Extreme Makeover for Websites

During the “Extreme Makeover” session at the Online News Association conference on Friday, panelists shared their thoughts about site redesign. I had the opportunity to share what we’ve learned with the Eyetrack III research, and my fellow panelists, Kevin Riley from DaytonDailyNews.com and Hyde Post from AJC.com, shared what they have learned from their redesign experiences.

Riley went over what he called “the critical core metrics” used when interviewing test participants about their site’s redesign: satisfaction, organization, visual appeal, ease of navigation, and likelihood to return. He said results indicated that users don’t like “clever” print titles for sections used in the online product. For example, the print product may call the its auto section “Wheels,” but online users don’t react well to these clever marketing titles. “People want ‘cars, homes, and jobs’ online,” he said. He also cautioned that there will be negative reaction to any site redesign, and showed this feedback from one user that made everyone chuckle.

Post stressed how much can be learned by usability testing and focused his presentation on how to do it on the cheap. “You should find 80 percent of the problems [with your design] with five [individual] interviews,” he said. He also stressed the importance of videotaping the sessions of those you are testing. He said the videotapes were not only good for review, but also increased buy-in on the need for changes by his staff who didn’t see the usability testing sessions firsthand.

Versions of the presentations from this panel can be found here.