Re: I don't know what I want, but this isn't it ...

Hello David,

Thursday, October 12, 2000, 8:55:38 AM, you wrote:


DC> Hello all,

DC> I'm working with a company that has an existing website (inTERnet,
DC> not inTRAnet).  A number of folks (internal to the company) have
DC> mentioned that they find the site hard to navigate.  When asked
DC> for specifics, or how to improve it, they aren't able to give
DC> a response.

  You will have to go back and do research as if you were designing the page from
scratch. What do people want to find from the site. Ask the employees what they do 
on the site and devide between those that are pleased and not pleased. See if you 
can find the common threads. Find the information destinations of
those that use it and compare it to the intended destinations of the company.

    Find 3-5 people that have not used the site before. Give them the task of finding 
specific information. Note their instinctive pathways. Do the same with the 
employees and see the difference. (Note that in some cases these paths may be 
different because of specific technical information such as a difference between non 
medical and medical personnel traversing through a medically relevant web site).
Determine if the differences are due to foreknowledge of the site or differences in
technical knowledge/thought processes.

    Marry the intended paths of the company with the intended paths of the users. 
Fully document all of this and present to the company. You only need 3 to 5 people 
to be your testers for each of the knowledgeable and new users groups.

I realise that was very quick but I notice a tendency in my posts to
gt a bit long. If you'd like to chat on the issue perhaps we should
take it off list.

Thom Bradley


-- 
Best regards,
 Thom                            mailto:thombrad(at)visi.net

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