WEB 2.0 : Usability: Experience -Part I

Web 2.0

"Web 2.0" refers to a second generation of web development and design, that facilitates communication, secure information sharing, interoperability, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. 

Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and applications such as social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis,blogs, mashup and folksonomies.

Open Data

Open data formats

No data lock-in or walled gardens

User created data

User owns their own data

Ability to use data outside the confines of the application

Data used across devices

Rich User Experience

Easy to use

Pleasurable to use

Build social networks

Rich user interface

Functions like a traditional application

Core Web 2.0 Technologies

Open data through API's and web services

RSS

Ajax

Web Standards (DOM Scripting, XHTML, CSS)

Web 2.0 Revolution

Using existing technologies in new and innovative ways

Change in the way people view the web

More mature industry

Healthier web economy

Need to innovate just to maintain position

What is web usability & why is it important?
Web usability is about making your website in such a way that your site users can find what they're looking for quickly and efficiently.
A usable website can reap huge benefits on to your website and your business.
Your website has to be easy to navigate

Users have gradually become accustomed to particular layouts and phrases on the Internet, for example:

• Organisation logo is in the top-left corner and links back to the homepage
• The term 'About us' is used for organisation information
• Navigation is in the same place on each page and adjacent to the content
• Anything flashing or placed above the top logo is often an advertisement
• The term 'Shopping cart' is used for items you might wish to purchase

There are numerous other conventions like these that enhance your website's usability - can you think of some more?

Don't underestimate the importance of these conventions - as the Internet matures we're getting more and more used to things being a certain way. Break these conventions and you may be left with nothing but a website with poor usability and a handful of dissatisfied site visitors

Pages must download quickly

Usability studies have shown that 8.6 seconds is the maximum time web users will wait for a page to download (source: Andrew B. King - Speed Up Your Site). As of March 2004 just 25% of UK web users had broadband (source: National Statistics ) so it's essential for optimal usability that your website downloads quickly.

To speed up the download time of your website we recommend you do three things:

Use CSS and not tables to lay out your web page
Use CSS and not images to create fancy navigation items
Read our article about how to speed up the download time of your web pages

Why is Usability Important?
From the user's perspective usability is important because it can make the difference between performing a task accurately and completely or not, and enjoying the process or being frustrated. From the developer's perspective usability is important because it can mean the difference between the success or failure of a system. From a management point of view, software with poor usability can reduce the productivity of the workforce to a level of performance worse than without the system. In all cases, lack of usability can cost time and effort, and can greatly determine the success or failure of a system. Given a choice, people will tend to buy systems that are more user-friendly.

User Experience - UX

"User Experience", often abbreviated "UX", is the quality of experience a person has when interacting with a specific design.