An Open Letter to Website Creators
Dear Wealthy, Faceless Corporation:
So you've decided you need to have a website. Maybe you make furniture, or create software, or sell hobby items. Maybe you commission work from freelance writers, or are looking for suggestions on replacement graphics for your site. Regardless of exactly what you do, you need your website's viewers to be able to find what they're looking for. It is in your best interests to have a well-laid-out website with a clear, easy-to-follow, and, if at all possible, intuitive path to information.
For example, if your website has a section devoted to support on user issues, it would be a good idea to have a means of contacting someone who works for your company mentioned conspicuously, instead of in very small type close to the color of the background at the bottom of the page. Additionally, once the user has found the "Contact Us" link, contact information should be provided.
Or, as another example, if you sell products, it is frequently considered helpful to list the prices of the products along with the photograph and description. I have had to navigate multiple websites, who presumably have an interest in exchanging their goods for my money, who manage to neglect this.
I have also encountered the website of a certain organization which provides multiple different services. Among their less iconic products are novels related to their other products; I was attempting to discover what the guidelines for these novels are and whether they were currently accepting submissions. It took me, literally, over an hour of clicking every link I could find on the site that seemed like it could be even remotely connected to user-generated content in order to find the answer to either question--as it was, the only question that was answered was the second, but, since it was answered in the negative, the first was no longer urgent.
When designing a website, you should attempt to anticipate the needs of your users and provide appropriate content. This means not having a complicated and beautiful Flash presentation (did you know that many people either disable Flash for security reasons while browsing the internet or use products, such as some phones, which do not support it?) with very little actual information, and no information that could not be gathered elsewhere. Many authors' websites in particular do this; when I worked at a bookstore in my hometown I occasionally needed to find specific information about release dates or publication order, and found nothing useful.
You should consider the purposes of your site (for example: provide users with information about purchasing and supporting Brand X programs/widgets; explain a current or historical event for the edification of users; provide a place for users with a common interest in a certain thing to gather and discuss it). What are you trying to do? What, therefore, would the people using your website expect to be able to do? What can you do to make this as easy as possible? What does the current means of structuring the website and producing content for it imply your purpose is, and imply your opinion of your users is?
Hoping for a more intuitive internet future,
Sincerely,
me.
This entry was originally posted by akatari @ dreamwidth, where there are
comments. It would make my life a bit simpler were you to comment there using OpenID.
So you've decided you need to have a website. Maybe you make furniture, or create software, or sell hobby items. Maybe you commission work from freelance writers, or are looking for suggestions on replacement graphics for your site. Regardless of exactly what you do, you need your website's viewers to be able to find what they're looking for. It is in your best interests to have a well-laid-out website with a clear, easy-to-follow, and, if at all possible, intuitive path to information.
For example, if your website has a section devoted to support on user issues, it would be a good idea to have a means of contacting someone who works for your company mentioned conspicuously, instead of in very small type close to the color of the background at the bottom of the page. Additionally, once the user has found the "Contact Us" link, contact information should be provided.
Or, as another example, if you sell products, it is frequently considered helpful to list the prices of the products along with the photograph and description. I have had to navigate multiple websites, who presumably have an interest in exchanging their goods for my money, who manage to neglect this.
I have also encountered the website of a certain organization which provides multiple different services. Among their less iconic products are novels related to their other products; I was attempting to discover what the guidelines for these novels are and whether they were currently accepting submissions. It took me, literally, over an hour of clicking every link I could find on the site that seemed like it could be even remotely connected to user-generated content in order to find the answer to either question--as it was, the only question that was answered was the second, but, since it was answered in the negative, the first was no longer urgent.
When designing a website, you should attempt to anticipate the needs of your users and provide appropriate content. This means not having a complicated and beautiful Flash presentation (did you know that many people either disable Flash for security reasons while browsing the internet or use products, such as some phones, which do not support it?) with very little actual information, and no information that could not be gathered elsewhere. Many authors' websites in particular do this; when I worked at a bookstore in my hometown I occasionally needed to find specific information about release dates or publication order, and found nothing useful.
You should consider the purposes of your site (for example: provide users with information about purchasing and supporting Brand X programs/widgets; explain a current or historical event for the edification of users; provide a place for users with a common interest in a certain thing to gather and discuss it). What are you trying to do? What, therefore, would the people using your website expect to be able to do? What can you do to make this as easy as possible? What does the current means of structuring the website and producing content for it imply your purpose is, and imply your opinion of your users is?
Hoping for a more intuitive internet future,
Sincerely,
me.
This entry was originally posted by akatari @ dreamwidth, where there are
comments. It would make my life a bit simpler were you to comment there using OpenID.