e-commerce project

Skip to Main Contents

I was curious about "skip to main content link" mentioned in our class book, so I looked it up. Good stuff!
http://www.webnauts.net/skip-to-main-content.html
http://webaim.org/techniques/skipnav/

Week 6 Reading Response and Links

Chapter 10, “Usability as a common courtesy,” if only everyone could use web common courtesy! The author boiled it down to a “goodwill reservoir.” If a user visits a site full of goodwill and encounters obstacles, their goodwill diminishes and affects future use of the site and their overall vision of the company. Goodwill can be replenished or depleted depending on the user’s situational goodwill when entering a site – i.e., how many sites have they been to before yours and is their goodwill reservoir already low?

Depleting User’s Goodwill:

• Hiding info, i.e. shipping rates, prices, customer phone numbers
• Requesting information that isn’t needed for the particular circumstances
• “Bedazzle” – flash usage or cumbersome ads that are in the way to what the user needs
• Amateur design

Replenishing Goodwill:

• Displaying the obvious points/needs
• Being up front
• Save the user extra steps
• Make content useful
• FAQ – updated and candid
• Comfort luxury – like printable pages
• Error recovery
• Apologize – let the customer know you’re aware of a situation but can’t fix it

Chapter 11, Accessibility - first and foremost, it’s the law, as indicated in Section 508 of the Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act. I think we’ve come a long way in web design since the author’s book came out in 2006. Better developer tools are here, CSS has made real progress and all browsers use it. But the basic principles the author points out are still the best advice:

• Fix the usability problems that confuse everyone – if it confuses the average users than it’ll certainly confuse a handicapped person even more. User testing will point out what confuses the “average user.”
• Read an article or book, surf the web, attend conferences – keep up to date on web conventions and accessibility tools and understand the software and hardware that handicapped persons are using.
• When using CSS: use the alt text for images; use form decorum by using HTML label elements; create a “skip to main content” link; make content accessible by keyboard; client side image maps instead of server side maps.

Web Accessibility for Section 508

By Jim Thatcher
Jim Thatcher.com, 7/30/11
http://www.jimthatcher.com/webcourse1.htm

Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, accessed 8/22/11
http://www.w3.org/WAI/

Wave – web accessibility evaluation tool
accessed 8/22/11
http://wave.webaim.org/

3 thumbs up!!!!

25-point Website Usability Checklist

Usereffect – Strategic Web Usability, accessed 8/22/11
http://www.usereffect.com/topic/25-point-website-usability-checklist

E-Commerce wireframe

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eCommerce thumbnails

Week 5 Reading Response and links

I could easily relate to chapter 8 because of my most recent position as a graphic designer in a Communications department. I had to answer to a supervisor, who answered to a marketing director, who answered to the CEO, who answered to a board! We had one web guy and I recall that when we were revamping the website they had usability test done. A lot of discussions went on over each department’s territory. So I’ve seen the cowboy vs. the farmer scenario in practice! It’s true that folks tend to project their personal opinions to “everybody” or the “average user.”

The designer and developer comparison as the cultures of hype and craft hit home. Hype culture defined as upper management, marketing and business development; and craft, being designers and programmers. Invariably these groups do have different objectives. But the big picture is that they have the same goal, just different ways to get there. As I was reading I thought, “How do you fix this?” Getting over the myth that there’s an “average user” is a good start. All web users are unique and each use the web differently with different goals offset by experiences. Another answer is to do testing, which leads to chapter 9.

Chapter 9 is all about usability testing, not to be confused with focus groups. The difference between the two comes down to reactions. A focus group will have a group reaction and a usability testing will have individual reactions. Focus groups should be used before beginning the web design. Usability testing will tell you if people can actually use your site. The author recommends testing four people with each test, test early, test often, and keep it simple. Anyone can do the testing but someone with patience is recommended. Invite everyone involved to the test including management. Record what the test users are doing on the screen. Review the results immediately following the test and decide on what needs to be fixed and problem solving. I especially appreciated the usability script that the author includes at the end of the chapter. It helps me to understand and focus on how to do a test. And do it in a way that gets results.

Usability Testing Demystified
By Dana Chisnell
A List Apart, 10/6/09
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/usability-testing-demystified/

Why you only need to test with 5 users
By Jakob Nielsen
Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, 3/19/2000
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000319.html

Morae – usability testing and marketing research software
TechSmith, 8/15/11
http://www.techsmith.com/morae/uses.asp

eCommerce Moodboard

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eCommerce Concept Statement

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Week 4 Reading Response

Chapter 7 focuses on the home page of a website. The home page contains a good bit of info: site identity and mission; site hierarchy (content, features, persistent navigation); a search function; teases (promos); timely content; deals; shortcuts (to regularly used links); and registration (if applicable). That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

I like the analogy that a “home page is like waterfront property; everyone wants a piece of it” but there isn’t enough to go around. There’s so much the home page has to convey to the user, and it has to be done well and at a glance. One of the most important goals is to convey the big picture – “make it clear what the sites is.” Does it answer: What is this? What do they have here? What can I do? Why should I be here and not somewhere else?

Most users will probably try to guess what the site is first from the overall content of the home page. I’ve noticed that I scan a website, especially the book example, and do just that – what does it look like at first glance, is this something I’m interested in, where’s the stuff I need?

Some of what I read was timely information, for example the welcome blurb shouldn’t be the mission statement. I’m currently working on a class project for an actual client and they do exactly that. The information about the tagline is good to keep in mind as well. While it may be obvious, some key points in a tagline are: be clear and informative, use six-to-eight words to convey a full thought, and convey the benefit – what makes it great.

Week 4 Reading Links

Bradley, Steve (Dec. 22, 2009). How to design an effective home page. Vanseodesign. Aug. 7, 2011
http://www.vanseodesign.com/web-design/home-page-design/

Powazek, Derek (Jan. 30, 006). Home Page Goals.A List Apart. Aug. 7, 2011
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/homepagegoals/

Szuc, Daniel (Aug. 6, 2007). Home Page Design. UXmatters. Aug. 7, 2011
http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2007/08/home-page-design.php

User Experience and design

Good stuff on designing web sites.

Final Portfolio

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