A designer’s worries do not limit to the aesthetic beauty of the website that he is creating. As discussed in the previous post, ease of use also matters greatly in the overall importance of your website. You will find websites that do not appear very inviting, but are a real treat while surfing. And on the other hand, you may also find pages dipped in colors giving the most elegant visual appeal but making you struggle to find that small log-in button. So, while the designers must emphasize upon considering web-users’ need in designing pages, they must also consider any constraints that may come in their users’ experience. Here are a few of them:

• Design for the popular browsers. There may be hundreds of web browsers out there but about 95% of all netizens use only from a few popular browsers to choose from. Internet Explorer (the leader), Firefox (catching up fast), Opera, Chrome and Safari are few of the better known browsers – and  they mostly cover almost anyone browsing the web. So while designing your pages, make sure that the users of these popular browsers are at least taken care of.

  Also ensure that your web-pages are validated by w3c so that they function adequately with all browsers.

  

  Popular Operating Systems and their Share

• All browsers are not the same, and neither are their users. When it comes down to your personal computer each user has their own preferences. For e.g. some people like larger fonts, some small, some like their screen resolutions to be 800 x 600 while others like 1024 x 768. Another factor that you may want to consider is that while most people do use Broadband internet connections these days, there are in fact many who still have dial-up connections. So, you may want to take them into account as well.For varying screen resolutions, an easy way to go about is to use fluid layouts. Similarly, if your website contains a lot of flash, you may also want to make an html version of the same. Our good ‘ol dial-up folks will love them!
• Keep your website Operating System-friendly.You can never be spoiled for choice when you seek to build a website that is compatible with the prevailing and popular Operating Systems as there are only a handful of OSs that virtually dominate the OS market. Refer to the chart above.
• Design for 1024 x 768 monitor resolution.A good more than half of all users online, operate at the 1024 x 768 resolution setting. Therefore, designing your site for the said resolution will make your site look good and function properly on the computers of users employing the same setting or even higher resolutions.
• The Page length fundamental.The choice of line lengths becomes crucial when a Web Page contains prose text. Faster reading speeds can be achieved by employing long line lengths but it is prudent to use short line lengths as, statistically, users seem to prefer them.
• The verbosity versus accessibility equation.Designers have to strike a trade-off between the amount of content on a Web Page and the accessibility of the information the user desires on the page. Excessive scrolling is an avoidable evil, especially when large amounts of texts are required to communicate the desired information to the user. Frames are a handy tool to keep the table of contents visibly separate from the rest of the content, in such a situation.

So, there you have it, the six general commandments you must be mindful of while designing your website. Although these pointers may appear elementary, yet they are often overlooked even by professional web designers resulting in creation of Web Pages and/or websites that fail to command user traffic due to certain basic mistakes in their design structure. Be aware, be smart. Your business is at stake. And to quote a wise man for a prudent conclusion -

“The Devil is in the details”

Starting this week, we are introducing a new series of blogs on usability and user interfaces. The first in the pack is here.

To begin with, What is usability? The simple answer is: Usability is a term used to measure the quality of users’ experience and ease of use with a given system. (We are limiting our scope of ’system’ to be that of a computer software system – either standalone or web based). Usability quantifies the extent of satisfaction or irking that a user experiences with respect to the system.

It is extremely critical for any project’s designers and architects to make a system that can be used with ease. Studies have proven that the easier a system makes a user comfortable with itself, the more are its chances of achieving its specific objective. With terms like ‘conversion’ and ‘bounce rate’ taking such a crucial importance in any project’s planning and execution, we can’t just afford to keep usability and User Interfaces (UI) out of the picture. Can we?

World Usability Day is celebrated on 8th November.

Coming straight to the point, a well designed User Interface may just make your deal. Your website is the face of your business on the internet and the home page is the face of your website! You don’t want to show an ugly face for your business. Nobody does! So, without missing a beat, here are a few quick pointers you would want to consider while (re)designing your home page next time.

• Keep the most important content above the fold.
  You might recall from the last post:

  It is most essential that the first thing your lead notices is the stuff you want him to see first. So, keep the most important information visible without requiring too much scrolling.

• The Home Page should be accessible from anywhere.
  Keep a link of the homepage on every big-small page of your website. Also, please note that while there are users who know exactly where to find what, you may also have visitors having very trivial knowledge of the Internet. For the convenience of such guests, do have a link titled ‘home’ on each page of your website.
• Let your stuff be discovered.
  It’s very important that your website’s visitors get what they came looking for on your website. So, let the most important elements of your website be made available right on the home page.
• Send the right message to your guests.
  The contents of your homepage should subtly inform your visitor what exactly the website is all about. With goal conversion taking top priority in web-design principles, you don’t want to turn people away after they’ve spent an hour wandering hopelessly on your website.
• The home page must look like one.
  Make sure that your home page always remains the alpha one of your website. Always remember that users expect certain elements on the home page (e.g. sitemap, search feature, contact details, testimonials). Let these elements always be present in your homepage. Also, your website is properly optimized for search engines if your homepage is indeed the main page.
• Don’t stretch it too much.
  KISS – Keep it simple, stupid! No offenses, but sometimes the best way of doing something is to do it in a simple way. Keep your homepage short, meticulous and yet comprehensible. Do not scribble too much content in it and don’t just keep it all blank and dumb.

1. If you are really keen about knowing more about usability, you may find some great articles at http://www.usability.gov.
   
2. A very interesting case study on usability can be found here.
   [PDF Format. Right click and save link/target as; Courtesy Software Usability Research Laboratory - Wichita State University]
   

What should your landing page have?

1. Keep the Gold above the fold: It is most essential that the first thing your lead notices is the stuff you want him to see first. So, keep the most important information visible without requiring too much scrolling. The name of your product, the important features and the call to action (read below) are a few things that you can keep ‘above the fold’.
2. The Question: The most effective way of selling on the web is to make the prospect associate with you. And the best way of making your lead associate with you is by asking him the question that is on his mind. A salon owner who wants an appointment software for his salon would be absolutely delighted to find that somebody out there has actually made something to suit his particular needs!
3. The Assurance: Once your lead is on your Landing Page, you need to assure him that he has come to the right place. Something like “Congratulations! Your search has ended” or “You have reached the right place” would convince your lead to stay on your page for a while – thus lowering your bounce rate effectively.
4. The Answer: Now that your lead is assured of coming to the right place, you need to prove your worth to them. Give them the answers to all the questions they have in their mind. Another way of doing this is by apprising them of the benefits they will avail if they convert.
5. Call to Action: This is the most crucial component of your Landing Page: It can be a recognizable button or a small form or any visual way of prompting the lead to “do something which will change something else for good”. You may also use a ‘push’ like an arrow labeled “Get started NOW” to trigger a conversion. Remember – all the points above are not even half as critical as the call to action. So make sure you come up with the best you’ve got. I would suggest you have a look at a good list of landing pages. You will find some here at Galaxy Apps.

Landing Pages: The Essentials

So, now you know the essential ingredients required in making a near perfect landing page. I use the phrase ‘near perfect’ because perfection in itself is an imperfect state

In the next post we will talk about a few other aspects of creating effective landing pages, including a few pointers on usability and designing the perfect User Interface (UI). Till then, stay hooked to blogoxy.

Have a great week ahead!