Saturday, May 31, 2008 / 9:10 (EST) / Website Design Tips which Enhance the IMC relationship-building process

Today’s topic focuses on some fundamental design tips for creating an attractive corporate Website which enhances the IMC relationship-building process. Creating an attractive Website design is a must for markers who want customers and prospects to visit and revisit their site. According to Foraker Design, “The idea is that, no matter what you're doing, there's a user-centered way of doing it” (http://www.usabilityfirst.com/websites/index.txl). In fact, the focal point of Website design according to Foraker Design is “Usability First”. This concept begins at the earliest levels of project planning. A recent study by Consumer Web Watch found that 65 percent of U.S. Internet users surveyed (N=1,100) stated that they wouldn’t buy from a poorly designed site – even if it offered their favorite brand. Further, nearly half (46.1percent) of the participants ranked “design look” as the most important component when evaluating site credibility, followed by “design/structure”. In sum, consumers are looking for a professional and polished look (http://ecampus.edu./webct/ContentPageServlet/docs/leson2.htm).

Now that we realize the importance associated with creating a “user-friendly” website built from the “customer perspective” point of view, the question becomes “Where do we start?” Foraker Design has created a unique 5-step model for designing websites titled “A Model of “Pervasive Usability” in Website Design”. The five steps include:
Requirements Analysis
Conceptual Design
Mockups / Prototypes
Production
Launch and Maintenance

For a comprehensive review or detailed look at each step, check out Foraker Design’s Website at http://www.usabilityfirst.com/websites/index.txl. Also, you can find some great tips including lists of Dos and Don’ts for usability in design, Writing, Information Architecture, Quality Assurance, Design Links, reference literature on website design and a survey conducted in the fall of 1998 by following the links under “Website design Section Overview”.

Finally, I will share with you some benefits of planning usability into your project provided by Foraker Design:
The benefits of planning usability into your project are:
Increased end-user satisfaction
Increased end-user productivity, success, and completion
Reduced long-term development costs (costs incurred from fixing poorly designed products)
Reduced training and support costs
Return business to improve your competitiveness
(http://www.usabilityfirst.com/websites/index.txl).

Thanks to the folks at Foraker Design for sharing some valuable information on website design. I was hoping to include chart showing “Usability ROI” from the link located on the left side of Foraker Design web page, but Google could not access the link or it may have been removed. At any rate, if any reader knows of any current chart containing such information, I hope you can share it with our readers. Until next time, please feel free to share your comments or feedback as it relates to IMC and emerging media and, thanks for reading!

~ Dan