Usability for Web Apps

Author: Amit Kulkarni

Introduction: Web usability is an approach to make web sites easy to use for an end-user without requiring him (or her) to undergo any specialized training. The user should be able to intuitively relate the actions they need to perform on the web page with other interactions they encounter in the general domain of life (e.g., pressing a button leads to a resulting action). The broad goal of usability is as follows:

• Present the information to the user in a clear and concise way
• Give the correct choices to the users, in a very obvious way
• Remove any ambiguity regarding the consequences of an action (e.g. clicking on delete/remove/purchase)
• Put the most important thing in the right place on a web page or a web application

Web usability can be divided into several broad areas:

1. Ease of Access: The most important aspect for usability for web is “Accessibility.”

Is the site accessible with ease? The website should be accessible to everyone; it should not matter what group of users they fall into. If the website does not handle this aspect then no matter how good the contents is on your site, no one would like to have a look at them.

If accessing the website is a pain for the user then there is a decreased chance the user will visit the site again. Keeping in mind all this, the website feel and look should be taken care of from design as well as from the end-users perspective. The design of the website will vary depending on the business they are into, but the purpose remains the same, ease of access to the site. The website should also be accessible to people with disabilities in order to follow the W3C standards.  (http://www.w3.org/standards/)

E.g. ALT tags for the images. This becomes important as it helps the user with disabilities to understand what that portion is for, but also it helps when the user is running on low internet.

The colour schema for the site is mostly decided by the dedicated design team but we can certainly add value by making sure that everything looks good for an end user.

2. Clarity of Communication: Every website has a purpose behind it and the user should be informed about that.  The user should be informed about the business, and all the relevant information necessary to entice the user to trust it when they visit it.

The user should understand the purpose of the website before they try to access it for more information. If the information is not conveyed in the right way to the user, then it will be likely that the user starts complaining about missing information.

The proper information is displayed at the proper place for the user with no hassle in figuring out how to get that.

E.g. The links for the basic information about the site like “About Us” or if the user have query that need to be answered then the link for “Contact Us” should be well in place. This certainly gives the insight of the website to the user and relevant links which are useful to the user should be made available.

The brand of any website is their logo and that is vital information. The logo for any website should be in sync with the relevant industry they are in.

3. Content:  The important portion for any website is the content it holds. The content should be clear and easy to understand for the user, and should speak to the level of the users that you want visiting. The home page of the website should have balance of contents and design element, and the required information or links that the user might like to have access to. From any underlying webpage of the site, the user should have an option to be quickly sent back to the main page.

If the information is provided in form of files; users should be allowed to download them and they should expect to have the appropriate contents within it. The reading of the content should be interactive to the user keeping in mind the business objectives.

E.g. The URLs or the links places on the site should be descriptive enough to make the user understand what it is for, and at the same time concise.

Contents should have proper heading with appropriate use of “bold”, “italic” at the appropriate places that can really attract the users.

4. Navigation:  Navigation is another important aspect for any website. The type of navigation does not matter; whether they fall into one-tier, two-tier or even three tiers but it should be easily accessible. There is always way out for the user to get back to the home page from any part of the site.  

The links across the website should be consistent, and follow the same style and colour schema. The navigation part is in such a way that the new user or visitor to the site will not get lost at any part of the website.

E.g. Company logo should be linked to the home page for the easy access for the user of getting back to the home page.

If the site allows the feature of “Site Search” which is vital nowadays in order to get quick access to the information required. The proper implementation and location is taken care of keeping in mind the design element for your site.

Web usability is a continuous process as the design and other element changes for the site. The important thing for any website though their target audience. It is very important to get the surveys done from the representatives of your target audience for your website as that gives you some more idea, and if something needs to be changed.

The aim for usability testing is to understand the way people use the site and note down any errors, as well as the areas of improvement in certain parts.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_usability