Text Attracts Attention Before Graphics
Of users’ first three eye-fixations on a page, only 22% were on graphics; 78% were on text. In general, users were first drawn to headlines, article summaries, and captions. They often did not look at the images at all until the second or third visit to a page.

The five bottom images are not only links, they are the only direct way to get to very important information (information for, respectively: men, women, children, sexual health and mental health). Because there is no indication that these pictures lead anywhere (and the fact that they are located at the very bottom of the page), it is unlikely that anyone will click them.

This is so common that a new term was coined to describe it: “Mystery Meat Navigation“. Wikipedia defines this term as:

Mystery meat navigation (also abbreviated MMN) is a term (…) to describe user interfaces (especially in websites) in which it is inordinately difficult for users to discern the destinations of navigational hyperlinks—or, in severe cases, even to determine where the hyperlinks are.

On this particular site, navigation could be greatly improved by:

1. Reducing the size of the huge photo on top of the page: it takes up a lot of room and is not likely to be a frequently visited section.
2. Moving the important information to the top of the page.
3. Combining text with images (add a description of the link under each image)

For more reading on the subject:

• Usability drawbacks of image based navigation systems (www.nirdagan.ca)

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Some time ago, I received this cryptic email:

Upon clicking the link, the even less informative website appears:

My initial thoughts during this experiences were:

• The message seems to have been sent by someone I know… but it has no subject, no information.
• It’s instructing me to click, but why? I am suspicious of this “mystery” tactic.
• Once I click, I realize that the email’s only goal is to get my personal information. I leave the site.
• I am irritated that this person sent me a spam email and provided my email address to someone without my consent.

How can legitimate marketing emails avoid looking like spam? Here are three points we learn from the previous example:

1. Be crystal clear as to the purpose of your email
   Compare the above-mentioned email to this one from YouTube:

   There is no doubt as to the subject, and the link sends the user directly to the content, without asking for anything. It’s even more important to be clear when using social marketing features, such as “send to a friend”, because the message is sent from someone the recipient knows personally and is more likely to be read. If the message is perceived as spam, the recipient will resent it all the more for using someone they know as the conduit for unwanted sollicitation.

2. If you use “curiosity marketing”, make sure you know what you’re doing
   Arousing curiosity without seeming manipulative is an art (and a science) best left to specialists; most people that try to use it create resentment and end up seeming deceptive. A lot of research is involved in this kind of marketing in order to develop strategies that:
   • Make people want to know more about the product or service
   • Answer the “What’s in it for me?” question
   • Time messages precisely to maximize interest
   • Carefully target messages to a specific audience

In the case of this particular message, the “strategy” completely failed. They relied solely on the fact that the message was sent by someone I know, and assumed that it would be enough to get me to sign up.

1. Don’t force people to do something they don’t want to do
   I assume that this website is some kind of social networking site where you can interact with people you know. However, this is merely a deduction using the few clues I noticed from the email and the sign-up page. This is not enough for me to give up my personal information; I need to be convinced that this is not just an email-gathering strategy for a spam mailing list. If more information about the website had been given on the page, it’s possible I would have chosen to sign up. Like most people, I want to be in control of what I disclose (if anything) and why. The only control I have in this instance is to either a) put my faith in their good intentions or b) leave. I pick B.

For more reading on the subject:

• Managing the power of curiosity for effective Web advertising strategies (AllBusiness.com)
• How to Drive Customers Away from your Website: Confuse, Frustrate and Anger Them (Lucid Web)
• Incompetent Email Marketing = Lost Future Opportunities (useit.com)

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I guess it means that either a) someone wants to know or b) (the most likely reason) they ran out of people to tag… So here it is:

5 little-known facts about myself

1. I speak 2.85 languages
   As a linguist wannabe, I have studied several languages including Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), German, Spanish and (currently) Hindi. I am originally a Francophone and I also speak English. The remaining 0.85 language is separated as follows:
   • Chinese:0.00 (I forgot everything!)
   • German: 0.05 (Read Only)
   • Spanish: 0.25 (Read & Understand)
   • Hindi: 0.55 (Read, Understand, Speak 30% fluently)
2. My High School career profile found me best suited to be an oceanographer
   Even though I don’t really like water or submarines
3. Every single hat I have ever tried on has looked good on me
   Consequently, I am saddened by the fact that people don’t wear hats anymore, and I can’t wear any of my vintage hats outside the house…
4. My current favourite TV show is Battlestar Galactica
   I haven’t felt this good about a SciFi show since Babylon 5!
5. I killed my first fly at 6 months of age
   By a freak coincidence, I threw my shoe and it landed on the wall, on an unsuspecting fly that had just landed in that very spot!

Now it’s my turn to tag:

• Cristina Favreau, a good friend of mine and passionate Small Business Coach
• Language Hat, my favourite linguistic blogger, who also happens to love hats!
• Sandrine Prom Tep, of ergonomia.ca, a Montreal-based usability colleague I have yet to meet

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Writing for the Web

People read very differently on a screen than they do on paper; make sure you get your point across by optimizing your web content so your visitors effectively get your message.

Pricing

Contact us for more information

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• All-in-One
  We take care of designing the template, managing your subscriber list, putting together your mailings and sending them out. All you have to do is tell us what you want to send and when!
  
  
• Self-Serve
  We provide you with a template and a personal online control panel so you can manage your mailings yourself.

Template Design

Your template can be designed for any number of mailings: monthly newsletter, occasional promotions or even one-time event announcements. You can order several templates, enabling you to conduct different campaigns at once, or have only one for regular or one-time mailings.

Pricing

Contact us for more information

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Benefits of a user-friendly website:

The Report

The usability evaluation report explains the results of the analysis in a clear and simple manner and highlights practical suggestions for improvement.

Screenshots of your site are used to illustrate so you can see first-hand where problems occured. Good points are also noted to ensure that you do not remove them from your site!

The report will be emailed to you in PDF format and a printed copy mailed to you.

Evaluation Criteria

Your site will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Navigation & Site Structure
Do your users find successfully what they are looking for? Is the information presented in a clear and logical manner so that it is easy to find?

Content
Is your information clearly written and understandable? Are you communicating effectively what your users want to know?

Graphic Design, Branding and Marketing
Are your graphics and layout consistent and useful to your visitors? Are you sending a clear message to your potential customers by highlighting your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?

User Experience & Technical Issues
Is the site making users do things they don’t want to do? Is your site frustrating users with features that are not standard?

Pricing

For small business websites, rates are usually between 250$ and 750$ (CDN). Contact us for more pricing information.

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Why you should have a user-friendly website

• 65% of website visitors give up before they find what they came for and 40% of users who abandon a website never come back (Boston Consulting Group).

• Attract more clients
  Visitors stay longer on a user-friendly site, giving you more time to convince them to choose you over your competition

Read “5 Ways your Website May be Hurting Your Business”, on Lucid Web, Allegra Communications’ blog

Pricing

Website design pricing varies according to several factors such as:

• number of pages within the site
• graphic design work
• number of dynamic pages (forms, shopping carts, etc.)
• size of content within the pages
• For small to medium-sized websites, rates are usually between 750$ and 3000$ (CDN)

Contact us for more information

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Can you afford not to know what your website’s usability mistakes are costing you? Let’s find out:

1. Causing your visitors to leave your site prematurely
Most users only spend a few seconds on a Home Page before they leave. It is not enough that potential clients find your website; you must give them what they came for or they will get it somewhere else. A Forrester Research study reports that 58% of visitors who experience problems on a website never come back.

2. Content Not Written for the Web
Most people don’t read online, they merely scan the text. Even though your content may be informative, if it is not written specifically to be read on a screen, most of your visitors are not even reading it!

3. Not Answering Your Users’ Questions
People usually don’t waste time browsing around business websites for fun: they have a specific task in mind. If you don’t give them what they are looking for, they will assume you do not provide it at all and will quickly look elsewhere: you have just lost a potential client. The same is true of information on your website that is buried under paragraphs of marketing text that your visitors don’t have time to read. An especially frustrating example of this common mistake is to avoid giving pricing information.

4. Sabotaging Your Credibility
A University of California study reports that less than 52% of people trust the information they find on the web; credibility is earned slowly but is quickly lost. Your website being the first point of contact for some of your potential clients, it is vital that their first impression be a positive one. If your site shows no consideration for their needs and is not up to standards, you will come across as unprofessional and careless. Because the web is a one-way channel, you will never be able to defend yourself against the damage your own website has inflicted on your credibility.

5. Using Features that Look like Advertisements
Because of the number of sites featuring advertisements, users have learned to ignore most graphics and anything that looks like an ad such as animations, banners, and pop-ups (which are increasingly being blocked by browsers). Some of the important information you may have tried to highlight is lost because visitors assume it’s just another ad.

Investing in usability is not a luxury: it has the potential to be a real driver for your business. A usability evaluation can open your eyes to specific and practical things you can do to improve your business, often at little or no cost. Can you afford NOT to do it?

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