Technology: world wise web design

The web 2.0 - you've probably heard the phrase, but what does it mean? Ultimately, it's about giving internet users far more control over the types of interactions that they want with websites. The hype surrounding 2.0, however, has tended to focus on the technology, but it is essentially about engaging with people.

The pace of change is so rapid that organisations need to develop a digital strategy to create appropriate and compelling online experiences for both clients and employees. For accounting and financial services, this means bringing practitioners and clients closer together. Where large accountancy firms, for example, have local teams working collaboratively for global clients, the framework allows virtual practitioners to collaborate as if working physically side by side.

From a business perspective, an effective user experience is one that meets an organisation's objectives by influencing a user to behave in a certain way. This is valid for both internal and public-facing websites, where online conversion takes place when a user makes a positive decision to interact. The ideal model should be an overarching platform that allows for the smooth transition from an initial anonymous visit to the site to registering and engaging as an authenticated user.

Collaboration needed

Unfortunately, most intranet portals remain hierarchical and fail to foster collaboration. To fully embrace Enterprise 2.0 (the term for web 2.0 tools and social collaboration tools within an organisation), intranets must enhance the experience by including more two-way interactive capabilities like contextual discussion groups, blogs and personalised RSS feeds.

Although organisations are exploring ways of incorporating 2.0 concepts into their websites, most are not approaching this holistically. Some are taking an IT-centric approach to the technology, while others are looking at the potential business benefits through improved communication and collaboration. Simply adding individual, technical elements like wikis and blogs, though, misses the point because it fails to embrace the whole user experience.

Until now, companies have controlled how their products, services and brands are portrayed online through their websites. Creating and updating content has always been one of the most time-consuming aspects of maintaining a website.

With the shift to self-service, users are contributing their own content, reacting to others and creating their own experiences. Rather than 'content-to-people', it is becoming more about 'people-to-people'. Managing content will still be relevant, but the decision as to whether or not to moderate new content contributed by users will be a growing issue for many organisations.

Content design

Interactive capabilities are also affecting overall design. Although sites will have web pages for the foreseeable future, the focus will be on content design. Users are already able to subscribe to content via RSS feeds and even imbed pieces of content directly into other web pages. As a result, it is becoming less certain that they will even visit your site so content will need to stand on its own and in different contexts.

Navigation will continue to be important, using information architecture to organise and label information so that it is easy to find. Users increasingly rely on more socially-derived viral cues such as recommendations. This is also influencing search, with users tagging content and telling other users what content is popular, related or important.

The essence of 2.0 is the web's evolution into a social-user experience. Whatever a site's conversion goal, it is now about people rather than products and services. This requires a new take on usability, which has until now focused on evaluating the rational, behavioural aspects of user experience - for example, whether people can learn to navigate the site or access information easily.

While these issues are still relevant, website design must be persuasive, as well as elicit emotion and trust to trigger the decision-making process. Website usability must now address the much broader concept of user experience, one that encompasses people acting on variables they are not consciously aware of. The difference now is whether users will want to do something as opposed to simply being able to do it.

The emergence of web 2.0 means that it is no longer adequate for organisations to reflect their organisational structure through a separate .com, intranet and extranet. Changes in strategy are required so that digital communication channels engage users in a meaningful way beyond the traditional, one-way, firewall legacy. A digital strategy is not a luxury for an organisation. It should be an intrinsic part of its business plan and reinforced by an understanding of its market segments.

Design guidelines:

• Avoid static, brochure-like websites ¬ web pages are not brochures

• Keep it simple ¬ the majority of people view technology as a means to accomplish something, not as an end in itself

• Design must be user-centred to meet people’s needs and expectations

• Understand users’ motivations and mindsets and design accordingly

• Understand that content is no longer a one-way process with an organisation as the sole conduit

• Avoid incorporating design features unless they serve a purpose

• Incorporate principles of persuasion, emotion and trust into the design to improve users’ experiences

• Make it easy and intuitive for users to be contributors

• Humanise the online experience by encouraging users to rate/score/review information and services provided

• Include a clear privacy policy that can be easily found and understood

• Remember, usable means easy to learn, hard to forget and easy to explain=

Jerome Nadel is chief experience officer of Human Factors International

www.humanfactors.com

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