Unless you’re a well established blogger or website designer, you’re probably constantly looking for ways to improve your readers’ experience and keep them coming back. Self-proclaimed gurus make all sorts of (often) bogus claims about what they best way to setup your site is, but they never back up these claims with real data
Enter Smashing Magazine, one of the premier sources for all that is graphic and design related. On my birthday, they wrote the gift of an article 10 Useful Usability Findings and Guidelines which are:
- Form labels work best above the field
- Users focus on faces
- Quality of design is an indicator of credibility
- Most users do not scroll
- Blue is the best color for links
- The ideal search box is 27-characters wide
- White space improves comprehension
- Effective user testing doesn’t have to be extensive
- Informative product pages help you stand out
- Most users are blind to advertising
What makes this article reliable among other design recommendations is that legitimate research was cited and used for making each of their 10 claims.
Some of these tips are not surprising like tips 4, 9, and 10, and other tips like 3 and 5 are probably common knowledge among established web designers; however, there were three guidelines that I really found useful.
Users Focus on Faces
This one was especially interesting to me because there were some findings that were a little unexpected. If you look at the two heat maps showing where users clicked, both showed that many people clicked on the baby’s face. The unexpected result was the image with the baby facing toward the text; the area where the baby was facing received a much higher concentration of clicks than the baby facing straight.
In the future when I’m picking images for my site, I’ll be keeping in mind where the images are facing.
Credits: Photographer - Wes Wolfe, Model - Leah Waddill
White Space Improves Comprehension
This is a simple one that both web designers and textbook writers could take note of. There are many sites that seem to try to cram as much information into as small of a space as possible. The sad fact is, doing so actually reduces how much the reader gets from the page’s content. Textbooks could also take a lesson form this study.
Again, this isn’t groundbreaking, but I find it shocking how many “wall of text” articles and super busy/crammed themes are out there. I even find myself guilty of not putting enough white space sometimes.
Effective User Testing Doesn’t have to be Extensive
This is actually really useful information for someone adding new plug-ins and/or changing his or her theme. The stupid things that break are often surprising and easily overlooked on your own page. Just by having 3 or 4 of your friends have a look over your site can save a ton of headache and embarrassment.
Whether or not you’ve had gurus feeding you lies, you now have proven tips to increase the usability of your site. How many of these guidelines does your blog or articles follow? Which tips surprised you? Are you planning on making any changes?
P.S. I have been shopping around for the past week for a new theme. I have narrowed my choices down to 3 and plan on choosing one this weekend. Expect to see a greatly revamped design by Monday. If you know of any themes you want to suggest for last minute consideration please let me know!
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September 30th, 2009 at 5:10 PM
I really like the white space tips. Simplicity have big power indeed.
.-= Dana@online knowledge´s last blog ..How To Check Directories Backlink =-.
September 30th, 2009 at 5:24 PM
It always amazes me which of my articles get the most traffic. There’s no telling in advance!
What’s killing me at the moment is that my design is not as good as it could be. People that take the time to read a couple of articles get it though.
.-= Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Advanced SEO IMG Element Handling For WordPress (Part I) =-.
September 30th, 2009 at 9:29 PM
Usability is key to any website. When I worked at an agency, we even went as far as using tools to measure users’ eye movement. Every little bit mattered and our Fortune 500 clients were willing to pay for scientifically proven tactics. These 10 guidelines really sum up the key points.
October 1st, 2009 at 2:04 AM
well it so painful to see readers are blind to ads.I guess it true.It is very difficult to get design which is perfect.I think the best option is go for premium theme for wordpress based blog.
.-= Zeeshan´s last blog ..101 WAYS TO PROMOTE YOUR WEB SITE =-.
October 1st, 2009 at 9:12 PM
I was surprise about tips #4 “Most users do not scroll”. I wonder how one could find any information on a website if he is not scrolling down the page. Anyway, there is an update on the list. The word “not” had been striked off.
October 1st, 2009 at 9:37 PM
Thanks for pointing that out… I did see that strike through and initially thought that they meant that most users did scroll. After reading the post it said that 77% of people will not scroll their first visit, and even less scroll their second visit.
I considered using the same exact headline, but I think it might be confusing for someone who didn’t read the original article. ;-)
I think that’s the main reason most CPM ads want to be “above the fold.”
October 4th, 2009 at 8:24 AM
The article on faces is particularly appealing. Images are something a lot of website designers don’t consider enough when putting a site together. I for one will pay a little more attention here and make sure I “point” images with faces toward text I want my readers to focus on. Thanks for the tips.
October 4th, 2009 at 6:41 PM
Thanks for the good guidelines on making a user friendly website.
October 4th, 2009 at 6:57 PM
Hey very useful guide..one more thing which I have learned is adding a scroller on the sidebar or button..which directly take you to the top or bottom of the page.. This will provide more user friendliness ….
.-= Harsh Agrawal´s last blog ..Shoutmeloud Monthly Traffic report 2009 September =-.
October 4th, 2009 at 10:14 PM
Yeah, it is crazy to me how much a layout can change your traffic. As you can see I’m trying to do a few new things to make my blog more user friendly. I think this layout is better, but I still want to make it look more customized. I also want to start pursuing other affiliates than Adsense.
October 4th, 2009 at 10:15 PM
Great advice. I was reading on Blogussion about how to make a return to top header button. Very helpful navigation tool!
October 5th, 2009 at 10:51 AM
Hello Blake,
Thank you for these tips. I will take these into consideration as I am in the process of building my website which showcases my cooking videos and recipes. I am sure to use your tips when constructing this.
Best regards,
Irfan
October 5th, 2009 at 5:44 PM
Hi Blake,
Great article, very informative! I am in the middle of establishing my own website (without any experience) and I can use such advise. Also thanks for commenting on my new articles.
October 5th, 2009 at 6:01 PM
Thanks for your comment :-)
Another really good resource for web design is Daily Blog Tips. Daniel wrote 43 web design mistakes you should avoid which I wish I had read when I first started my page.. Great stuff!
October 9th, 2009 at 3:08 AM
I liked the tips, especially #7 about white space which I have and #4 scrolling which I also have and which is not recommended. Interesting to consider.
October 14th, 2009 at 5:23 AM
just few days back i changed my blog theme to a premium theme to make it look more promising and better
October 24th, 2009 at 3:01 AM
Users focus on faces. Very interesting study, that one. That tip about white spaces is great, too. That one really helps when it comes to readability of the post
October 24th, 2009 at 9:06 AM
I thought it was really cool. I have kind of taken to the Copyblogger/Daily Blog Tips style of 1 image at the top of my posts most of the time. When I do put pictures of people, I do try to make sure they are facing links so readers stay on my page.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:21 AM
[...] of your site so their eyes are attracted to the important things. You might remember one of the 10 Guidelines to Making Your Site User Friendly was to pay attention to where faces in pictures point. That is a perfect example of how [...]
November 30th, 2009 at 3:24 AM
Hey this is a nice looking blog, I was just looking for this the other day. Pleased I finally found what I wanted.