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Beyond the Brochure: Honing Your Web Strategy

Beyond the Brochure: Honing Your Web Strategy. Donica Mensing Reynolds School of Journalism University of Nevada, Reno Talk given to the American Marketing Association July 2004, Reno, Nevada. Why wouldn’t you put your company brochure on television?. Boring Can’t read much on the screen

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Beyond the Brochure: Honing Your Web Strategy

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  1. Beyond the Brochure:Honing Your Web Strategy Donica Mensing Reynolds School of Journalism University of Nevada, Reno Talk given to the American Marketing Association July 2004, Reno, Nevada

  2. Why wouldn’t you put your company brochure on television? Boring Can’t read much on the screen Pictures are static; no sound

  3. Then why would you put your brochure online? • It seems easy • It seems fast • It is cheap • You’ll do more later…

  4. But online media can do much more… • It’s a marketing, sales and service tool all in one • Facilitates communication between you and your customers • Provides timely updates • Makes customer service more efficient • Enables personalized service and information • Engages new and repeat customers over time

  5. Example 1: The online brochure • Static • Hard to read • Not Web friendly • Written in marketese

  6. Examples 2 & 3: Interactive Web Sites • Focused on the purpose of the company • Specific services are easy to find • Updated frequently • Navigation easy to find and follow • Balanced, colorful layout

  7. Good Web design is focused and purposeful • The Web has infinite space • People do not have infinite time • Be clear and concise • Know what your customer wants and deliver it quickly

  8. Examples 4 & 5:Two large organizations • Cluttered, redundant, verbose • Simple, focused, well-organized

  9. Criteria for successful Web design • Clearly organized sections • Consistent layout and navigation • Concise, well-written text • Appealing, relevant graphics • Useful, well-described links • Interactive • Quick loading

  10. Know your customer • Broadband or dial-up • Home or work • Technically saavy or novice • Frequent or infrequent • Examples: Reno Rodeo and m-productions

  11. How do you know if your site is well designed? • Test it!

  12. If your visitors can’t find the information they want, the product they want, the page they want -- quickly -- they will leave. Period.

  13. User testing is effective, even if you only test with five randomly selected customers For more information see Jakob Nielsen: http://www.useit.com The Good News

  14. Components of usability testing • Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design? • Efficiency : Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks? • Memorability : When users return to the design after a period of not using it, how easily can they reestablish proficiency?

  15. Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can they recover from the errors? • Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design? • Utility: Does it do what users need? From Jakob Nielsen 's Alertbox, August 25, 2003 Usability 101 http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html

  16. Users can help create your information architecture • Try card sorting as a way to develop your organizational scheme and name sections of your site • Jakob Nielsen: http://www.useit.com/papers/sun/cardsort.html

  17. Finally… • Start simply • Pay attention to your user logs • Focus on functionality for your users • Use databases and dynamic architecture where possible • Keep refining!

  18. Questions? Donica Mensing dmensing@unr.edu

  19. More examples… Reno Gazette-Journal Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce Nevada Museum of Art

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