Ask Who?!

Steve Krug, web design guru and author of Don’t Make Me Think – A Common Sense Guide to Web Usability, has a simple suggestion for resolving conflicts when your boss, partner or whoever wants to add a feature or function to the web that you think is just bone-headed. Ask your users. Build a prototype, working or not, and invite a few users to use it. Observe their reactions. Ask their opinions. And, if they think it’s cool, swallow your pride and go with it but if they agree with you then you’ll have the ammo you need to get your boss to back down.

Consider this as well, if you’re thinking of deploying an intrusive technology such as audio, video or flash, keep in mind that the first time a browser sees it they may share your enthusiasm. Wow! Cool! But, if they’re frequent visitors it just begins to irritate and annoy and the positive impact quickly becomes negative. Solution: Make this kind of stuff voluntary. Give people the choice to view the flash, listen to the spiel or watch the featurette.