Web development: here is how we do it right the first time
The General Center for Internet Services Inc. (GCIS) is Canada's oldest and largest Web designer
and Internet application development company. In business since 1996, we serve mainly small and medium-sized
businesses, large multinational corporations and all levels of government. About 70% of GCIS's
corporate clients are outside Canada. Currently, we are serving 58 international cities located in over
34 countries on 6 continents. With it's cutting edge technologies developed in-house and strong
integration experience, GCIS is well prepared to help any company or organization achieve it's best
ROI (Return on Investment), completely independant of it's industry.
E-commerce & e-Business are still in their infancy and the industry has made some mistakes, but it is still a very enticing and exciting industry. In february of 2001, Media Metrix estimated that corporate websites are operating at an efficiency and effectiveness level of approx. only 46%, due to shortsightedness and failure to carefully prepare, plan and double-check final work.
The 'Rush and Connect' Syndrome
Worldwide, e-business generally remains relatively untapped, with only 4% of companies using their
presence to sell online, compared with 73% that are capable of doing so (Source - Amárach Consulting
research). Usability is all about effectively and efficiently realizing this potential. Too many
companies have fallen prey of the 'rush & connect' syndrome, a usability nightmare that results when
companies rush websites and connect them onto an existing business offering. Without proper preparation,
careful planning and thourough testing, your Web site, B2B exchange or e-commerce site will not deliver
what is expected and will result in a doomed failure. Companies are then faced with the prospect of
re-designing the whole project from the start. The bottom line is that a website cannot exist in
isolation.
Designing an efficient corporate Web site is a lot like building a new house. Without deep foundations, it is sure to keel over. A Web site in isolation is a house without electricity or plumbing, a bucket with a large hole. A badly designed Web site will lose a company business and drive customers away. To succeed in e-commerce, a company needs to have a complete package designed from the ground up, right down to the delivery of parcels to a customer's doorstep. That's where the «GCIS Usability Factor» comes in.
«The GCIS Usability Factor»
There is an urgent need for usability in efficient Web site planning. It is already a multi-billion
dollar industry in North-America. What is the «GCIS Usability Factor» ? It is the study of online user
experience. In other words, it measures how easy it is for visitors to find their way around your
corporate Web site or purchase goods and services online. It aims to cut out the uneccessary and
eliminate fog from your Web site or information portal. It aims for total clarity of vision.
Simplicity: the art of common sense
User testing, heuristic evaluation, task metrics and comparative analysis combine to make your site a
more effective, efficient and satisfying place to be. It sounds a bit academic, but it needn't be. At
the heart of usability is the adage that users are unpredictable. What designers build and what
users see are often two different things. The best way to see if a site does what it's supposed to do
is to test it with real users under real life conditions.
Unobtrusive and cost-effective
Many companies don't bother with usability because they think they don't have the time, money or
expertise to do it. But good usability is unobtrusive and cost effective. At the Center, user testing
is slotted into the development process in a way that causes minimal disruption and it doesn't have to
cost a fortune either. In fact, it's best to test iteratively, with small groups of users, over a
period of time, to get the best return on your investment (ROI). IBM is one of
the big names that advocate usability: 'every dollar invested in usability returns $10 to $100 and even
more'.
The essence of time
Time is a scarce and costly material in design work. Time is money, but that doesn't mean that time
spared is money saved. The building industry has a couple of mottos that hold true for web design:
'Get it right the first time' and 'Measure twice, cut once': wise words from an ancient trade. Whether
your raw materials are bricks and mortar or code and graphics, it is often the case that a lot of
perfectly good materials are wasted because a job has been poorly planned and rushed. The job is
condemned and it's back to square one to start all over again. So, time saved is not necessarily money
saved. Effective use of time can even cut costs. Ineffective use of time actually increases costs,
because the work has to be completely redone.
Meeting all requirements
The task of usability is to get maximum benefit for all users of your Web site. Your site will be used
by people from all walks of life, at different levels of computer literacy, so your Web site has to
deliver the goods, regardless of user competency. Customers and potential customers must be able to
easily use your site. It should also make sense to the people who commissioned it and will look after
it, be that a company's boss with no computer knowledge or the heavily involved middle person. Real
users should be involved at every stage of the design process, and afterwards too, because your Web site
is alive. It grows, shrinks and evolves with business advances and changing customer needs.
Virtual main street
When you switch on a TV, you allow the world into your living room. It's a one-way traffic system. They
send, you receive. The Internet facilitates two-way traffic flow. When a user enters a site, they
invite a business into their home or workplace. When a business posts your Web site, it invites the
entire Internet-using world into its place of business. It's really a double feature. We've come a
long way from the paper-and-ink method of doing business and salespeople have long dreamed of entering
potential customer's homes. With this new possibility comes new responsibilities. We are asking
consumers to step off Main Street and shop instead on 'Virtual Main Street'. Store fronts (home pages)
must be appealing, clutter-free, and informative. Goods (products, services, content) must be
displayed properly and easy to find. After sales service & customer support has to be excellent.
Conclusion
Globally, we are all in a unique position to learn from the mistakes of those who have gone before
us. Many experts and statiscal reporting agencies say that the international market value for consumer
e-commerce purchases and B2B transactions in 2002 alone are estimated to be in the trillions. The
benefits are there for the taking. Companies that take usability seriously and invest in user testing
wisely will be leaps ahead of their competition. They will gain the loyalty of people who are tired of
hard-to-use Web sites that continually fail to deliver. Usability will be employed as a parallel
development tool, to plan, build, test and maintain effective and efficient corporate Web sites. It is
time to get on ground-level and work with real users. Without usability, we are all listening to the
sound of one hand clapping.
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Web: www.gcis.ca e-mail: info@gcis.ca TEL: (450) 437. 8757 FAX: (450) 437. 7785
The General Center for Internet Services Inc.