Most often we get irritated with a site just because either we can’t find any information on it or maybe because of the site’s structure. Even as a designer sometimes clients say that their users complain as they can’t use the site, can’t find the information they are looking for or maybe simply got lost. It’s a terrible feeling for the designers.

Web Usability for Graphics Designers

Web Usability for Graphics Designers

Most of the cases graphics designers think design for web as a continuation of their works. But the truth is design although important is only one of all factors of the website’s success.

It is the usability though, or how the definition puts it “the approach to making websites easy to use for the end-user without requiring him to undergo any specific training” that can make or break the site. In other words if your site can’t be easily used by anyone, no matter how beautiful it is it will cause grief to its visitors and will most likely be quickly abandoned.

Now the question arises, how it can be ensured that users can use the site without undergoing a training beforehand? Here some simple steps those should always be remembered:

1. Build the site’s structure to be clear to the user rather not for the client.
Do not design for your client but for their users and always have that in mind. It’s very easy to create structure that only you and people you explain it to will understand.

2. Make sure that the navigation is clearly seen straight after logging onto the site and that it’s easy to use.
Avoid complicated navigation bars, make your navigation as simple for the user to operate as possible. Also place navigation in a prominent place on the screen. There are conventions for that and you probably can tell them already after viewing hundreds of sites. Stick to those conventions, they were created for a purpose.

3. Ensure that your visitor knows exactly what the site is all about after logging in.
Make sure that each page contains enough information to reveal what the company does. Remember to have that information on every page. You don’t know which page the user will land on first.

4. Tell the user clearly where he is within the site’s structure.
There are two proven techniques for that. Mark the page in the navigation where the user is. You’ve probably seen this many times before, the font may be bold and/or in different color. Or you may change graphics behind the button. The possibilities are endless but remember to mark the page the user is currently viewing.

5. Leave breadcrumbs on your track.
You have seen them many times as well, the “you are here:…” listing on a page. Breadcrumbs help the user to recreate the path they have taken to get to a place they are in now and may provide a great help, especially on large sites.

6. Test test test
This is a crucial, yet most commonly forgotten step. Always test your site for usability. Run the site by some users, be it someone you know or ask your client to present the site to a handful of his clients. No matter what you go for, always test your site before it goes live and gather feedback.

Coutesy: Pawel Grabowski