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7. Progress bars
Progress bars show users where they are in
the buying or booking process within transactional sites. The progress bar
should:
· Be very easy to spot (make it large, use
iconography and surround it by white space)
· Use easy-to-understand language
· Highlight users' current location and grey out
previous and next steps
· Have the appearance of a process flow (e.g. by
using numbers)
8. Page title
The page title is the text situated in the
browser title bar. When writing the page title make it consistent with the main
page heading and ensure it:
· Is short and succinct - Less is more, so the more succinct the page title the easier it
is to glance at and gain an understanding of its meaning
· Places important information first - It's often only the first few words that users pick up from the
page title when scanning through it
· Makes sense out of context - Users will view the page title in the navigation history
(accessed through the back and forward buttons), taskbar and favourites, so it
needs to make sense without the rest of the web page visible
Advantages of well written page titles
include:
· Users can orientate themselves as they browse
the site
· Users will have a concise, meaningful label to
refer back to when added to their favourites
· Search engines place more importance on the page
title than anything else and a descriptive page title will usually contain your
keywords
9. Site map
Site maps are essential for sites with a
lot of pages and are extremely useful for any website. By providing an overview
of the site, site maps display the overall hierarchy.
Users may go to the site map as a last
resort if they haven't found information from browsing or running a search.
Therefore the site map must be clear, concise and genuinely reflect the site
structure.
10. Tagline
A tagline is a description of what you do
and should be placed directly below the logo. It should be:
· Explanatory and not vague
· Clear and informative (avoid marketing-speak)
· 4-8 words in length
Web users tend to spend very little time on
each site, they 'flick around' until they find something interesting and
relevant to them. Employing a concise tagline will help users understand your
site's purpose and what to expect when browsing further into the site.
Consistency
One of the most important things to
remember when helping to orientate users is consistency. That is, consistency
between page titles, main headings, link text, breadcrumb items, navigation
labels etc. For example, the main page heading should match the name of the
relevant navigation item just as the breadcrumb trail items should match the
main page headings.
Consistency aids site visitors in
recognising the different areas of the site. It also provides them with
effective feedback that they've arrived in the right place. This is the key
to effective site orientation.
This article was written by Jonathan Webb.
He's crazy about usability and accessibility - so crazy that he's a usability
consultant at usability and
accessibility consultancy, Webcredible. He's extremely good at all
aspects of user research and can often be found carrying out card sorting sessions.
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