Importance of Usability

Regardless of its style or category, any website's success hinges on its ease of use. According to Jakob Nielsen, an eminent usability expert, "If a website is difficult to use, people leave."

A website should:

1. State plainly what it offers.
2. Be easy to navigate.
3. Be easy to read.
4. Offer answers to user's questions.
5. Load quickly and consistently on a variety of browsers and devices.

Since there is no standard on how websites should be designed, it's up to the web design agency to infer what users will expect given a client's particular content. Through experience and testing, the agency can determine the best design, all while maintaining the brand's message. A good web design agency should be spending 10% of a project's budget on usability testing.

Nearly universally users assume that:

1. A link to the home page, usually in the form of a logo, is available in the upper left.
2. Pages have descriptive headers or titles announcing which page a user is on.
3. Text is legible. Printed in high contrast, appropriately sized, and carefully typeset.
4. Load times will be short, or a progress bar will indicate loading if necessary.
5. Navigation is placed near the logo, either at the top of a page or down the left side.