Introducing user-centred web design

Needles and Plastic author Bruce Russell has written the first of an excellent four-part article about user-centred web design (often termed UCD) in Computerworld.

Bruce writes:

Web initiatives are now a commonplace strategy for business and government alike. Increasingly, websites form the centre of organisational communication and marketing strategies. As a result, most of these organisations have got over the thrill of simply having a presence in cyberspace. Now people are asking the hard questions, like:

“What’s our website really for?”

“How do we use the web to make our business grow?”

“Are our customers satisfied with the experience of using our site?”

If business owners aren't asking these questions, they should be. Not only is the web a very cost-effective mechanism for providing product and service information, especially in these ultra cost-conscious times, it is also a perfect way to deliver good customer service and after-sales support. In general, businesses in New Zealand are still seeing the web as some sort of multi-media version of TV advertising, something they know they must have, alongside the Yellow Pages listing and an 0800 number.

Too often the responsibility for the design and content of the company's web site is out-sourced to the whatever advertising or media company they deal with. Instead of becoming a key form of communication between customer and business, the result is many New Zealand commercial web sites are just online brochures, that deliver very little value for the business or their customers.

How do you fix this? Read Bruce's article for a good start.