Usability: Man that’s a cool website...but is it easy to use?

May 15, 2009 – By John Feilen

Everyday countless blogs and articles are written discussing the latest and coolest websites, technology and newest social networking tools that are going to change our lives. As we continue to consume more content, purchase items and connect with people whom we’ve never actually met via virtual communities, one of the most important factors in building websites and technologies is usability. The goal of the designers and information architects is not to challenge the user in order to showcase their toolbox but to allow them to feel comfortable, effortlessly purchase items and complete desired tasks.

A well designed website should do the following:

1. Show products/services available in the initial navigation.
2. Allow the user to easily search and sort desired products/content.
3. Help the customer checkout or complete tasks easily and with little thought.
4. If products are not available for purchase online, tell customers where to buy.
5. Reinforce companies’ brand.

Following are 3 consumer goods websites that elegantly achieve the above in the categories of marketing, eCommerce and portal.

Marketing

TOM FORD – www.tomford.com

Tom Ford’s website strongly reinforces his brand; giving us a strong idea of what his company and clothing are about at the initial logon. Cleary showcases his products, leveraging sophisticated but clear photography and tells us where we can buy his merchandise. Navigation is always present, easy to understand and offered in three different languages.

eCommerce

TARGET – www.target.com

Target successfully offers thousands of items online leveraging well-organized information architecture, roll-over dropdown menus and excellent search capabilities. Products are easy to find, view and purchase. While selecting items, the option is given to add to Target Baby Registry, CLUB WEDD or TargetLists as well as shopping cart, making it easy to build your online registries.

Portal

NETFLIX – www.netflix.com

Netflix features a queue that is easy to navigate, allows the user to quickly browse through movie titles and sort by various criteria. Also, Netflix delivers several titles for viewing online; this means you don’t have to wait on the US postal service and significantly cheaper distribution for Netflix.

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