Big and Clean

Jan 312009
 

Here is a site from a recent client that uses the big, bold, and beautiful technique to building a website, Used Cars in Lakeland Florida. With exception to the sites logo, the site is absolutely perfect, user experience wise. Big text, wide template, clear division of content. Even the form for searching for a car is extremely easy to use.

The Search Form

cars

Search forms are a big deal, and when a user needs to add some specifics, forms can get messy. Part of having a successful form is making it quick and easy to use. Even if you do nothing but hit “find my car”, it produces results. Enter a minimum, a maximum, or both will produce results. Not all parts need to be filled out, and it is very intuitive.

The Clarity

The reason this site is so easy to read and figure out it because of it’s clarity. They use huge text, bigger margins, and made the site as if you were going to use it on a touch screen. No squinting, or pushing your head closer to the screen here. Each section is well defined by a title or heading.

The Results

cars2 150x150The results are what really make this site a hit in my mind. Hopefully this car won’t sell to quickly so you can see the link of an example, but you can always go to the home page, and try your own vehicle search. Try looking at this used car. You can also just open the thumbnail on the right to see the screenshot I took of it. Clear title, clear contact information, and easy to find details. Besides having the contact details in the top right their are also complimented by a contact form on the bottom.

Overall, I would say this site is great! They just need to do something with that logo. Maybe they can check out my recent logo basics post:)

Limit Capitalization

Mar 142008
 

There are literally hundreds of items to look for on a site in regards to testing its usability. My favorite topic though, is a group of many of them, and they are all about creating emphasis. I’m a solid believer that every page has its purpose, and too often I see pages that have a difficult time conveying their primary message.

The reason the primary message is often lost is because there are too many uses of emphasis being used. To name a few: bold, red text, underlined text, larger font, change in font type, graphics, and the use of all caps. All to often I find sites that have 10% or more in content that is in all caps. To me, this is almost crazy. Using caps is not just a method to emphasize something, but on the internet, it is also considered a method of yelling. You don’t want to yell at your visitors, DO YOU?

When capitalizing words limit it as if you were using bold. Select only one or two words, possibly a short phrase, and limit its use for the page it is used on. A site with ten items screaming at you, just equals one loud one sided conversation with no emphasis on anything. What’s the point of the page? It should be clear by using a well thought out, highly prioritized, use of emphasis.

Grabbing a Visitors Attention

Mar 032008
 

Over the weekend, I did a special promotion for my favorite webmaster forum, and did a bunch of my Basic Usability and Design Analysis. I found a common theme for many of the sites. The theme was YELLING.

I made a post last week about the use of bold as emphasis. The bottom line of that article, restrain from over using it. When I accuse a site of yelling at me, it is because there are several key points that the webmaster has made on one page. All are clearly yelling out “Look at Me” because they use bold, red text, or a combination of things. If enough of these points are yelling out on one page, not one will appear the likely target, and the emphasis will be lost. The visitor will be lost as well. Here is a simple example.

Which test word has more emphasis?

Word1 | Word2 | Word3 | Word4 | Word5

Difficult to tell at best. If the point of page was to sell Word3, good luck. There is a 1 in 5 chance it will get clicked. Lets try the test again trying to sell Word3.

Which test word has more emphasis?

Word1 | Word2 | Word3 | Word4 | Word5

Pretty obvious where to look now. When using emphasis, or when you are getting ready to tell at a visitor what to do, don’t confuse them. Make your message clear, and let them know where to click. The key is to stay focused on the purpose of that specific page.

Going Bold

Feb 142008
 

I ran across a site yesterday that really went for the Gold, Red, or I guess it was just Bold. In an effort to basically scream at you to buy their product every emphasis technique was used. Font size emphasis, color changes, using bold, and change in font type were all used. My eyes had no idea where to go.

When emphasizing something important you should limit it to just a word, or a very short phrase. Highlighting an entire paragraph in red has little effect besides slowing down reading process. Visitors typically show up at a website for one or two reasons. To find information about something, or to buy something. If you are slowing them down with unnecessary reading, then your not doing anyone a favor.

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