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Conference Report: Usability and Web site success

By David Poteet, New City Media

November 7, 2002 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - I traveled to Cambridge, Mass., recently for four days of intensive sessions with leading experts in the field of user interface design gathered for the User Interface 7 East Conference (UI7). I was joined by more than 300 interactive designers, content creators and programmers who all shared the same goal: to learn the latest about developing better Web sites and interactive applications.

As a developer, I found the conference time well spent. UI7 East was sponsored by User Interface Engineering (UIE), a company Jared Spool founded in 1988. UIE conducts extensive research through user testing on various types of Web sites and shares their findings through books, papers, conferences and seminars.

All About Success
"User Interface" isn't the best title for this conference. It's actually about everything that contributes to the overall success of a Web site or interactive system, including:

Writing clearly, effectively and persuasively

Reducing risk by researching your users & brand before you design

Designing interactions that motivate users to action

Best practices for user-centered design

User testing as a design tool

Tackling organizational issues that can hinder or help your site

Structuring your site in a way that makes sense to the most users

User research that helps you make informed design decisions

When I asked Jared Spool about the conference's focus, he said "We take a broad approach to the idea of 'user interface.' We see it as anything that affects the user's ability to accomplish their goals." Building on that broad definition, UIE envisions itself on a 100-year mission "to increase the quality of life by eliminating the frustration caused by technology."
Is it working? According to Spool, the results are still unclear.
"We haven't seen a significant improvement in people's ability to accomplish their goals in the six-plus years we've been testing Web sites," Spool said
No wonder it's a 100-year mission.
All the same, sites with better usability significantly outperform those with poor usability.

What did we learn about building successful Web sites?
The conference workshops each offered practical advice applicable to any company involved in building Web sites or designing user interfaces. Workshop attendees were also challenged to think outside their traditional roles.
David White, executive producer of the Lands' End Web site, said his team found Gerry McGovern and Nick Usborne's seminars on copy and content to be particularly valuable.
"One of the challenges to improving usability of Web sites is dealing with the areas that are typically taken for granted. Copy is one of those areas. It takes effort to craft messages that work well on the

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