Assignment 3 submitted

Phew! What a relief! I just submitted assignment 3 for NED23... It was challenging, enjoyable and beneficial to my learning all at the same time.

I learnt SO much in terms of what I thougth people did when they browsed sites and what they actually do...

Here is an excert from my assignment.

According to web usability guru, Steve Krug, “if you want a great site, you’ve got to test’” (Krug 2006). Therefore, in order for me to build a superior website, I have conducted usability testing on three competing websites, namely, http://www.lomography.com, http://www.kodakgallery.com and http://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography.

As discussed in assignment two, I aim to create a website based on toy camera photography, with a particular focus on the Holga camera. Through research conducted for the previous assignment, I have found that in terms of direct competition www.lomography.com poses the biggest threat to my website. Although, as all three websites I have tested come under the broad topic of photography, It is probable that I will be competing for website ‘hits’ with any one of these sites as well as with a plethora of others.

As many Internet users locate websites through search engines such as www.google.com and www.yahoo.com I will aim to ensure that my site is easy to find through use of search engine optimization (SEO). There is no point in creating a great website if it is unlikely to be found amongst the near endless amount of other pages online.

Although it is difficult to determine the ways in which search engines rank websites, it is believed that a website with good overall usability will not only help human users of the site to enjoy the content of it. Good usability is also likely to assist other technologies to sift through and find relevant content on the site in order to improve a page’s ranking on various search engines.

Therefore, usability testing will make it easier for Internet users to not only locate my site, but also ensure that once they enter my site that they feel comfortable and enjoy their time. Ideally, this combination of ease of location and use will help to prevent a user from viewing a competing site over mine.

Conducting usability testing has made me aware of the differences in opinion shared by web users. As a web designer, it is dangerous and ignorant to assume that all users of a site share the same ideas on usability that you do.

The most surprising finding through web usability testing was the realisation that all candidates had expectations of where certain items on a web page should be placed. When these items were not found where they were expected to be, the user became displeased.

“Users have grown accustomed to looking in certain areas on a screen to find specific items” (Bernard 2001). It is therefore crucial to ensure that objects are placed where people expect them to be when building websites.

Tested users also expected a page to load as quickly as possible. A wait time within 10 seconds is also recommended by Nielsen in an article written by Selvidge (Selvidge 1999).

Participants of the survey also seemed unhappy when a page was too cluttered. This highlights Bernard’s findings which state that in order for a website to have good usability it must include a balance of content and white space. (Bernard 2000).

Failure to adhere to the above recommendations may increase the likelihood of a user leaving your website.

Finally, although web standardisation may not allow a great deal of flexibility or creativity to a design, it appears that users are more concerned with the usability of a site, than the sheer design of it. It is therefore essential to ensure that good usability is a primary factor when creating any website.

Almost there!!

I really need to post some images of potential layouts.. That's next on my list.

Peta