Designing websites for total user experience: Elements checklist
Getting the customer to “yes” can be a daunting task, especially when they are not entirely sure what it is they want their website to accomplish. They see all the new bells and whistles on other sites, or a great new feature on their competitor’s site, and they want to have those features too. Gathering expectations of the customers your client serves takes a separate approach, including usability testing. As web developers, we have to balance what is good for both our clients and the customers they serve.
The web has changed a lot from the early 1990’s in its complexity. Today, the user experience (UX) involves an interaction between the users and the web page documents; moving from “web design” to “interaction / interface design” takes on many forms. Are you a web designer or has your job description changed to “interaction designer,” “user interface engineer,” or “applications programmer”?
From brainstorming ideas with your client to hammering down a central point means you have to distill the overall scope, design, content, interaction, and experience that you want to create. This includes several topics which I will address below, including Look and Feel, Features, Controls, and Services. (Read more…