DesignUsability
Less is more
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Filed under Design, Usability
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You might think that the more you explain how to do something on your website, the easier it is for you users to do it. Usually, the opposite is true.
Help or hindrance?
Dan Rubin, interviewed on the Boag World podcast, explains his principle of making your interface invisible:
Rubin provides as an example the modern hands-free faucets in his office building’s public washroom. He explains that all the sinks have signs above them depicting instructions for how to interact with the hands-free faucets.
Rubin argues that rather than helping people to use the device, the instructions add visual clutter. The device is intuitive enough to use without direction; adding instructions only confuses the user into thinking it must be more complicated than it seems. The instructional signs are simply a distraction and a usability problem.
Rubin admits that some things we use are complicated enough that they do require instructions. I would argue that even in these cases, there is normally room for simplification.
Clean and simple
In my household, we I recently bought a buffet cabinet from IKEA. I immediately noticed how well-designed the assembly manual was: there were no words in the entire manual. Instead, it featured images of cartoon people assembling the cabinet step by step. To depict the wrong way to do something, the manual just showed a cartoon man performing that action and an X through that scene.
Although the device required instruction, the designers were careful to ensure that the instructions themselves were as clear as possible and not unnecessarily complicated.
IKEA’s manuals are a great example of the old precept less is more, a notion often overlooked in Web design.
There are no doubt important activities that you want your visitors to perform on your website: subscribe to a newsletter, purchase a product, or make a donation. It can be tempting to add instructions everywhere, the assumption being that every little bit of direction helps. Not so.
Don’t make them think
If it’s not clear how to interact with a component of your website, don’t explain it; redesign it. I would further argue that if an activity on your website is so unclear that it needs explaining, then your users are less likely to engage in it. Steve Krug has written the most revered book on the subject of Web usability, Don’t Make Me Think, which I would recommend for everyone, Web designer or otherwise.
I have written before about the mistake of using the phrase “click here” to label links and buttons - This is another example of how simplifying improves your website’s usability.
Are there sections of your website that include instructional text? How might you simplify the experience of performing those actions so that it doesn’t need instruction? If an action does require instruction, are the instructions as clear as they could be?
There are many ways to check whether or not your calls-to-action are clear enough for your users to perform without direction - user testing, for example. If you could use assistance evaluating the clarity of your website’s features, a great Web designer can help.
