From Apply Now,
Your Guide to Web Usability.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

There are several things users hate to come across when visiting a site; we will go through some of these to help improve the usability and effectiveness of your designs.

• Not knowing the purpose of the site
  Users visit websites with a goal in mind and if you can’t answer this they will move on and find a site that can. Avoid using unnecessary marketing tactics or slogans and communicate in a clear and effective way why they should stay on your site.


• Bad and inefficient searches
  Search engines are one of the most important tools on websites as it provides users with a method of quickly finding the information they need. Therefore, search engines that can’t handle plurals, hyphens, and other search text variants should be avoided and replaced with smart and intuitive tools that can handle the variants in user queries.


• Content can not be scanned
  When users visit a site they scan the content to find out if it’s relevant before reading on, therefore large blocks of text that can not be easily interpreted will drive users away. Including items such as bullet points, headers and highlighted keywords are great tactics to help users filter the content they read.


• Fonts can not be read or adjusted
  The main purpose of sites is to deliver content and using overly stylistic fonts can distract users, so whatever you choose make sure it’s clear and easy to read. In addition to this the font size should not be fixed as users need to be able to adjust this to improve the readability of the content.


• Pages opening in new browser windows
  Avoid opening links in new windows and stick to replacing the current page with the new content to avoid annoying users with unnecessary pop up windows. If required users have the controls necessary to open pages in new windows so it’s best to leave the choice with them.


• Links do not change color to indicate history
  It is a common web standard to have links change color once visited and removing this makes it difficult for users to make choices based on knowing where they’ve already been. To avoid driving users away it is best to stick to common web standards such as this to cater to visitor’s expectations.


• Don’t play music
  Don’t surprise users with music when they visit a site as they often don’t expect this and may not agree with the taste. But, if music is a necessary part of the design, give users the power to turn it off or on, as they need.

These are a few of the items visitors hate to come across and by avoiding these you are already improving the usability of your site.