Articles
Was This Site Designed by Monkeys?
By Cyndi Nguyen
As web surfers, we have all been frustrated by Web sites that are so difficult to navigate and use, that it leaves us asking, “Was this website designed by monkeys?” Having an unusable site can be extremely costly to your business. Potential customers will sum up the “friendliness” of your site within the first few seconds of arriving at the homepage and assess what kind of experience they are going to have on the rest of the site. If finding what they’re looking for seems tedious or difficult, they will leave and more often than not, will never return.
Perhaps one of the biggest Internet misnomers is that of “web surfing.” Very rarely do we log on to the Internet to simply surf – that is, start in one place and let the “tide” take us where it will, leading us from site to site to end up who knows where. The fact of the matter is when we get on the Internet, we usually have a very specific goal in mind, whether it is to check the weather in Chicago or research that new SUV we’ve been eyeing.
Everything on your Web site should be designed to help users reach their final destination with minimal distractions or speed bumps along the way. To determine whether your site does this, ask yourself the following questions:
1) Is my navigation relevant?
Put yourself in the shoes of typical users coming to your site and think about what they are trying to achieve. Are they looking for products? Looking for company information? Sometimes, we inadvertently dilute our navigation with links that are of little use to the user. For example, if your site is product-centric, does it make sense to have only one link to “Products” and four others to “Company History,” “Links of Interest,” “News,” and “Contact Us”? If users are forced to process many irrelevant navigation options at once, your site will be interpreted as difficult to use.
2) Am I designing my site for targeted users or my CEO?
Of course, you know what a “Widget Kit” is – it’s your most popular product! So why shouldn’t someone who comes to your site click on the link that says “Widget Kit” to buy one? Unless you have considerable market saturation and brand recognition, you shouldn’t assume users have any knowledge of your products or services. Doing so will only frustrate those coming on to your site by forcing them to click on things they are not interested in to figure out what they mean. Instead, make sure all of your navigation uses simple, intuitive terms that even a user who is completely unfamiliar with your industry will be able to understand.
3) Am I meeting expectations? A.K.A. Where’s the beef?
So, you think you achieved it – your navigation is relevant, simple, and users are clicking through your site. You’ve got them, right? Well, not necessarily. You need to consider not only making the journey to their goal a simple one but also making the trip worthwhile. Ease of navigation is not enough. If a user looking for information is met with a meager summary and little detail, it is unlikely they’ll want to invest more time exploring the rest of your site.
In summary, remember that web users have goals and they want to get to those goals in a simple, linear fashion. Removing any obstacles and providing adequate content will ensure happy, loyal customers!
