[Study] Usability Elements

“Usability is about how easily users can complete their intended tasks using a product. There are many types of usability issues that hinder users’ ability to complete the tasks that they intend to perform.” 

Usability is a word merged 'use' and 'ability'.
literally it means when users experience something, checking whether they have difficult interacting and communicating in use or not.

when we make some interface to user,
we have to be sure to remember about below categories.

<10 usability elements that affect conversions>

1. Trust and credibility 

The anonymity of the online world has created a subconscious yearning for reliable organizations. As customers, we want to do business with companies that are credible and trustworthy. A teenager with some web design and coding skills can create an impressive website in his basement, but that does not guarantee it will convert.

To create sites that convert, we must build trust and credibility into our usability. A few great examples of how to do so:

• Be reachable: On your website, include contact information. Which contact information to include (phone number, live help app, physical location, contact form, etc.) and where to include it (on every page or only on a “Contact Us” section) can be tested and optimized, but what is certain is that it must be available on your site.

For example, large consumer-facing sites often include this information in the header, on every page:

Many B2B sites have also found that including (at least) a phone number on every page is optimal:

• Showcase customers: Displaying logos (for B2B) or photos (for B2C) of some of your customers also builds trust. Select the customers that are most typical of your target audience so that your web visitors can identify and relate to them.
• Social proof: Including reviews, testimonials, case studies, and other elements of socially proven success is a big help when fostering trust for your site.

2. Clean design

Volumes can (and have!) been written about design elements that improve conversion rates. Without going into too much detail, clean design always wins, hands-down, over design that is cluttered, messy, and poorly thought-out. Investing in site design is a wise move that will prove ROI-positive many times over.

A clean design makes a good first impression and that should be one of its main goals. Some elements of clean design include:

• Optimal colour selection and contrast
• Images that can be zoomed and enlarged
• Call to Action elements that are clear and well-positioned
• Consistent page layouts
• Important information above the fold

3. Navigation

Once you get visitors to your home page, how they navigate through your pages can be an enabler of conversions or a deterrent. To ensure yours is the former, adopt these navigation best practices:

• Websites must be organized in a logical fashion
• Navigation should be clear and the user should always know where he is within the site (a good way to indicate this is to use breadcrumbs)
• Menus and submenus should have between 5-9 options (known as the 7±2 rule)
• All information on a website should be reachable with 3 (or fewer) clicks
• The company logo should be clickable on every page. Clicking it should return the user to the home page

4. Technical

5. Searchable

6. Responsive

More and more, users are accessing websites on smartphone, tablets, and other devices. In fact, 69% of tablet users shop on their device. Today’s websites must be responsive to different browsers and screen sizes. Make sure that no matter the device or software, there is no horizontal scroll and that the customer experience is optimized for mobile.

In this study, when the O’Neill Clothing Company adopted responsive design, mobile conversions increased:

• 65.71% for iPhone/iPad
• 407.32% for Android

Responsive design has shifted from “nice-to-have” to an absolute “must-have” in today’s mobile-savvy world.

7. Simple

8. Content

9.Personalisation

10. Ease of conversions

These are excerpt from http://memeburn.com/2014/11/10-usability-elements-that-affect-conversions/

Personally if I pick some good things out of the lot, then I will choose 3.

• Navigation
• Responsive
• Ease of conversions

Navigation

When I used some sites, the biggest problem I've experienced is that I don't know where I am and where to go. That's why I selected Navigation

Tag: Navigation Design | Usability.gov

Responsive

To do not feel their frustration and give up navigating interface, we have to consider about responses. It is the most important thing users whole feeling.

Responsive Web Design (RWD) and User Experience

nngroup.com

Responsive design teams create a single site to support many devices, but need to consider content, design and performance across devices to ensure usability.