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Congratulations. This is a free usability
review from UsabilityInstitute.com. "Usability" refers
to how easy and effective it is to use a Web site. Although
it involves how a site looks (graphic artwork), it is primarily
concerned with how a site works, what you click on, what happens,
and whether the site does its job.
- Perhaps
this review is all you need to improve your site. If that's
the case, great. Please mention UsabilityInstitute.com if
you talk with others who need help with their site. (Bookmark
this site)
- On the other hand, if you would like to put some of these
recommendations into action on your site, or get a more detailed
analysis, contact
us.
The following three sections provide a general
analysis of your website from a relatively quick review. Although
Web design is still perceived as a highly creative endeavor,
there are many aspects of it that call for standardization and
compliance with widely established conventions. Implementing
even a few of the ideas below can really improve a site.
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This
first section is intended for typical public web sites (for
products and corporate information), but also applies for
the most part to intranets and software applications that
run in a browser. We've been advocating many of these ideas—in
the context of general software—since our 1997 book,
Computers Stink, but they've been beautifully enumerated
for WWW purposes in Steve Krug's book, "Don't Make
Me Think." |
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Hover
to the right for explanation |
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Comments |
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1.
Logo in top left, linked to home |
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In all pages but not linked. |
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2.
Tagline |
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"Integrating people..."
serves as the tagline but doesn't make it clear that you
sell expertise (as opposed to just a newsletter or an association). |
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3.
Welcome blurb |
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The "Retain,
Manage, Grow..." text does the job of Welcome text,
but could be better as prose. |
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4.
Plain wording |
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"Your problems, our solutions"
surprised me; it could be FAQ. |
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5.
No 'happy talk' |
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6.
Concise wording |
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7.
Visited pages are distinguished by link color-coding |
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The Tools and
Strategies bullets in particular would benefit from color-coding. |
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8.
"Utilities" are easy to find |
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Might as well
put the address and e-mail info on home page, since it's
on all subpages... especially as a nice thing for existing
customers. |
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9.
Search on all pages, with box and button |
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Not critical for your site, but
increasingly expected (and your name has "technology"
in it). Free searches are available. |
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10.
"You Are Here" indicator |
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Page headings imply it, but the
main navigation has no indication. |
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11.
'Breadcrumbs' as links |
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Site isn't deep
enough to justify it. |
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Summation & Next Steps
After clicking around a fair amount, it looks like the site
has more content than the primary navigation suggests. The absence
of a simple outline-like site map and the lack of color-coded
links make it hard to gauge the scope of the content. I would
make a no-frills site map of the existing content and perhaps
look for a larger set of common groupings, such as "About,"
"Resources," and "Services." These might
even be just unlinked groupings on the main navigation, to highlight
the fact that a lot of readable content is under HR& the
Internet, Tools..., and Managing Technology.
—Hope this help, Jack Bellis,
UsabilityInstitute.com
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