Comments on: Usability guidelines – are they the 'right' answer? http://www.experiencesolutions.co.uk/blog/2010/06/14/usability-guidelines-are-they-the-right-answer/ Designing services people love to use Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:32:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Damian http://www.experiencesolutions.co.uk/blog/2010/06/14/usability-guidelines-are-they-the-right-answer/#comment-119 Damian Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:49:15 +0000 http://www.experiencesolutions.co.uk/blog/?p=358#comment-119 Thanks for your comment Marta. It is disappointing that modern web design requires you to make a choice between SEO or Usability, but I think thats a topic for another article. As you suggest, the best approach is to use guidelines to avoid common pitfalls and then conduct usability tests. However, guidelines alone are not enough. Thanks for your comment Marta. It is disappointing that modern web design requires you to make a choice between SEO or Usability, but I think thats a topic for another article.

As you suggest, the best approach is to use guidelines to avoid common pitfalls and then conduct usability tests. However, guidelines alone are not enough.

]]> By: Marta Eleniak http://www.experiencesolutions.co.uk/blog/2010/06/14/usability-guidelines-are-they-the-right-answer/#comment-118 Marta Eleniak Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:48:20 +0000 http://www.experiencesolutions.co.uk/blog/?p=358#comment-118 Usability guidelines, in my opinion as a seasoned web pro, are invaluable to give a head start to a design team. Otherwise you can be fixing basic usability problems thrown up by user testing before users can achieve even the basics using a site. Very inefficient for getting a site live. Guidelines also set up the important path toward consistency which builds towards a positive user experience - the minutiae of seemingly insignificant detail made up by individuals as they go along, only to look like a car crash at the end. N.b. we are inconsistent in places but those inconsistencies are for strategic SEO reasons. Once a site has been planned out using best practice principles it still needs user testing as no guidelines can account for the nuances of actual usage from users with various competencies. Mostly because as web professionals it is impossible for us to forget what we know and approach the design from a less web experienced mindset or one with different points of reference. Usability guidelines, in my opinion as a seasoned web pro, are invaluable to give a head start to a design team. Otherwise you can be fixing basic usability problems thrown up by user testing before users can achieve even the basics using a site. Very inefficient for getting a site live. Guidelines also set up the important path toward consistency which builds towards a positive user experience – the minutiae of seemingly insignificant detail made up by individuals as they go along, only to look like a car crash at the end. N.b. we are inconsistent in places but those inconsistencies are for strategic SEO reasons. Once a site has been planned out using best practice principles it still needs user testing as no guidelines can account for the nuances of actual usage from users with various competencies. Mostly because as web professionals it is impossible for us to forget what we know and approach the design from a less web experienced mindset or one with different points of reference.

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