Unfortunately, one of the recurring challenges when an organization designs, builds, or rebuilds their website is that they forget why they are building the website. Design mock-ups turn into discussions about “oooh—I like that!” or it’s evil step-sister—“oh man, I hate that!” The design and graphical representation of the mockup often trumps website usability.
Each successive set of design reviews turn into more of a “let’s do that—can we do that over here, too?” As teams iterate on a design, they occasionally move farther away from the central questions, which are: “who are we building this site for and what are they trying to do with it?”
Website Usability
There are a number of different reasons why organizations focus more on the graphical representation of the message than the core functionality. However, the most common-example of why this happens is that when so much of the conversation turns to “how things look”, people forget to turn on the part of their brain that says “remember who we are building this for” and to consider (or even solicit) their reactions. Website usability starts with a relentless understanding of the user and the challenge you are trying to solve for them.
User-centered design
The value of incorporating user-centered design into your website are numerous. The best websites that incorporate these design principles make it easier for customers to connect and purchase services from the provider—and therein drive revenue growth. These same companies have happy employees, who are able to answer the questions they need to do their job quickly and easily. In short—a website that is designed with the user in mind will improve your relationships with your customers, partners, and employees.
Contact Freelock for an appraisal of your websites’ valuation to your company, organizational alignment, and security.
Find out what more your website can do to drive your business.