Usability Rules

Much of what has already been discussed in previous chapters focuses on what usability rules to follow and which techniques to use when designing Web sites. Emphasizing on rules and guidelines always helps build a good and organized foundation but Web site and information designers cannot blindly follow those rules all of the time. This chapter discusses the impact of the overall emotional experience when a person visits a Web site. Rather than focusing on how to correctly arrange elements on a Web page for a perfect usability solution I'd like to discuss different types of elements that add to the user experience without compromising usability and function. Not all Web sites can follow a single architecture or form to communicate their messages.

Communicating an Experience

Today communicating is not always about a single message but an entire experience. One of the reasons the Web and the Internet has gained in popularity is not only because of its commercialization but because users can dynamically interact with it. Walker Gibson uses the term "mock reader" to describe when a reader accepts the role within a story that an author has presented. The authors of Web sites, the designers, create an experience that immerses the site visitor or viewer into the Web site. A successful Web site designer has the ability to create a "mock Web visitor" who becomes completely immersed emotionally in the site the designer has created. The work of Valerie Casey, the creative director for a company in San Francisco called Frog Design, exemplifies how a Web site visitor becomes completely immersed in a well-designed site that looks good and is easy to use. She pits usability against a good aesthetic user experience that isn't always about form fitting usability rules. "Current (usability) practice is overrationalized and focuses too deeply on task analysis and not enough on empathy" Casey explains. She focuses on three basic things, as described on her Web site www.valcasey.com, when she designs for the Web: information, interaction, and visual. Too much emphasis on which rules to follow and under what circumstances can hinder innovative designs that are still user friendly. She also argues that "there's no merit to focusing entirely on usability. There has to be more to design than that."

< Previous | Next >