Usability: the key to successful design

What is usability?

Usability is the degree to which an object can be used in order to achieve a particular goal. "An object" can refer to anything man-made, from music players and folding chairs to knife sharpeners and, of course, websites. At the core of usability is the user and so much of the measure of an object's usability is based (some web designers would say unfortunately) on the user's ability.

Those of us who work in the online industry are, by nature of our profession, heavy web users. We access an almost disproportionate number of websites each day. Exposure to many websites, however, does not mean that we are building usable websites. Too often, we focus on the aesthetics of a website without considering if it really does the job it is supposed to do: allow users to achieve a particular goal.

Investing in improving usability can have a marked difference on an organisation's bottom line. A January 2008 survey puts the improvement in business metrics at 83% after a usability redesign.

Key usability factors

Whether you are redesigning or tweaking a website in the hopes of that 83% lift, or whether you are at the very beginning of your website journey, here are some of the key factors when it comes to designing for usability.

The website addresses users' needs first and foremost

Successful websites are built for the people who use them: your customers. While ultimately the website needs to realise goals for the organisation, this can be best achieved through meeting users' needs.

What are the problems that visitors to your site want to solve? Visitors to the IEC website, www.elections.org.za, for example, want to know if they are registered to vote, and if not, how they can register to vote. Visitors to Kulula.com want to purchase plane tickets based on cost and times of flights. Make sure visitors can find the information that they are looking for, which leads the website to fulfilling a business goal for your organisation.

Keep it simple

Car manufacturers produce particularly high end and visionary concept cars each year. These are not the cars that they build in production lines and sell around the world. While a client's website is not a production line item, it also shouldn't be a conglomeration of visionary concepts. A website needs to meet the needs of the user right now, not the minority of users with the latest technology. Keep it simple.

When it comes to usability, conventions are your friend. If a user has to pause in their browsing experience to hunt for something on a website, it has failed on the usability front. The measure of an object's usability is that a user does not have to feel insecure in their ability.

Many roads lead to Rome. They just need to be signposted.

While the website needs to focus on "the user", "the user" represents many different people. A usable website cannot aim for the average; it needs to be usable across the spectrum of users.

A prime example is the way that users navigate a website. While many will pay careful attention to the main menu and submenus you have painstakingly created, there are some that head for the site search straight away, others who head on over to the sitemap and still others who stick to the links in the content. No matter which path is chosen, a user should always be able to orientate herself within the website, determine where they were, be able to find out where they are going to. All without overtly noticing the signposts that have been provided.

1. Test. Test. And test again

   The real measure of the usability of a website is how users use it. Thankfully, the web provides many opportunities for measuring and analysing how users interact with a website. Web analytics, especially with Google offering Google Analytics for free, is a starting point. There are also several other inexpensive services that can provide great insights into how a webpage or website is functioning. Silverback allows you to set up listening labs very easily. Crazy Egg is a favourite that offers to the pixel click tracking, and even tracks clicks on elements that are not links.

   Some key metrics that can help you to gauge the usability of your website include bounce rate (if it's high, worry), exit pages (if too many users are leaving before completing an action, worry) and your internal site search (you are tracking that, right?). Analysing site search keywords can highlight where your main navigation is letting you down.

Designing websites for usability can allow the more creative aspects of a website to shine. A website must allow a visitor to feel confident in their ability to find the information they need to find. Design for your users first and foremost, and the rest will follow.