EvoBloggito

Part 5, Why Bad Websites Happen to Good Companies: Having a “Splash” Page

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Jan 12, 2009; Category: Accessibility, Bad Websites/Good Companies, Design/Development, Marketing; Tags: Information Architecture, Splash Page, Usability; 4 Comments

Splash pages represent a fundamental misunderstanding of the online medium. Often, they come from a print perspective ("books should have a cover"), or sometimes from a broadcast perspective ("a show should have an intro"). In user surveys, splash pages consistently rank as one of the most annoying things on the internet, but there are still splash pages out there, and most are attached to company websites (or print designer portfolio websites). A simple Google search reveals the many problems with splash pages, so we won’t address that here.

If the problems with splash pages are well known, why do they still exist, and in fact, continue to show up on new or redesigned sites?

• Ego, part one: the designer wants to show off his/her creativity or flash/illustration skills.
• Ego, part deux: the CEO or marketing exec is under the mistaken belief that a "cool" splash page is…um… "cool."
• Money: the designer can charge extra for the splash page flash or illustration, and maybe more for the "concept."

Websites with splash pages are inherently brochure sites (has anyone ever seen a splash page on a website that engages its audience?). The underlying assumption with splash pages is that "the market" wants/needs to see/hear the company’s "big message." That, my friends, is so "brochure."

Designers who push splash pages either misunderstand the web medium (perhaps they’re primarily print designers who only design an occasional website and don’t understand the differences?), or they’re making design decisions based on what’s best for them rather than what’s best for their clients.

Clients who insist on splash pages (I’ve had one of those in 9 years) are either uninformed, or they don’t care about their users ("it’s our website, not our customers’ website"). If they still insist on a splash page after you attempt to educate them, take their money if you need to, but realize that you are on the "brochure website" path on that website.

For more posts in this series, see the “Bad Websites/Good Companies” category at right.

Part 3, Why Bad Websites Happen to Good Companies: Misunderstanding or Neglecting Information Architecture

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Dec 29, 2008; Category: Bad Websites/Good Companies, Design/Development, Marketing; Tags: Design/Development, Information Architecture, Usability; No Comments

Information Architecture (IA) refers to the organization and presentation of information on your website. Sounds simple enough, but many website owners and designers give it very little (if any) thought. Fundamental to the IA process is thinking through what information your visitors might come to your website to find, and providing obvious pathways designed to lead them to it.

The first part of the process is to identify your audiences. We’ve used the plural because most companies have more than one audience. Let’s say your company sells a technical widget to other companies (B2B). Your audiences might break down as follows in a particular company:

1. the technician who will use the widget, and needs details about how it works
2. the technician’s manager who authorizes the purchase and needs ROI information
3. the marketing manager who sells the company’s services and needs information about how the widget provides them with a competitive advantage.

Each needs different kinds of information to make a buying decision, or use your product, or to help them do their jobs. Rather than looking at your information from the perspective of "what-I-have-to-say," try looking at it from the perspective of your audience: "what-I-need-to-know." You might discover that some of the information your visitors need is not on your website, in which case, you need to create it. (Don’t settle for the lame excuse, "They’ll just have to call us for that information." Because they won’t.)

If you have clearly distinguishable audiences with different needs, you might consider addressing them separately on the homepage, with action messages/links directed at each audience, which allows visitors to self-select into one of the audience groups and go to a "start page" written to address them from their perspective. This requires brief, well-written, motivating action messages, but it can show your various audiences that you understand who they are and what their needs are.

Apart from creating special pathways for important audience segments, all websites need an easily understood, "intuitive" global navigation system. That means intuitive from your audience’s point of view, not necessarily yours. Intuitive navigation always rests on a well-thought-through information architecture.

If you want to see how NOT to create intuitive navigation, go to virtually any government website (though they’re getting better). It’s likely you will see information organized by government department, rather than by what visitors want to know. If you are looking for information about a particular service or program, you first must figure out which department is responsible for it. Then you may be able to navigate to the information, or maybe not. It works great for government employees who understand how the system is constructed; not so great for most constituents.

The basics that must appear on all website navigation (the labels can vary) is:

1. Home (no, making your logo a link to the home page is not obvious to everyone)
2. Products and/or Services
3. About Us
4. Contact Us

Those are the minimum global navigation items for a business website, but most sites contain more, depending on the kind of business and the ways it chooses to engage its audiences. Keep in mind that, if your customers can’t find the information they need on your website, they may buy an inferior product or service from a company that does a better job of providing information (ouch!).

Effective information architecture can only be developed by understanding and considering the needs of your visitors. It requires some thought and a real effort to look at your information from their perspective. Done well, it can result in more business. Done badly, it can turn business away.

For more posts in this series, see the “Bad Websites/Good Companies” category at right.