Web Design Choices and Usability
May 7th, 2006I ran across this oldie-but-a-goodie article at AListApart.com, a weekly online magazine devoted to issues surrounding the design of Web sites.
In Design Choices Can Cripple a Website, Nick Usborne shows how subtle differences in layout can make or break a page (or a site). He also shows the value of user testing to determine the effect of design on user behavior and ultimately on sales.
Personally I was surprised by which of the three designs performed the worst. The lessons I learned from this article are one, that what seems to be elegant, efficient design isn’t necessarily usable and two, that if a page isn’t performing well, don’t throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. Design tweaks can make for big results. User testing is the key. That’s who’s important. Not the designers ego, not the clients ideas, not articles about usability. Repeat after me: “it’s about the user, it’s about the user, it’s about the user….oooooommmmmmmmmmmmm.”
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