How much is too much? Why reach a point that says stop the madness!
Ok so far i've been talking about how designers need to start thinking, and how they need to apply usability at every step of the design process. But lets take a moment here and talk about information that constitutes a huge part of the experience the design will then ascent and accent.
Think of an article/advertisement/site that provides so much information on something that no amount of graphic or visual aid is going to release the stress the user feels while reading it. Not getting it ok lets simplify this.....
An advertisement for say a baby pamper. On the layout theres a picture not too large just about the right size and then theres information with it. Now the information consists of the name of the product, the dimensions, the quality, the price, the color, the make, the comfort, details about the company that made it, why you should buy this and not anything else, where you can find this, contact customer service, website URL, etc..
Ok so what size was the graphic.....ummmmm!! yes this is what happens in reality, even on the web. When you provide this much information all at the same time the stress you cause to the user is such a throw off that the chances of him continuing on your site or even making a sale is hard.
Now lets take the same example and provide an experience out of it at every step.
1- medium sized graphic
2- three liner description of the product, benefits, dimensions, etc..etc. all of this using the correct verbiage, simple to understand.
3- price and order option
once this has happened you move the user on to the next level where he will need contact information, other store options, discounts etc etc....
The point im trying to make is that give the user only what he needs to know at that point. Here's a little trick i apply!
Tell your self if i had only 10 seconds to say hello and ask him/her out how would i make the most of those 10 seconds and get a positive answer. It always works!!
Ok so far i've been talking about how designers need to start thinking, and how they need to apply usability at every step of the design process. But lets take a moment here and talk about information that constitutes a huge part of the experience the design will then ascent and accent.
Think of an article/advertisement/site that provides so much information on something that no amount of graphic or visual aid is going to release the stress the user feels while reading it. Not getting it ok lets simplify this.....
An advertisement for say a baby pamper. On the layout theres a picture not too large just about the right size and then theres information with it. Now the information consists of the name of the product, the dimensions, the quality, the price, the color, the make, the comfort, details about the company that made it, why you should buy this and not anything else, where you can find this, contact customer service, website URL, etc..
Ok so what size was the graphic.....ummmmm!! yes this is what happens in reality, even on the web. When you provide this much information all at the same time the stress you cause to the user is such a throw off that the chances of him continuing on your site or even making a sale is hard.
Now lets take the same example and provide an experience out of it at every step.
1- medium sized graphic
2- three liner description of the product, benefits, dimensions, etc..etc. all of this using the correct verbiage, simple to understand.
3- price and order option
once this has happened you move the user on to the next level where he will need contact information, other store options, discounts etc etc....
The point im trying to make is that give the user only what he needs to know at that point. Here's a little trick i apply!
Tell your self if i had only 10 seconds to say hello and ask him/her out how would i make the most of those 10 seconds and get a positive answer. It always works!!
posted by Rima at 12:04 AM
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