Want to discover the fastest way to jumpstart your
sales? |
|
Whatever business you
are in get sales leads from the Internet within days!
Get a competitive advantage, sit back and let us bring customers to you! |
|
|
User research with children shows that they
often have problems using websites if links and
buttons don't look clickable. At the same time,
using a virtual environment as a main navigation
interface does work well with kids, even though
it's rarely appreciated by adults (outside of
games). Also, children have more patience for
hunting down links and rolling over interesting
parts of a page to see what they do. On balance,
the mystery approach to design succeeds for
Rowling -- just don't try it for sites that are
not about teenage wizards.
Misery: Oppressing Users
The third prevailing ideology of Web design is
oppression, as mainly espoused by certain
analysts who wish the
Web would turn into television and offer
users no real choices at all. Splash pages,
pop-ups, and breaking the Back button
are typical examples of the misery ideology. One
of misery design's most insidious recent
examples is the idea of
embedding links to advertising on the actual
words of an article using a service like
IntelliTxt. By sullying the very concept of
navigation, such ads not only damage the user
experience on the host site, they poison the
well for all websites. Such links make users
even less likely to navigate sites, and more
likely to turn to trusted search engines to
guide them to the next page.
Like much Web advertising, embedded ad links
rely on interruption marketing, intruding as
much as possible on users and preventing them
from doing what they want to do. As such, many
of these ads have been failures. The most
successful Web ads empower -- rather than annoy
-- users. Examples include
search engine advertisingg, sites with
classified ads, and
request marketing.
There are times when it makes sense to
constrain users' choices, but it must be done in
a way that feels supportive and not limiting.
For example, during the
checkout process on an e-commerce site, you
should not distract users by including links to
all possible site areas. Highlight the
proceed to checkout button and provide only
those additional features that users might need
(such as return to shopping, privacy policy, and
so on).
Although such checkout designs drastically
reduce the number of links, they don't restrict
users because people want to do one of two
things after initiating checkout: complete their
purchase or abandon/delay it.
Most misery designs feel miserable. People
recognize when they're being manipulated, and
they resent it. They resent it even more on the
Web, where they're used to freedom of movement.
Mastery Wins in the End
The mastery ideology provides the best match
with the Web's fundamental nature: it lets users
go where they want. Web users want instant
gratification and have little patience for the
mystery approach's detours and puzzles. Users
are getting ever-more goal-driven
in their approach to the Web, which they see
more as a tool than an environment. Surfing to
check out cool sites is a thing of the past.
Misery may seem a tempting way to squeeze an
extra dollar out of unsuspecting and naïve
users. But in the long term, users discover
which sites treat them well and those are the
sites they return to. Most of a website's true
value comes from
loyal users, and mastery sites stand much
the best chance of fostering loyalty.
Designs that support user empowerment are the
best way to make money on the Internet. It's an
easier sell when you
give people what they want than when
you try to cheat them.
|
EPNET
Born out of the advertising industry we are
concerned with business communication
to enhance companies sales messages to its
target markets.
Specialise in leveraging Internet
technology to achieve this. Our services have
grown over the last seven years to include web
design, logo design, email marketing campaigns,
newsletters, search engine placement, Internet
surveys, Telesales and our Business Monitor
service provides constant market intelligence on
your Industry or competitors activities.
"We are all equal on the Internet. What
differentiates you from your competitors is not
how big your company is or how much money you
have to spend, but how smart
your website is!"
- Gordon Barker EPNET
Should you require a proposal on any of our
services please don't hesitate to call me?
|
|
|
|
Web design South Africaa, Web Design Johannesburg, web design Sandton - African web design company
|
| |
|
|
