Graves Fowler Creative

Say “usability studies” and “ROI” and my eyes glaze over. But Dana Kraft, president of RarePoint Strategies and one of our web development partners, offers this perspective. Thanks, Dana.

According to a recent study, implementing website usability enhancements can increase website ROI by 83%^*. Consider these examples:

• A major online retailer experienced a 3,000% increase in sales for one of its product categories less than one week after implementing changes to the company’s homepage based on consumer insight from usability testing studies.

• A major consumer products manufacturer utilized usability studies to identify a new online shopping model for one of its product categories. The result was that 99% of people indicated they would purchase from this company’s online catalog versus only 40% who said they would purchase from other website options.

Let’s face it, companies and organizations invest significant resources into developing, maintaining and promoting their websites – and for good reason. A company website is often the first place potential customers go to learn more about you and determine if they want to take the next step – turning interest into action.

But are you maximizing your online potential? When new visitors come to your site, is it what they expected? Can they find the information they’re looking for or accomplish what they intended to do? Is your site better and more intuitive than competitor websites? Do you really know if it’s working and what prospects think?

Many organizations do not.

That’s the invaluable role a usability assessment can provide. “Usability” refers to how intuitive and user friendly your website is to the target audience. It encompasses everything from site design to content, navigation, categorization and functionality. The beauty of a usability review is that it is extremely flexible and can be valuable to any type of website or online tool. And, it can be conducted at any point of the development process.

Perhaps the most effective and enlightening approach is a usability testing study in which people are observed navigating your website and verbalize their thoughts as they go along. Many studies will also compare your website to the competition, providing even greater insight into how well your website fares against others and what you should be doing differently. Honestly, you can’t really know how effective your website is until your hear it from your target audience firsthand. This type of study is invaluable in identifying where problems exist and how to solve them. They can be conducted anywhere –  in a lab environment, on site or even remotely.

Expert reviews are another excellent usability assessment alternative. With an expert review, you get a customized, holistic look at your website from people who specialize in usability and understand online best practices. A usability expert will conduct an in-depth review of your entire website and provide a detailed analysis of key findings and strategic recommendations. Some usability experts will also take recommendations to the next step, providing wireframe designs to describe improvements or design mock-ups. Often, usability experts can consult directly with your online marketing and development team to determine the most effective way to implement critical changes.

For a quick pulse on your website’s performance, a market audit is a good choice. Market audits provide a quantitative assessment and scorecard rating for how well your website conforms to a pre-determined checklist of online best practice areas. Specific audit processes vary, but often encompass a review of the homepage, search engine, page design, content, navigation, categorization, functionality and value-added features. This is generally the fastest and most economical usability review. It can be conducted on your website only or on competitor websites as well, providing interesting insight into how your website compares.

If you are considering developing a new website or online tool, design reviews play a critical role in ensuring effectiveness before you make a significant investment in development. Usability experts act as consultants, reviewing site designs and identifying potential user challenges and recommended solutions. For an even greater understanding of the design effectiveness, usability testing studies can be conducted on paper or online mock-ups. Some usability experts will also help lead design early on through information architecture and wireframe structures that the development team then uses as a blueprint for creating a more effective and intuitive online experience.

Whether assessing a website, intranet, extranet, e-commerce site, search engine, or product selection and configuration tool, usability reviews will identify critical changes for increasing effectiveness and can significantly impact your online ROI.

So, do you really know how effective your website is? You just might want to find out.

*”Usability ROI declining, but still strong”, Jakob Nielsen’s AlertBox, January 22, 2008.

After months of planning, dreaming and driving our technical development partners crazy, the Graves Fowler Creative web site is launching on September 8th. WooHoo! It’s a beaut. Special thanks to Luanne Belle and her team at Blue Atlas Interactive for their patience and perseverance. Now I know why we are so comfortable recommending their work to our clients.

On September 3, 600 volunteers gathered in Washington, DC, to kick-off the 2009 CFC fundraising drive. We celebrated with a big sigh of relief because Graves Fowler built their marketing strategy this spring and has been cranking out marketing messages, graphics, talking points, promotional chotchkes, ads…all the things that make a campaign go. Now it’s underway. We wish the CFC of the National Capital Area an astoundingly successful campaign season. They’re out to raise $64 million for 4,000 charities.