In the first part of this lesson task we were asked to answer some questions regarding our personal experience as web users.
If you search for a particular company and you cannot find a website for them, how does this shape your opinion of the company?
I would first of all find this frustrating, as I almost expect all serious companies to own a website. This would definitely make me more suspicious about using the company.
If the website of a company or business is outdated, will it be a deciding factor of whether you will support the business?
Yes, definitely. As with the previous question, it would make me more suspicious about the quality of the business.
What elements on a website will help you trust a business or company?
An overall good design that is easy to navigate and understand is the most important thing. Good use of imagery and informational text where this is required is also necessary to gain trust.
How do you feel when you come to an error page on a website? How does it influence your opinion of the company or entity to which the website belongs?
This makes the company look less professional. It could result in a negative experience that would make me avoid using this business.
If you struggle to find something on a website or don’t understand how to navigate where you want to be, will you try to contact them personally to find what you are looking for? Or will you close the window and browse to their competition?
Most likely just close the window and browse to their competition.
If you cannot find a physical address or contact details on a website, will this influence your overall opinion of the business or company?
Again, this would make me suspicious about the business.
How long will you wait for a website to load before you give up and move on to the next one?
It depends. If I have used the website/company earlier and know it well, I would probably be more patient. If this is a website that is new to me, I would probably have left it after 30 seconds of loading.
If a website has broken image links or buttons that doesn’t work, will this influence the credibility of the company or business?
Yes. This gives me the impression that the company doesn’t care enough about the users experience.
When browsing the internet on your mobile phone, how do you feel about a website if the text is too small to read or the buttons are hard to click? Will you try to visit the website from your computer, or will you lose interest?
This depends on how important the content of the website is to me. I would, to some degree, have some understanding that the website works less well on a mobile, although it is frustrating. Again, if this website is new to me, and there are a lot of competitors, I would have left it after a few seconds.
Name one thing that will make you go back to a website and one thing that will cause you to close a website window.
On an online store for instance, what makes me come back is good navigation, a simple way to purchase your items and information about products. What makes me avoid an online store is the lack of user-friendly features such as wish lists, and a bad browsing system.
I asked the same questions to two friends and made a list of five things that I think will make a website successful, and a list of five things that will create a negative experience:
Positive:
- Easy-to-understand navigation bar
- Good use of imagery and illustrations
- Information where needed
- Good readability of the text
- Sensible functions
Negative:
- Too crowded design
- Outdated look
- Links that doesn’t work
- Lack of images where expected
- Slow loading
For the second part of the task we had to provide a screenshot of two different websites; one that we consider to be good, and one that makes us frustrated.
Here’s an example of a website I consider to be good:
- There is a lot of negative space that creates breathing room
- It has a clear hierarchy of information and buttons/links — that makes sense
- Good use of color
Here’s an example of a website that causes frustration:
- There is too much information at once — it’s overwhelming
- There is no hierarchy — the content is spread evenly all over the page, and even overlaps
- There is a lot of images and links that are broken
