Everyone who is involved in web design has made the mistake of not having their website properly evaluated by a third party. It took a helpful user (Thanks Neville!) for me to realize that I had done the same myself on this very site! While I advocated consistency in link underlining, the titles of my articles were not underlined, contrary to all other links on my site.

Objectivity is at the heart of creating a user-friendly website, yet it is one thing that cannot be achieved by the people involved in its design. Why?

1) You can’t pretend not to know

Once we know something, we cannot un-learn it. Try to look at the image below without reading it:

Your brain decodes the word, and there’s nothing you can do to prevent it. Now look at this word:

If you don’t speak Hindi, you will probably notice the curves, dots and swirls of the letters or even decide if you like the look of this alphabet or not. Have you ever considered these details while reading English? Probably not.

If you know that clicking on a certain graphic will take you to a feedback form, you can’t pretend not to know. Every time you visit your site, your brain will know where things are and you will mistakenly believe that your site is easy to use, although in reality it may be quite confusing.

2) You are biased


You love that shade of green, you chose the design, you created that awesome graphic! How likely is it that you’ll realize that the cool animated intro you love is making people confused?

Whether you are a business owner or a designer, it’s normal to take it personally. You put a lot of yourself in the design, choose the colors, decide where to place what, etc. However, be careful not to let your artistic pride get in the way of good business sense!

3) You won’t see the problems

“Inattentional blindness” is the phenomenon of not being able to see things that are actually there. Our brain assumes that certain things are not important enough to be called to attention, so we don’t “see” them, even if they are within our field of vision. The most effective way to illustrate this it is by taking this fascinating test: (Click on the image below, and follow the instructions.)

There are many reasons why we notice some things and not others. It may be that we have seen the same screen so often that nothing in particular catches our attention anymore. Or perhaps we have clicked the same links repeatedly and developed automatic responses.

When we learn to perform tasks automatically, we stop paying attention to what we’re doing and focus on other things, which prevents us from noticing if anything has changed. People who frequently drive using the same route sometimes report not remembering actually driving to their destination. Why is that? They are extremely familiar with all aspects of their route, so they don’t need to pay attention. The brain relies on automated processes, allowing them to “zone out” and think about other things.

Get a second, third and fourth opinion!

We are incapable of perceiving things any differently than our own experiences, senses and thoughts will allow. That experience is unique to each person and can’t be faked. There is no substitute for a fresh pair of eyes.

To get a realistic picture of how people will react to your website, you need input from several individuals. A usability professional can help you set up simple tests with real users that will effectively uncover problem areas within your site.

For more information :

• “Inattentional Blindness” and Conspicuity (Visual Expert Human Factors)
• Inattentional Blindess on Wikipedia

Do you have “under construction” notices or graphics on your website? Do you perhaps think that it makes it look more dynamic, that it gives the impression that “things are happening”? If so, you are not alone. Google search results for “under construction” number in the millions, from small businesses to major corporations. Such notices, however well-intentioned, can do a lot of damage to your credibility.

These credibility-killers usually appear in the following situations:

• The upcoming website
  Often used as a “placeholder” for a site that is not built yet, this is the equivalent of having a “Sorry, we’re closed” sign on your website. While physical stores do close, your website doesn’t.
• The unfinished website
  The site is published, but several sections available to visitors are not finished. By doing this, you are in fact saying that your information is unreliable.
• The link to a page that doesn’t exist yet
  This one is especially sneaky and frustrating for users: they click on a link that they believe will lead to the information they want, only to be met with a “This page is under construction” message when they get there.
• The “teaser”
  Adding an icon after an item, indicating that it is not currently available. Like its cousin, “Coming soon!”, it frustrates visitors because you are showing them something they need but can’t have. They need it now, not “soon”.

What is so wrong with “under construction” notices?

Stating the obvious doesn’t look professional
Websites are always “under construction”. The web being a dynamic medium, it is easy to update as often as needed. There is no need to state the obvious. Doing so, in fact, shows visitors that you do not recognize the effect your website can have on your corporate image.

Giving people incomplete information makes you look like you don’t care
If you are not ready to publish something, wait until it is complete before doing so. Just because it is easy to put something up on a website doesn’t mean you should. By publishing incomplete information and by labeling it as unreliable (”under construction”), you are in fact showing that you don’t care enough to provide quality content. Would you give a prospective client a handwritten paper instead of a professionally printed brochure?

It goes against best practices of web design
No designer worth his fee will use this method while developing a website. A good designer is aware of how websites are perceived by users and aligns his suggestions with your business goals. A well-designed site is the #1 factor that determines if visitors will trust your website; it’s worth the investment.

Valid issues, wrong solution

There are valid issues underlying the use of “under construction” notices; however, other solutions are far more effective and won’t hurt your reputation.

Issue: You want to show that your site is being actively updated
Solution: Display a “last modified” date on each page; visitors will be confident that you are updating your site regularly.

Issue: You want to announce that you will shortly publish information
Solution: If you must announce something in advance, make sure you provide the date when such information will be available, and respect it! The terms “soon” and “upcoming” are vague and will not be taken seriously.

Issue: You want to motivate people to come back to your site
Solution: The only way to reliably get people to come back to your site is by providing current, quality information they need. No amount of “Come back soon!”, animated graphics or hype will change that.

Issue: You want to add some life to your site by adding graphics
Solution: Graphics are tricky; if not used properly, they can easily undermine your credibility. Hire a qualified designer to translate your vision to the web.

For more information:
Consumer Reports WebWatch Investigation: How do People Evaluate a Website’s Credibility?
Website design aesthetics
Top 7 Usability Blunders Of The Big Players

Using images as navigation on a website is very difficult to do well. People are most likely to look at text first; images that look like advertisements or have a purely decorative aspect are often ignored. Jakob Nielsen, a leader in usability research, conducted a study in which the eye movements of users were recorded. His conclusion regarding text vs graphics:

Text Attracts Attention Before Graphics
Of users’ first three eye-fixations on a page, only 22% were on graphics; 78% were on text. In general, users were first drawn to headlines, article summaries, and captions. They often did not look at the images at all until the second or third visit to a page.

In the screen capture below, which images do you think are links?

The same page, with the image links outlined in red:

The five bottom images are not only links, they are the only direct way to get to very important information (information for, respectively: men, women, children, sexual health and mental health). Because there is no indication that these pictures lead anywhere (and the fact that they are located at the very bottom of the page), it is unlikely that anyone will click them.

This is so common that a new term was coined to describe it: “Mystery Meat Navigation“. Wikipedia defines this term as:

Mystery meat navigation (also abbreviated MMN) is a term (…) to describe user interfaces (especially in websites) in which it is inordinately difficult for users to discern the destinations of navigational hyperlinks or, in severe cases, even to determine where the hyperlinks are.

On this particular site, navigation could be greatly improved by:

1. Reducing the size of the huge photo on top of the page: it takes up a lot of room and is not likely to be a frequently visited section.
2. Moving the important information to the top of the page.
3. Combining text with images (add a description of the link under each image)

For more reading on the subject:

• Usability drawbacks of image based navigation systems (www.nirdagan.ca)