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In all facets of design, we’ve seen many variations on the notion of accessibility. While one medium evolves from the roots of another, certain ideals persist and others vanish. Sometimes, tradition impedes advancement… at others, ambition clouds solutions easily delivered through tried methods.
The Internet is a tangle of opinions on such issues. Even “standards” seem to suffer from differences. Fortunately, there are those whom have traversed multiple mediums and can speak to these issues from experience. Kimberly Krause Berg of UsabilityEffect.com, took a break from the standard SEO chat at Search Engine Strategies to discuss issues of usability with the WebProNews crew.
Berg asserts that “This [usability and accessibility] is not an afterthought.” Few would argue… yet it seems that many fewer heed such advice.
On iconic examples, such as site navigation patterns, she’s quick to point out flaws in the “norm.”
“Most sites will say ‘products,’ ’services,’ ‘about,’ contact.’ This tells you absolutely nothing about what they do. If you add ‘about my company…’ ‘about me…’ ‘about usability services…’ you being to get an idea about what the product or services are about.”
Sounds minuscule, even pointless to some… yet even the smallest tweaks can deliver stunning improvements.
“[This] can be as simple as changing a link label.”
In all it’s glossy, round-cornered, gradient-laden, glory… certain aspects of usability seem to escape the larger “Web 2.0″ trend. At its core, web design is not about aesthetics. When presented with clients’ designs, Berg is very specific on this.
“I need to perform a task on that site. Then I can accurately tell them ‘I was successful at this,’ ‘I wasn’t,’ ‘Here’s where I had a problem,’ or ‘I didn’t have a problem.’ It’s not my idea of what’s beautiful or not. Who cares what I think… but it does matter if I can find what I want.”
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Osagie Irowa. Having a website with all the bells and whistles is useless if you are not converting website visitors into paying customers, increasing sales. Website usability is important, however, like with Google, website simplicity and value content is what keeps the money coming in for me. My niche is creating, setting up cheap websites with value content that leads visitors to make purchases online.
I also agree with the statement ” it doesn’t matter how the site looks, as long as it works and brings in sales”. regards, osagie irowa.
Ouch can you say “under construction” see: http://usabilityeffect.com/press.html
[...] La optimización de las Web se a echo algo muy importante en estos tiempos, sobre todo cuando los buscadores, son cada dÃa mas exigentes con las normas. Aquà un video con Kimberly Krause Berg, donde se exponen ideas sencillas para optimizar nuestras Web. [...]
[...] Zit ik er nu erg ver naast als ik zeg dat het interview met usability consultant Kimberly Krause Berg tijdens de Chicago SES 2006 voornamelijk uit open deuren bestaat? In feite geeft ze dat tijdens het gesprek zelf ook wel aan wanneer heel elementaire do’s and don’ts met betrekking tot vormgeving van websites ter sprake komen. De video is afkomstig van WebProNews Video Blog en duurt zo’n 9 minuten. [...]
My work for my clients does back me up. It is their companies I work for, which leaves me little time for my own 4 websites
However, I agree. The UE and Cre8pc sites have been sadly neglected, which is being remedied. Thank you for your comments Mike.
yes, it matters how it looks. people can talk all they want to but their work should back it up … please research usability and let me know if you wish to change your statement
Well, it doesn’t matter how it looks. It matters if it works. Did you watch the video?
[...] To hear me talk about usability, at SES Chicago in December, see On Aesthetics and Usability in Design </tt></p> [...]
For someone who speaks of usability, her site UsabilityEffect.com, is down right awful, terrible nav, etc etc