Comments on: What Am I Missing? http://webiscope.com/2008/03/what-am-i-missing/ Internet Healthcare Collaboration Thu, 01 Jul 2010 01:56:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Chris http://webiscope.com/2008/03/what-am-i-missing/comment-page-1/#comment-308 Chris Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:48:24 +0000 http://webiscope.com/2008/03/what-am-i-missing/#comment-308 Here is a funny (well, it wasn't at the time) story that happened just yesterday: Someone came up to me and said that the site doesn't give users options to look up a doctor or make an appointment. I had the site up and pointed out that our templates ALL have those two options available as quick links on the right nav. for every page. "Oh," she says. "Can you put it on the left, too?" Seriously! I then pointed out that we did user testing and a very high percentage of users were able to complete those tasks in mere seconds ... "I still think it makes sense to include it on the left. It's just not intuitive on the right." Well, with my user testing as backup, I won the battle, but the war is never over. Here is a funny (well, it wasn’t at the time) story that happened just yesterday:

Someone came up to me and said that the site doesn’t give users options to look up a doctor or make an appointment. I had the site up and pointed out that our templates ALL have those two options available as quick links on the right nav. for every page. “Oh,” she says. “Can you put it on the left, too?” Seriously! I then pointed out that we did user testing and a very high percentage of users were able to complete those tasks in mere seconds … “I still think it makes sense to include it on the left. It’s just not intuitive on the right.” Well, with my user testing as backup, I won the battle, but the war is never over.

]]> By: bart http://webiscope.com/2008/03/what-am-i-missing/comment-page-1/#comment-297 bart Mon, 10 Mar 2008 03:17:42 +0000 http://webiscope.com/2008/03/what-am-i-missing/#comment-297 It seems users have become very inpatient with sites the last 5 years when it comes to finding what they want. The Web has such a high signal-to-noise ratio, and users have learned to quickly filter out marking language and ads on pages, as well as quickly decide whether a site tells them what they want to know. This type of browse behavior is sort of a "worst case user" that supports the idea of prioritizing content, but you can't please all the user all the time. Self-selecting audience pages used to be discouraged by usability experts, but I haven't read anything on that lately. It seems users have become very inpatient with sites the last 5 years when it comes to finding what they want. The Web has such a high signal-to-noise ratio, and users have learned to quickly filter out marking language and ads on pages, as well as quickly decide whether a site tells them what they want to know. This type of browse behavior is sort of a “worst case user” that supports the idea of prioritizing content, but you can’t please all the user all the time.

Self-selecting audience pages used to be discouraged by usability experts, but I haven’t read anything on that lately.

]]> By: Neal Linkon http://webiscope.com/2008/03/what-am-i-missing/comment-page-1/#comment-296 Neal Linkon Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:38:30 +0000 http://webiscope.com/2008/03/what-am-i-missing/#comment-296 We have options for content by audience, and will be doing more with that. They get some use and mixed reviews, but it's one more way to organize content. But even then, the people I'm talking about looked in one place and then gave up. Is that a new phenomenon? We have options for content by audience, and will be doing more with that. They get some use and mixed reviews, but it’s one more way to organize content. But even then, the people I’m talking about looked in one place and then gave up. Is that a new phenomenon?

]]> By: Less is More with Health Content | MedTouch - Your guide to all that is ADAM Health Content | Tips and Tricks for Getting the Most of Your ADAM Health Content… http://webiscope.com/2008/03/what-am-i-missing/comment-page-1/#comment-295 Less is More with Health Content | MedTouch - Your guide to all that is ADAM Health Content | Tips and Tricks for Getting the Most of Your ADAM Health Content… Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:41:27 +0000 http://webiscope.com/2008/03/what-am-i-missing/#comment-295 [...] has not been updated for a long time. Hopefully this will help alleviate any issues of people calling you up and asking why they can’t find what they want on your site. You can just tell them that it is [...] [...] has not been updated for a long time. Hopefully this will help alleviate any issues of people calling you up and asking why they can’t find what they want on your site. You can just tell them that it is [...]

]]> By: Phyllis Crandall http://webiscope.com/2008/03/what-am-i-missing/comment-page-1/#comment-294 Phyllis Crandall Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:50:06 +0000 http://webiscope.com/2008/03/what-am-i-missing/#comment-294 I feel your pain on the issue. I second Bart's comment -- we did an in-house usability test last year and chose 10 patient-oriented tasks for the study (we were able to get a nice mix of willing testers from our hospital's Volunteer department). It really helped us measure whether or not people were able to find the important stuff that is on the site. For the next set of usability tests (after a redesign, which is slated for this year), we will create a second set geared towards doctors/health care professionals as well. We have a lot of content, and I'm sure some of it is buried, if you don't know what you are looking for. For the next version of the site, we were thinking of using entry gateways from the homepage - having distinct home pages for 1) Patients/Consumers, 2) Docs/Health care Pros, (and maybe) 3) Donors. There would also probably be text links available on the main home page for Careers, Media, Site Search. Is anyone on the forum doing anything like this on their site currently? As long as you cover all of your audiences (which I would think patients/consumers & docs covers the majority), it would help with presenting all the pertinent information depending on who you are. I feel your pain on the issue. I second Bart’s comment — we did an in-house usability test last year and chose 10 patient-oriented tasks for the study (we were able to get a nice mix of willing testers from our hospital’s Volunteer department). It really helped us measure whether or not people were able to find the important stuff that is on the site.

For the next set of usability tests (after a redesign, which is slated for this year), we will create a second set geared towards doctors/health care professionals as well.

We have a lot of content, and I’m sure some of it is buried, if you don’t know what you are looking for. For the next version of the site, we were thinking of using entry gateways from the homepage – having distinct home pages for 1) Patients/Consumers, 2) Docs/Health care Pros, (and maybe) 3) Donors. There would also probably be text links available on the main home page for Careers, Media, Site Search.

Is anyone on the forum doing anything like this on their site currently? As long as you cover all of your audiences (which I would think patients/consumers & docs covers the majority), it would help with presenting all the pertinent information depending on who you are.

]]> By: bart http://webiscope.com/2008/03/what-am-i-missing/comment-page-1/#comment-293 bart Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:31:47 +0000 http://webiscope.com/2008/03/what-am-i-missing/#comment-293 I agree- you can't please everyone and accomplish everything on the home page. I think the best you can do is to prioritize what is quick to access on the homepage based on: 1) site traffic 2) focus groups & user testing 3) marketing goals Then you can at least use that to back up your responses to the "little fish" that want a homepage button. Then use user testing and best practices documentation (Nielson, etc.) to prevent the homepage from becoming a huge index of links. Having a small area where you can swap out content from week to week can also alleviate pressure - you can offer to link something for "a while", which can be surprisingly satisfying to many clients. I agree- you can’t please everyone and accomplish everything on the home page. I think the best you can do is to prioritize what is quick to access on the homepage based on:
1) site traffic
2) focus groups & user testing
3) marketing goals
Then you can at least use that to back up your responses to the “little fish” that want a homepage button. Then use user testing and best practices documentation (Nielson, etc.) to prevent the homepage from becoming a huge index of links.

Having a small area where you can swap out content from week to week can also alleviate pressure – you can offer to link something for “a while”, which can be surprisingly satisfying to many clients.

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