Some of the things I've gleaned from user testing over the years. What do people actually do online?

1. © cxpartners 2007
How do users actually
use the web?
Joe Leech
Principal Consultant
+44 7905 334163
http://flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/161547780/www.cxpartners.co.uk

2. cxpartners in numbers
www.cxpartners.co.uk
Run
413
user tests
in 2007
27
combined years in
usability
£176
Est. added to the revenue
of companies worked
with in 2007
million
13
cxpartners
Usability
work on
continents
5
Based in Bristol
118
miles
from London
Surveyed
3,450
users
in 2007
Watched
people use
673websites

3. We watch people use the web
www.cxpartners.co.uk

4. We also design website structures…

5. …and page layouts

6. How users actually use the web
www.cxpartners.co.uk
Top 5 things we’ve learnt
and ways to turn this to your advantage

7. #1
http://flickr.com/photos/manfrys/2226178289/

8. Google generation
Flighty, is the best way to
describe their behaviour
They show a strong tendency towards shallow horizontal ‘flicking’ behaviour
Make the pictures bigger and cut the
text by half

9. Report: Google generation: myth vs. reality?
 They are expert searchers
 They think everything is on the web (and it’s all free)
 They do not respect intellectual property
 They are the ‘cut-and-paste’ generation
 They have zero tolerance for delay and their information needs must be
fulfilled immediately
 They prefer interactive systems and are turning away from being passive
users of content
 They find their peers more credible as information sources than authority
figures
 They multitask in all areas of their lives
Source: information behaviour of the the research of the future January 2008 UCL
http://www.bl.uk/news/pdf/googlegen.pdf

10. Everybody is becoming more like the Google
generation
http://flickr.com/photos/manfrys/2226178289/

11. In at #2
Only 10% of your users come
in to your website via the
homepage
on average around 70% of design effort is focused on the homepage
•Design your article page first
•Give clear sign posting to other lovely things on
your website from the bottom of every article

12. Give people a place to go from the bottom of the page
Great article
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Related articles:
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13. At #3
Print this

14. At #3
Print this
Let your users print stuff
In this increasingly digital world users still want to print
•Let them print, offer a button
•Use Print style sheets to get more

15. At #3
Printed from GreatMag.com
Visit www.greatmag.com for
more great articles like this one
Great article
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eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat. Sed diam
voluptua.
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gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
For more articles form Alex Smith go to www.greatmag.com/alexsmith
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16. In at #4

17. In at #4
Accessibility is not about
disability
It’s about your website working everywhere for anyone
Design for accessibility and
everything will follow

18. 4.7 (p39): “From 1st October 1999 a service provider has to take reasonable
steps to change a practice which makes it unreasonably difficult for disabled
people to make use of its services.”
Accessibility & the law

19. Finally at #5
http://flickr.com/photos/yonorthshore/201958824/www.cxpartners.co.uk

20. #5
http://flickr.com/photos/yonorthshore/201958824/www.cxpartners.co.uk
Browse, not search is the best
way to help users find stuff
Search is hard to get right and is mostly a fall-back option
Put a list of all your stuff where it can
be seen

21. Search is a last resort
AverageMag.com
Articles Features Resources Archive FAQsHome
Search Go

22. Put your wares on show on every page

23. Thank you
Joe Leech
principal consultant
cxpartners
joe.leech@cxpartners.co.uk
+44 117 946 3930