Usability & Information Architecture
Usability Best-Practices and User Testing
Usability is about making websites as easy to use as possible. There's no point in having a compelling value proposition with a confusing site that frustrates and scares off users.
When analyzing a site for usability, we consider the goals of a user. What they need to do on the site and how we can make that as clear as possible. Sometimes the usability changes are small, like making a phone number prominent on every page. Sometimes it's in-depth analysis of a complex ordering system which leads to a completely new site architecture.
These changes don't just come from experience – we put our ideas to the test in a variety of ways. One way is direct user testing with services like Loop11 which let us remotely monitor users as they complete tasks and observe the results.
Detailed Google Analytics observations also allow us to passively identify roadblocks in a user's path. By implementing "funnels" we can follow users as they browse through a site and continually evaluate pages for optimum usability.
Information Architecture
Before any visual design begins, we always consider the information architecture of a website. Information architecture (IA) is the messaging and organization of the site including the site map, individual page titles, specific content, and industry-centric nomenclature.
Combined with usability best-practices, the goal of the information architecture phase is to create a working skeleton of a website that ensures all important messaging is prioritized in a clear, straightforward manner.
Wireframes using Protoshare
Wireframes are the visual manifestation of the information architecture phase and are used in usability testing. Essentially black and white mockups of a website, our wireframes are a clickable prototype version of a website that is created before design begins. Wireframes allow stakeholders to focus on messaging, user flow and content before design elements are added.
We use a web application called Protoshare for our wireframing process which allows clients real-time access to the information architecture phase of the project. Protoshare lets us build bare-bones websites quickly to begin user testing and is a very cost-effective phase of our website production process.
Awards
We recently received the Bronze 2010 PEAK Award for web design from the Colorado AMA.
