The Process Matters, Part 1-- Usability & Goals

Usability & Goals Come First

What are your goals?  Yes, I know you "want to put your business on the web" or "create a blog", but what is your actual goal?  How will your users interact with the site and how can we make it easier on them?  What will make your site stand out and what will keep people away?

In most cases, creating the web site is merely the means to an end, not the overall goal.  Many designers and developers want to just jump in without actually understanding you or your business.  Others offer ready-built templates that force you to adjust your message to fit the site. Usually this is a bad idea and the overall site suffers.

Who are you and what do you want?

The start of a web site is an uncertain time.  You may be confused about what you can actually do.  You might be anxious about the future results.  You will probably be bored by the initial grunt work but eager to prove you are better than your competition. You'll have other priorities that take time away from what you should be doing.  You'll look at other sites and wonder, "Will mine be better than theirs?"  Yep, it's just like being a teenager again... but digitally.   

Typically, many companies focus on an initial goal and feel that that is the only goal.  If you sell widgets your goal might be to sell those widgets online.  A law firm might want to simply provide information about their office and capabilites.  A writer may want to showcase her work with a daily blog and answer questions about writing.  So what went wrong here?  Each of these businesses is only focusing on a small portion of the possible goals. Let's make a change to the above image.

Well, that's better.  Three different companies.  Three completely different businesses.  Three shared goals.  Now, each of these goals may be of different importance to each company but they still remain. 

Will's Widgets should have marketing information to address competition  and provide technical information to their current customers.  Larry's Law Office could sell generic legal forms online and provide a daily blog on legal matters.  Bill Bloggr could showcase his talents, solicit potential employers and even sell his work to individuals.

Only by understanding your business and your market can we provide the correct mix.