What exactly is web usability?
Web usability is an approach to make web sites easy to use for an end-user, without the requirement that any specialized training be undertaken. The user should be able to intuitively relate the actions he needs to perform on the web page, with other interactions he sees in the general domain of life e.g. press of a button leads to some action. (Source: Wikipedia )
In general terms, this means to keep users from having to guess when viewing your websites. If for one second a user has to stop and ponder "How does this work?" then you've potentially lost viewers. Usability is about keeping it simple, while maintaining functionality.
Web Usability in action...or not
For every website that employs tried and true principles of web usability, there are others which violate them. The following websites are a mixed bag of the two and should be viewed as a general guideline of what to do, as well as what to avoid when developing your sites.
Lings Cars - This website is quite peculiar. Upon first entering the site, the user is bombarded with zany graphics. Initial impressions of this site might make users think that it is disheveled and poorly organized with random elements thrown about in an attempt to eliminate whitespace. Personally, I thought the sight seemed almost like a drug-induced trip of sorts, and found myself laughing out loud when reviewing the page source of this website and noticed that one of the meta tag keywords was actually “pcp”.
Upon further inspection of this site, I realized that as whacked-out as the site looked, the usability was all there! Easy to follow navigation: check. Logical flow of page elements: check. Conclusion: insanely odd website; solid web usability. This is pure genius.
Batman 3D - Batman you say!? Batman…in 3D!? Sweet! Not so fast.
This website violates a golden design rule which I believe holds a firm position in the discussion of usability: keep your pertinent info above the fold. Which basically means to keep the meat of your website readily viewable without having to scroll or search for it.
When I first entered this website, I was blown away by the awesome graphics on it. Intrigued to know more, I began searching for links, navigation, or anything else. Sadly after wondering what was going on, I scrolled down the page and finally found the navigation located in the middle of the document. All of their fancy graphic work and nifty javascript was for nothing once the matter of usability was compromised.
The Pixel - What is “The Pixel”? Seriously, it isn’t a rhetorical question. After some tedious searching I found some microscopic text in no-man’s land with somewhat of a mission statement about this company. The concept for this site is great, the execution in regards to usability is lacking.
One of the main components of usability, in my opinion, is the overall effectiveness of site navigation. This site does have effective navigation in place. By effective I mean that the links work. Once you click on one of the buttons on the “Home” page, you are sent to what looks like a completely different site with completely different navigation. Additionally, the text was entirely too small and the white font was very hard to read on the light blue background. Return to Top
Chick-fil-A - Chick-fil-A’s website is very user-friendly. The first thing you notice when entering their site (aside from the images of their delicious chicken products) is the navigation bar…which is fully functional and consistent throughout the site! The logo at the top serves as the “Home” button, but to avoid any confusion the user is provided with pop-out text to let them know that swirly chicken-head text is in fact a direct link back to the home page.
This site seems very intuitive and truth be told, I’ve spent more time on this site than the others I've previously mentioned. Probably due to the fact that navigation is so easy and the logical flow of the site sparked my interest in their company; and possibly the pictures of steaming hot fried chicken goodness played a small part in that as well. Return to Top
Yahoo - This is honestly the first time I’ve ever stopped and wondered “How is the usability on Yahoo?”. Chalk it up to being a creature of habit, but I’ve never questioned the design of Yahoo’s site. They’re the default homepage for probably 7 out of 10 computers in the US. You know where everything is and how everything works because we’ve used it so much that it has become second nature to us.
However, I tried to step back and look at this website objectively. For instance, if I had never visited Yahoo before, could I easily locate all of it’s features? Sports, news, email, weather, and finance? The answer is a resounding yes. Yahoo delivers in a big way when it comes to usability. The site is laid out perfectly and navigation is effortless even for first time viewers. Return to Top