Usability - The Thirty Second Rule

According to Jakob Nielsen, there are three key things that a user must accomplish in the first thirty seconds of viewing your site. 1. Who are you? 2. What do you do? 3. What should I (the user) do next. If you aren't able to answer these three questions in thirty seconds or less, it's time for a web site redesign.

Let's look at the first question: Who are you? Eyemapping studies show that the first place users look is at the top left area of your site. This is why most well-designed web sites have their company's logo placed there. This is the first step to answering that first question. The placement of the logo at the top left also helps orient the user and helps to bring brand awareness.

Now, the second question: What do you do? This is always difficult for companies, especially when the company itself is not focused on a core product or service, or is having trouble internally defining what it is they really do. When you throw in target audiences who are very different, it becomes even harder. Users don't want to try to glean what you do from a clever tagline, or marketese. The best way to handle this is to come right out and say what you do, simply, and immediately. If you are selling a product, include that right away with an image on the homepage.

Finally, users want to know what to do next. Users want to get off your homepage as soon as they can, and get to the good stuff-- the information, the products, the entertainment, or the service. Again, you may have different target audiences with different needs. Speak to each of them with calls to action such as: Contact Us for a Free Evaluation. Your designer should know how to draw the user's eye to these calls-to-action.

If you currently pass the thirty second rule, congratulations, you are well on your way to having a usable web site. If you don't, it may be a good time to reconsider your web strategy.

-- Ivy Hastings Project Manager Fusionbox

Fusionbox is a Denver web design and development company.