Usability instead of narcissism
Design on the commercial Internet is increasingly focused on user guidance
Design on the commercial Internet is increasingly in the service of user guidanceBy Clemens HörlerA website that is as funky as possible has long since ceased to be enough for commercial success on the Internet. If you confuse visitors more than you inform them, you risk losing them. Web designers face the challenge of being creative and original without overwhelming the user.
When scrawny models in Milan walk down the runway in dresses reminiscent of tattered umbrellas, the fashion czars are celebrated for their ingenuity. But their works of art are hardly suitable for everyday use; for that, they would have to be a touch more comfortable and, for example, allow the use of a streetcar.
It's a similar story with web design: the winners of design competitions are usually colorful, trendy sites that are often designed for the sake of sexy design and to show what can be done with today's technology. Websites that stand out for their particularly clear design and efficient user guidance rarely win design competitions, not least because no one would ever think of entering Amazon.com, for example, in such a competition.
For commercial websites, it's not the beauty prices that count, but the profitability of the web presence. Studies show that many consumers, if they do not immediately reach the desired goal, leave the website and try the competition. With every (unnecessary) click, the chance that the consumer will leave the website prematurely increases. Click and goodbye.
The balancing act between design and user-friendliness
"Design for people, not for yourself." This is what web guru Jakob Nielsen has been preaching for years, calling for more usability on the web. Somewhat provocatively, he lifts the extremely spartan search site Google.com onto the design pedestal and sends blinkblitzpopup.com to the penalty box.
More and more website operators are realizing that the unmistakability they always strive for must no longer be achieved at the expense of user guidance: Wild West design, navigation menus based on the miracle bag principle, inappropriate and time-consuming Flash films are already proliferating more sparsely on the major Internet sites. Especially on e-commerce sites, in portals, search services, on news pages and many corporate sites, simplicity and user-friendliness are trumps, at least more than ever before. "Our customers often no longer want the craziest design, but rather the tried-and-true; to achieve this, they also do their own research on the web and even come up with their own suggestions," says Markus Hasler, Art Director
at the Zurich-based Internet service provider Update AG.
Customers have thus become more mature and no longer allow themselves to be pulled over the coals by certain web agencies that primarily have cool design in mind that primarily satisfies the designers. Perhaps this is also due to the fact that many decision-makers are now Internet users themselves and have already been annoyed by long loading times or navigation mazes.
Nevertheless, there are still relatively few companies that take the usability of their site so seriously that they have elaborate usability tests carried out. Many are content with heuristic tests: specialists who were not directly involved in the project check a website according to proven standards and look for the most obvious errors.
Don't reinvent everything - the tried and tested also pays off
Laboratory tests are too expensive or too time-consuming for many clients. In such tests, a group of test subjects from the target group of the respective site must perform certain tasks, such as ordering a specific product, under the observation of a test leader (and a video camera). For the more sophisticated, special eyeglasses (eyemark recorders) can be used to record the exact eye movements of the test subjects as they use the website.
Large e-commerce companies like Amazon take user research very seriously, and others benefit from it: Navigation and design elements that have proven themselves with the industry leaders are copied. After all, the wheel doesn't have to be reinvented for every website. People, who are creatures of habit, may appreciate it if they feel at home right away on a website they are visiting for the first time, i.e., if they can operate with familiar navigation elements and don't have to learn new rules of the road first.
New challenges
for web designer
The fact that web design tends to be more strongly and more frequently in the service of user-friendliness than in the past does not mean, however, that web designers can no longer develop creatively and must inevitably suffocate in commercial uniformity. After all, user-friendliness and beautiful design are not mutually exclusive. After all, even clothes suitable for streetcars can be beautifully designed.
In addition, new technologies are constantly providing new impetus. Flash, for example, offers completely new possibilities for integrating dynamic processes with interfaces to databases into websites. Personalizable sites, growing bandwidths and new, smaller end devices have also constantly presented designers with new challenges in the past.
For web designers with high artistic standards, it may also be a consolation that there will still be websites in the future that amaze and confuse or even lead people by the nose with unconventional design. This is especially true for the Internet presences of art institutions and other companies with artistic aspirations, but also for brand websites and trendy stores, where fun and customer loyalty rather than factual information or the quick conclusion of a sale are in the foreground. Especially since the play instinct of fun users on the web also wants to be satisfied.
When scrawny models in Milan walk down the runway in dresses reminiscent of tattered umbrellas, the fashion czars are celebrated for their ingenuity. But their works of art are hardly suitable for everyday use; for that, they would have to be a touch more comfortable and, for example, allow the use of a streetcar.
It's a similar story with web design: the winners of design competitions are usually colorful, trendy sites that are often designed for the sake of sexy design and to show what can be done with today's technology. Websites that stand out for their particularly clear design and efficient user guidance rarely win design competitions, not least because no one would ever think of entering Amazon.com, for example, in such a competition.
For commercial websites, it's not the beauty prices that count, but the profitability of the web presence. Studies show that many consumers, if they do not immediately reach the desired goal, leave the website and try the competition. With every (unnecessary) click, the chance that the consumer will leave the website prematurely increases. Click and goodbye.
The balancing act between design and user-friendliness
"Design for people, not for yourself." This is what web guru Jakob Nielsen has been preaching for years, calling for more usability on the web. Somewhat provocatively, he lifts the extremely spartan search site Google.com onto the design pedestal and sends blinkblitzpopup.com to the penalty box.
More and more website operators are realizing that the unmistakability they always strive for must no longer be achieved at the expense of user guidance: Wild West design, navigation menus based on the miracle bag principle, inappropriate and time-consuming Flash films are already proliferating more sparsely on the major Internet sites. Especially on e-commerce sites, in portals, search services, on news pages and many corporate sites, simplicity and user-friendliness are trumps, at least more than ever before. "Our customers often no longer want the craziest design, but rather the tried-and-true; to achieve this, they also do their own research on the web and even come up with their own suggestions," says Markus Hasler, Art Director
at the Zurich-based Internet service provider Update AG.
Customers have thus become more mature and no longer allow themselves to be pulled over the coals by certain web agencies that primarily have cool design in mind that primarily satisfies the designers. Perhaps this is also due to the fact that many decision-makers are now Internet users themselves and have already been annoyed by long loading times or navigation mazes.
Nevertheless, there are still relatively few companies that take the usability of their site so seriously that they have elaborate usability tests carried out. Many are content with heuristic tests: specialists who were not directly involved in the project check a website according to proven standards and look for the most obvious errors.
Don't reinvent everything - the tried and tested also pays off
Laboratory tests are too expensive or too time-consuming for many clients. In such tests, a group of test subjects from the target group of the respective site must perform certain tasks, such as ordering a specific product, under the observation of a test leader (and a video camera). For the more sophisticated, special eyeglasses (eyemark recorders) can be used to record the exact eye movements of the test subjects as they use the website.
Large e-commerce companies like Amazon take user research very seriously, and others benefit from it: Navigation and design elements that have proven themselves with the industry leaders are copied. After all, the wheel doesn't have to be reinvented for every website. People, who are creatures of habit, may appreciate it if they feel at home right away on a website they are visiting for the first time, i.e., if they can operate with familiar navigation elements and don't have to learn new rules of the road first.
New challenges
for web designer
The fact that web design tends to be more strongly and more frequently in the service of user-friendliness than in the past does not mean, however, that web designers can no longer develop creatively and must inevitably suffocate in commercial uniformity. After all, user-friendliness and beautiful design are not mutually exclusive. After all, even clothes suitable for streetcars can be beautifully designed.
In addition, new technologies are constantly providing new impetus. Flash, for example, offers completely new possibilities for integrating dynamic processes with interfaces to databases into websites. Personalizable sites, growing bandwidths and new, smaller end devices have also constantly presented designers with new challenges in the past.
For web designers with high artistic standards, it may also be a consolation that there will still be websites in the future that amaze and confuse or even lead people by the nose with unconventional design. This is especially true for the Internet presences of art institutions and other companies with artistic aspirations, but also for brand websites and trendy stores, where fun and customer loyalty rather than factual information or the quick conclusion of a sale are in the foreground. Especially since the play instinct of fun users on the web also wants to be satisfied.
