One of the fundamental areas of web development and designing which needs to be taken care of in a very sensitive way is Web design usability. So, what is web usability? In simple terms, it means the ease at which a new user interacts with the website. The online experience of the target audience plays a key role in devising strategic methodologies for achieving business goals.
Website evaluation and measuring web design usability is very important from the designing aspect of the web designer. The basic and foremost goal of any e-commerce site is increased business prospects and better revenues .Unless there is potential traffic for a particular website, how will the business grow? The usability factor is also dependent on the navigational systems of the website, the loading time of the site, user-friendly graphical interface etc.
Importance of web usability
Usability level indicates the quality of the website which also determines the efficiency and effectiveness of deliverables. There are certain significant factors that have a positive impact on better web design usability.
Increased traffic rate
Customers determine the success and failure of online business. If a site is having relevant traffic necessary for generating sufficient volume of business, then it indicates the success of the website as well as of the business venture. The info graphical elements in the site should not only attract more users but also should retain the existing users, lest they wander to much greener pastures.
Correcting errors
Web usability metrics pinpoint the problem areas where the user is finding difficulty in using the website for achieving certain goals. Evaluating the flaws and pros of the website design for analyzing performance results in effective rendering of services for the goal oriented users.
Optimum usage of resources
Measuring the usability aspect of a website design enables the web designer to reduce the additional overhead expenditure involved in re-designing and experimentation. Time and money are really precious resources which shouldn't be wasted unnecessarily.
How to measure web usability?
Even though the concept of web usability is an intangible one, its possible to measure using web usability metrics. The basic idea is to scale the reliability of the website design and to re-define the goals by evaluating the problem areas of the website design.
Ease of navigation
The architectural hierarchy of design and layout should be very straight and simple for the users to navigate to different pages of the website according to their choice or requirement of information. The faster the user gets what he is looking for, the more popular the site will be. This also have a positive impact on the overall business.
Speed
Another paramount factor underlying website usability is the speed in which the site is loaded in the browser. The graphics should be used in a balanced manner that the site design should take up less bandwidth and should be search engine friendly.
Interactivity
Innovation and user-friendly design will have a higher degree of usability level as compared to complex static pages. The interface design should be transparent by allowing free flow of data and information in a quick manner by providing adequate feed backs. The website should interact with the user just satisfying the business requirements of the potential clients.
Reliability estimates
Real statistical figures provided by the usability test metrics helps the web designer to refine the web design standards and to attain higher business growth by increasing the margin of sales and profits.
