Seven tips for user-friendly websites

With optimized usability, corporate websites can take off successfully.Increasing product sales, tying employees more closely to the company, positively influencing the public: The goals that companies pursue with their websites are very different. But they all have one thing in common: they can only achieve the desired success if they are user-friendly.1 Comply with the laws of design. The basis for a high level of user-friendliness is provided by the design laws of visual perception. These include, for example, the laws of proximity, similarity, coherence, simple continuation or the law of conciseness. Compliance with these laws is particularly important for the small screens of mobile devices.2 Comply with expectations. Over the years, certain expectations have become established among users: the shopping cart is always at the top right, the logo at the top left and the navigation at the top or in the left-hand column. Companies should not deviate from this, as this would confuse and irritate users.3 Ensure consistency. A website must always convey a clear and stringent image. Content and functions should therefore only appear in one place if possible. If certain functions have to be offered several times, it must be ensured that they always deliver the same results.4 Focus on the essentials. For websites, less is more. People cannot store very much information in their short-term memory and only very few of them are able to solve complex cognitive tasks in a short time. Websites must therefore not be overloaded and should be optimized through reduction.5 Provide feedback. Website visitors want to know about ongoing processes. However, if there are waiting times, it is often not clear to them whether a process is currently in progress or whether this is due to temporarily poor mobile network reception. A simple message about an ongoing process can prevent this.6 Speak the user's language. Users must be able to understand what is offered to them on a website, but they also do not want to be underchallenged. Companies should therefore analyze exactly what prior knowledge visitors come to their websites with and choose the right approach. After all, there is a huge difference between addressing a small specialist group and a large audience with no specialist background.7 Do not neglect loading times. Loading times are a usability aspect that is often forgotten. However, the speed of websites is a crucial success factor, as long loading times drive visitors away. Targeted technical optimization can significantly increase speed, as can the use of a content delivery network.