Web Usability, The Practice of Simplicity by Jakob Nielsen,
www.useit.com
• Web Pages That Suck, Learn Good Design by Looking at Bad Design by
V. Flanders & M. Willis, www.webpagesthatsuck.com
• Don’t Make Me Think!, A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by
Steve Krug, www.sensible.com
• Business to Consumer E-Commerce: Selling on the Internet, Beth
Duncan, Ph.d Small Business Specialist, Mississippi State
University Extension Service, [email protected]
Connie Hancock
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Extension Educator
[email protected]