Vanessa Petersen, Author at Web Usability Talk

Usability Testing: Are You Asking The Right Questions?

Usability testing is one of the most effective tools to aid in uncovering problem areas or stuck spots in a website’s design and structure. While any measure of testing is helpful, different types of testing and the way in which questions are asked can greatly affect user response, and ultimately, the outcome of solutions that will be put in place. The first thing to determine is whether to take a scripted or un-scripted approach to testing. Scripting is recommended for testing specific use cases and offers many benefits including delivering the most controlled environment. Reporting from scripted testing delivers both quantitative and qualitative data, all dependent on how the script is crafted. Setting the Scene Foremost, its important to indicate what areas of focus will be tested – this could be anything from the name of a website and how it will register with users to how the product/website functions. […]

Has Big Data Become Bad Data?

Understanding user behavior in the digital environment is paramount to refining and optimizing a marketing strategy or new implementation. Through dialed-in analytics, a business can make decisions based on a user’s true wants and needs – delivering a more controlled and authentic experience. Equipped with these intelligent insights, the optimal technology can be implemented to achieve the ideal approach to a digital strategy. Until only recently – the most prevalent data used has been that of Big Data. Characterized by the output of Volume, Velocity, and Variety – Big is exactly what the name implies – a whole lot of information which may not be entirely suited to a growing UX focus. Is big data dead? Due to the sheer size of output, Big Data tends to be cumbersome and therefore requires a lot of work in translating to become actually useful. For the demanding user of today, a business needs more than just […]

Following Best Practices to Boost Your Site’s Web Usability Factor

Web Usability encompasses a variety of aspects that focus on making your users’ experience the best one possible. By zeroing in on both design and content, a site owner can improve the overall experience for the user. It can be easy to overlook these details, but they all add up to a critical component in delivering initial or heightened conversions and sustained business. Implementing tried and tested web usability best practices help to provide a site immediate advantages for the ideal UX. By following a set of proven tactics, the site can garner a better experience in a shorter amount of time. Its important to note, however, that best practices function at their optimal rate when a content strategy is in place. Focus on Consistency Keep navigation, content and imagery consistent throughout the site. Users should always be able to return easily to your homepage and to other major navigation […]

Focusing on Findability to Improve SEO

With great importance placed on SEO, site owners are engaging in a constant stream of optimization tactics that may not be targeting the ideal user. As user experience becomes more and more important, a close relative of Search Engine Optimization – Findability – is seemingly the UX strategy that is often overlooked and rarely seen as an area that should be critically addressed and optimized to make SEO work all the better. While SEO serves a main purpose in getting a user to the site, many times the search lands the user deep within the content and worse, in the wrong place. Users then must navigate back to find the origination point of the content they are looking for to complete their task, taking them longer than desired. When a findability strategy is implemented, content is developed from a top-down approach, allowing a user to locate the needed information at […]

What’s In A Name? How a URL Can Affect A Site’s Usability

Often overlooked due to the fact that they aren’t the biggest ranking factor used by search engines, the structure of URLs can have a major impact on the SEO and usability factors of a website. The keywords contained within a URL are much more than just a location tool. Relevant to both the user and search engines, URLs help to assess and describe what each page on a site is about and what kind of product or services it provides. The better the URL optimization, the higher it will rank in organic search engine results. While a great deal of thought may be put into the main URL of a website, the inner pages are very important to give thought to in terms of usability. Many times, for these pages – a URL is automatically generated that can easily be optimized to better serve the site and its visitors. Being […]

The Business Case for Optimized Site Usability

Web usability is a significant aspect of a websites function that every company must pay attention to for the current and long term health of their organization. Usability, while seemingly invisible, encompasses everything from SEO, conversion ratios, user experience and authority in the market. Embarking on a usability path and building a strategy can be a challenging task, however it is one that will pay off in spades if implemented well and maintained through testing and optimization. The benefits of adopting a website usability optimization strategy affect all those who come in contact with the company – from prospective and current customers to internal stakeholders. Following best practices from design to development to offer the ideal user experience can deliver an increased level of positive association and better bottom line to the brand it supports. External Benefits of Usability Delivers Faster Conversion Its estimated that sites that have poor usability […]

Web Navigation: Understanding The Roadmap of UX

An integral element to the aspect of usability on a website is the design of it’s core navigation. This is the system of parts that helps a user move around the experience, helping them find what they need, get deeper into information and complete a task. When a user first comes to a site, it’s much like they are traveling streets in a city they’ve never been before. There is a clear reason for the visit, whether business or leisure, but in order to get to where they need to go, they must be led by visual cues. These visual cues must be in the right order and delivered to the user in clear terms to create a pathway to their final destination. A solid set of principles can help to drive navigation that fosters user connection, engages new users and heightens conversion: Create An Organizational Strategy Taking into consideration the importance of […]

Measuring The Success of Your Web Usability Strategy

To start the process of improving your site’s usability, you’ll have to set up tracking to record the metrics and results. Once you do, you’ll want to keep track of various data such as entry pages, exit pages, visiting time, clickthrough rates and conversions. Then, you should think about how the data corresponds with your site’s purpose. Every website will have a different goal. Some websites will want to engage visitors and get to explore the rest of the site. Other sites will want to go straight for the conversion whether it’s through leads or sales. You have to figure out what your goal is and start testing different designs to meet the metrics for your goal. For example, if you want to increase engagement, you should aim to increase time spent on site and try to move visitors towards a specific funnel. As important as it is to have […]

5 Ways to Design a More Intuitive Mobile App

With rampant talk of responsive design and the overwhelming use of mobile devices as a primary device for users, the importance of a mobile presence is clear. Naturally, the time of a mobile user is at a premium so it’s paramount for mobile apps to be as intuitive as possible. Designing an interface that is centered around UX and usability is the keystone to create a mobile app that truly ‘works’ for the user. #1: Know Your User User experience doesn’t exist without the user – so it’s critical to involve them in the process – understanding who they are and what drives them. Conducting user and competitive research – not simply gathering analytics, but getting into the field, engaging with the ideal user – and applying these findings to the initial phase of design is a non-negotiable process. Data is a big part of gathering the information needed, however, in a project’s […]

Ecommerce Usability: Getting It Right

For any business, whether brick and mortar or solely web based, ecommerce has become a required aspect. Online sales worldwide have reached an all time high in the trillions and it’s clear that the majority of consumers do much of their shopping, if not all, online. This trend is only on the upswing, and consumers have become increasingly discerning in the sites they purchase from. To increase traffic and conversions, a business must focus on every detail, with specific attention to the site’s usability in order to create the user experience that has become a prerequisite of doing business in the digital environment. First Impression Nowhere is usability more important than on the landing page, particularly of an ecommerce site. The user has been driven to the site either looking specifically for an item or are curious to find out more about the brand, product or services being offered. Either […]

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