Say you’ve bought a junker of a car. The car can barely run, gets horrible gas mileage, and can be heard coming from two blocks away. You decide to take the car to a body shop to get all the welts out, as well as give the car a new paint job. You buy new tires and rims for the car, change out the upholstery, and even add in a nice sound system. You’ve invested all that time and money to change out the appearance of the vehicle, but the car still runs and sounds horrible. The car looks great, but will anybody want to drive your unreliable vehicle? At least it’ll look good broken down on the highway.
The same could be said for a particular website. You can spend all the time and energy “souping” up your website to make it look nice, but having a nice looking website isn’t going to prevent visitors from leaving and never coming back. Visitors want something more than just looks.
The Dilemma
Our jobs as designers, programmers, or web developers is never done. It seems that once a design is finished, we start thinking of things that can be tweaked, added, or taken away. It’s even worse with all the Web 2.0 speak and AJAX that seems to be everywhere. We don’t want to be left in the dust.
However, in our efforts to have the latest and greatest incorporated into designs, we may have left someone else in the dust: our visitors.
I ask each and every one of you to take the following questions into account the next time you want to add the latest and greatest feature to your website.
How do your visitors use your site now?
If you don’t know how visitors use your site, please try Crazy Egg to get a good idea of how users use your site.
If visitors are using your site as you expect them to, then there’s probably no reason to add any extra features to “assist” the visitor.
What is the impact on usability?
Usability often takes a backseat when it comes to adding website features. Visitors want your content and want it now; will the feature make it easier or harder to get to your content? Keep in mind that users like to be in control.
Here are some usability issues that may need addressing:
- Loading times
- The “Back” button
- Printing, bookmarking, and other common browser uses
For other usability concerns, please check out this website: Web Site Usability Checklist.
What’s the usefulness of the feature?
What is your site visitor getting out of the new feature? Will it be a one-time “wow” factor, or will the feature be useful for many visits to come? Visitors typically want quick and easy access to the content they are after. Will the new feature get in their way? Furthermore, will the feature even be used? If you can’t see yourself finding the feature beneficial on other sites you visit, it may be a good indication that others won’t either.
Is the feature unique?
In other words, will visitors even know how to use the feature without you telling them how to use it?
It is very unlikely that a user will take the time and effort to learn a feature that is unique to your site.
Conclusion
There are other factors that need to be taken into account when adding in new site features. I encourage the readers of this article to add their own insight in the comments. If there is enough feedback, I will write a part two that incorporates your comments.
