November 6, 2014No Comments

10POINT Optimization – Make it Usable

I bet you're a lot like me – you've probably visited a truck-ton of websites over the years – and more than likely most of them left little or no lasting impression. Don't worry, it's not your fault, your memory's not failing, most websites just aren't that good. There, I said it. Most websites are lackluster attempts at mediocre marketing. As of this writing there were 1,107,074,500 websites live online. Yep, that's over a billion, and currently the number grows at the rate of about 600 per minute.

Let's face it, these days it takes a great deal of effort to design a website that breaks through the clutter and gets your brand noticed. And, brace for it, it takes even more to satisfy the customer once they've found you. But that's exactly what you're gonna have to do if you want to make it in todays digital marketplace. So let's embrace the challenge and determine to be a cut above the rest. In my last post I introduced the idea of the 10POINT optimization plan. This week we're gonna take a quick look at the first of those 10 points, Usability.

Now let's not kid ourselves, usability is not a single blog post kind of topic. Many folks have spent their entire careers trying to crack this nut. Volumes of books, dissertations, white papers and marketing plans have been devoted to the subject. But while we can't do such a topic justice in short order, burying our heads in the sand in hopes it takes care of itself won't get us very far either. What I'll attempt to do here is to lay some actionable ground work and point you in the right direction for more information so you can approach your own project well armed.

So what is usability? The working definition reads: "The ease of use and learnability of a human-made object." Seems simple enough, right? But what does that really mean when it comes to evaluating your website design? How do you know if your site is usable? Over the course of the last decade I've performed more than my share of usability evaluations. And while many of them took the form of complicated spreadsheets, graphs, charts and PowerPoint decks, what I'm going to recommend here is a bit more direct. If you really want to get a good sense of your sites' state of usability, simply ask yourself these few basic questions:

  1. Is my website easy for my customers to navigate? Can they get where they want to go without frustration?
  2. Do my forms and purchase platforms operate seamlessly? 
  3. Am I providing the content my customers need and want in order to make a decision?
  4. Do my customers recommend my site to others?

If you answered 'no', or even 'I'm not sure' to any of the above, then you're probably going to want to invest some more time digging into your site's details. Small things like broken links, dead-end pages, images that do not render, slow page load times and a dozen other seemingly small details easily derail customers from their online journeys. If you've determined that your site needs a little help and want to dig in and make changes, let me share with you a few resources that can help.

But what do ya' do if you're still not sure how their site's stacks up to their customer's expectations. Maybe you fall into that group. Truth be told I've worked with Fortune 500 CMOs who, if being honest, couldn't adequately answer the above questions. It's just the nature of the beast. Most folks are just too busy or focused on some other aspect of the business to have a real sense of how their website is performing. So, I'm going to offer another simple solution, One that is often overlooked or dismissed as being too costly or time-consuming (neither, by the way need be true). Ask your customers. That's it. Take the time to seek the opinion of those who matter most, the ones you're trying to serve.

 

October 22, 2014No Comments

Content Audit Resources Worth Sharing

Recently a content audit proposal crossed my desk. It had been a few months since I had focused solely on an audit and wondered what might have changed in the space since my last rodeo. A quick look around the web assured me that the basics were still the basics, and I was immediately reminded of just how many smart folk there are working in this space. Not only smart, many of these guys are crazy generous as well. After several hours of catching up,  downloading templates and comparing example audits it dawned on me that these resources and by extension their authors deserved sharing. Whether your about to perform you first audit or gearing up for number next, you'll be sure to find some valuable tips from these pros. So without further ado, here's direct access to some content audit awesomeness you and your teams will no doubt benefit from. Enjoy.

  • The Content Inventory is Your Friend by Kristina Halvorson remains a great primer.
  • Looking for a great book on the subject? Check out this Content Strategy for the Web from Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach. Bonus tip: while you're there download a free chapter of their book.
  • Coleen Jones and her team over at Content Science are offering some great workshop for 2015.
  • The gang from UX Mastery have a great how-to article on performing a content audit and even offer a sample spreadsheet to give ya a kickstart.
  • Ngen Works has allowed access to their UX workflow and process wiki which includes some real nuggets. Check it out, these guys are the real deal.
  • Just the facts ma'am. If you're new to this kinda thing and are looking for the basics, Usability.gov has some starter info for ya. Here's another one from them.

Clearly there are loads of good intel out there to help get you started on your next content audit. And while I'm admittedly a big fan of standing on the shoulders of giants (the view is quite nice), I'm also an advocate of rolling up sleeves and sluggin' it out old school. Yep, I'm talking about biting the bullet, opening that XL spreadsheet and jumping in with both feet. Content audits may not be the sexiest deliverable in our UX toolkit, but they're also not rocket science. With a fair dose of patience, a little guidance from those who've gone before and maybe some crunchy new tunes pulsing through your ear buds you're a shoe-in for this kind of thing.

So, go on, get after it. Your customers will be glad you did. And when you've got the audit in the can, drop me a line and let me know what you learned along the way.

 

January 29, 2014No Comments

Quote of the Day

Design cannot rescue failed content.

January 14, 2014No Comments

Resolve to Slow Progress and the Power of Three.

I know, I know. New Year's resolutions are so last month. Every year we make a new list, power out of the gate like nobodies business. Then just as quickly we lose steam. By February, most of us have already suffered the usual fate – another swing, and a miss. Our intentions are good, but our resolve is weak. Let's face it, the act of resolving is exciting, but the reality of remaining resolved is tough. Most of us are just aren't good at the long game.

This year I decided to approach my resolutions a bit differently. There were a lot of things I wanted to tackle, too many things actually. And in aggregate they seemed big. Really big! Then it hit me, why not take my cue from the Aesop's fable of the tortoise and the hare. Most of us remember the moral of the story – slow and steady wins the race. Intuitively we understand this parable, yet we keep having to be reminded. This year instead of committing to big, unobtainable, less actionable goals, I'm going to try breaking those life-changers in small bite size chunks and bank on the power of slow & steady. If the idea plays true, small changes applied consistently over time should yield big wins.

The next question was how to make this micro-commitment model scalable. I needed to put some flesh around the idea. I needed to be able to repeat it across the various areas of my life. So, I decided to use the number three and the increment of 7 days as the constants in the equation. Here's the formula I settled on:
----------
Big goal divided by 3 small actions per/week multiplied over time equals success.
----------

One of my 2014 resolutions is to reduce the clutter in my home. Trust me this is no small task. I can really pack things away. In fact I think nowadays they refer to us nostalgic types as hoarders. So, harnessing the power of  slow and steady, I determined to lessen my possessions by 3 things per week. I could pass them along to friends or family, or just toss 'em out, but 3 things had to go. It's only been a few weeks but I can attest to the power of this small equation. It takes so little time to make these micro decisions and acting on them is easy too. Now, to see if I can stick with it.

 

 

Portfolio of Todd Chambers | Copyright © 2021 | wtoddchambers@gmail.com

Portfolio of W. Todd Chambers | Copyright © 2018 
 
wtoddchambers@gmail.com

Linkedin
twitter