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Don't assume your
visitors know everything about you or your site.
No matter how clever, how smart, or how important you
think your site is, your visitors aren't going to care
if they have to fight through clever marketing terms and
confusing links.
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Treat your links
well.
Links are gateways into your site: Underline or
unequivocally identify text links and make buttons look
clickable. Write meaningful link labels. If you use
icons, label them clearly.
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Don't force users to
register until it's absolutely necessary.
On shopping sites, let users purchase without
registering; on content sites, show some content first;
on service sites, give them a sample before making them
register.
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Don't be shy.
Don't hide your contact information. Credibility comes
from easy access to your digits. If you sell products,
put your e-mail and telephone number on your homepage.
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Don't employ radical
navigation just to be different.
Some sites employ unusual navigation and terminology to
stand out from the crowd. Most of these sites eventually
retreat to conventional menu systems. Unless your site
is experiential, stick to common navigational practices.
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Keep your pages lean.
If you're peddling products, services, or information,
don't slow your users down with unnecessary graphics and
animation. Free pass to art sites, designers, and
entertainment portals catering to high-bandwidth users.
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Make your homepage a
gateway.
Your homepage should highlight the main activities of
your site. "Bubble up" content to show users what
they'll find. Define a start point for new users. Don't
let your homepage look like all your others.
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Don't hide search.
If your site has search, put a search box on every page.
If the search is limited, let the user know. Don't put
two search boxes on a page, even if they search
different areas of your site.
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Stay on message.
Keep informational copy concise. Use bullet points,
paragraph headers, and active sentences. Expunge
marketing babble. When you're done, go back and cut your
word count by half.
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Run guerilla
usability tests.
Find five people to test your site. Watch them navigate
and attempt tasks as they "think aloud" their actions.
It's a problem if more than one tester can't do or find
something. Remember, it's not the users' fault if they
have trouble: it's a design flaw.
