Web Usability and Functionality

Web usability is often a tug of war between web developers, who want users to have a fast, easy experience, and marketers, who want people to linger and browse the site.

Web usability. If this simple idea has been around for years why is the concept bursting on the scene as a major technology buzzword? It could be because more and more graphic designers and marketing departments are realizing its value.

Web usability is important because it demands a compromise between the theories of web design and marketing. Many marketers complicate websites to entrap the customer into browsing and hopefully buying. This strategy, however, can backfire. Statistics show that "hard-to-use content sites can turn off 40% of return visitors" (Kalin 1). Why would a person want to stay on confusing and frustrating site?

On the other end, web designers aim to make their companies’ websites attention grabbing. While flashy graphics might catch the user’s eye, they are more likely to distract the user rather than entice him to him to divulge his credit card number. Flashy graphics often lead to confusion when they resemble buttons or hyperlinks but are non-functional. This confusion will only reduce the number of visitors to the site.

Effective web usability balances of web design and marketing strategies by incorporating simple heuristics, or by guidelines to attain maximum usability. Sample heuristics include the avoiding frames and leaving out advertising (Asherhurst 3). Usability studies and testing can also balance marketing and graphic design. However, the quest for balance involves many risks such as the high costs of these tests and the difficulty of assessing the target market accurately.

Simplicity is central to a fully functional and usable web site. An e-commerce site designer declares, "Every time I made a change that simplified the site, it improved my business" (Case Study 2). Obviously, the goal of web usability is to improve business by keeping and bringing more visitors to the site. By harmonizing the goals and efforts of web design and marketing, companies will be much more likely to achieve the goals of having a web site and a successful business.