Website Usability Tips – Visual Appearance

There are many online references on usability, but it really only comes down to one question.  Does your website provide an efficient and enjoyable user experience? In order to answer this question, we need to know how to make your website an enjoyable experience for the end user.  The most important factor in making the user experience enjoyable is the structure of the website – The Visual Appearance.

The appearance includes:

• whitespace
• scrolling
• consistency

Whitespace

This a website with a load of content, yet they have managed to design their website in a way that is very enjoyable for the end user.   On the other hand, Video Sonic Lab shows the vast contrast in not using any whitespace whatsoever.

With effective use of whitespace, no matter how much content you have on your website, you can achieve a clear distinction between the page elements.

Scrolling

Most website users do not like to scroll, and many designers often go at lengths to make their designs fit nicely within the browser window.  This view was supported by usability guru Jakob Nielsen where he reported that only 10% of web users will scroll beyond the information that is visible on the screen, however he says this is no longer true.

In early studies, I found that only 10% of Web users would scroll a navigation page to see any links that were not visible in the initial display. The vast majority of users would make their selection from those links they could see without scrolling. In retrospect, I believe this was due to people treating a set of Web options like they would treat a dialog box: You always design dialog boxes so that all choices are visible (except for tabbed dialogs which are known to have severe usability problems; and the tabs do indicate the amount and nature of the hidden options).In more recent studies, we have seen that most users scroll when they visit a long home page or a long navigation screen. This change in behavior is probably due to users getting more experience with scrolling Web pages.

Jakob Nielsen – UseIt.com

The one aspect of scrolling where it is not acceptable though is horizontal scrolling, and Jakob offers up 5 guidelines for scrolling and scrollbars:

1. Offer a scroll bar if an area has scrollable content.
2. Hide scrollbars if all content is visible.
3. Comply with GUI standards and use scrollbars that look like scrollbars.  Be careful with CSS.
4. Avoid horizontal scrolling.
5. Display all pertinent information above the fold.

Consistency

Consistency applies to many elements within a website.  Some of which are the actual content language, user interface elements, layout, functionality and visual treatment.

Keys to Remember

In designing a website that leaves the user with an enjoyable visual experience, remember to use the following guidelines:

• Effective use of whitespace
• Only use scrolling when necessary
• Be consistent

If you would like to share your own tips or guidelines on usability, please drop me a line.