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Designing Killer Web Apps - Making ASP's Palatable for Web Users
By Joy Busse, CEO & President - Busse Design USA
First Published on the ClickZ Network, July 2000
Hold on to your hats -- the world is changing in front of our eyes -- again. Applications online, or better known as Application Service Providers (ASPs), are the hottest products to be featured on the Web today. No more solutions in a box, no more outdated software, no more install, upgrade or version hassles-now you simply rent the application online and the provider takes care of the rest. It's like renting a house versus owning one-all the headaches of ownership and maintenance go away. Because there is no software to own, there is a significant reduction in software management costs and responsibilities on the user's side. The numbers are astounding. The Gartner Group projects the category to be almost $23 billion by 2003.
There's only one problem - there aren't many good Web applications out there. Oh there are great ideas, but few are designed for the Web or with a "customer-centric" approach. Many companies are migrating their off-the-shelf/off-line software solutions to the Web, but the same principles don't necessarily apply. Granted, good User Interface (UI) design is good design but conventions and attention spans are very different on the Web. Personalization is possible which a solution-in-a-box can't provide. This is where the significance of User Modeling comes in (or, as it is known in the trade, "Human Factors"). Consider this:
Busse Design USA's roots are in the world of Industrial Product Design. For over 35 years, our partner Busse Design Europe has been exploring, analyzing, dissecting and diagnosing users' needs in relation to things they need/do/want in their everyday life. The process of examining human behavior and creating a product that customers will want and continue using, is the key to success in product design. Busse Design Europe's most famous product designs include something every one of you use everyday -- the Krups coffeemaker or the Henckels knife. How about the family folks out there, recognize the Rommer baby carrier (red with blue handle)? And the trendsetters who want purified water, does the Brita water filtration pitcher look familiar? Take a different company, IDEO, they've built an entire company on their approach to human behaviors and product design as evidenced in the Palm Pilot. A great amount of psychological analysis and testing goes into how human beings think and feel, how they and break things, what level of satisfaction they have when using things, etc.
So, the last element brings me back to the World Wide Web-there is a high level of user dissatisfaction with regard to using applications online. As specialists in User Interface (UI) design, we at Busse Design USA have observed a lack of consideration for users' needs when applications are brought to the Web. The intricacies of all the principles I described above, and the very tricky, yet methodical approach to the psychology of the customer-centric experience are often overlooked. It is important to look at years of product design and understand how those Human Factor principles & practices can be applied to how people behave, think and work on the new platform.
We could argue that simple principles still apply. No matter if you have a straightforward VAR-oriented B2B site, a Web Application or consumer/E-commerce site-everyone wants the same thing-they want a pleasurable and intuitive experience. This means great looking graphics (with minimum downloading, of course), superior navigation and UI design with easy-to-read-easy-to-follow messaging and last but not least, quick access to those things users need right away. However, that's just not enough when it comes to Application design.
Applications can be a long row to hoe. Think of it - 600 megabytes of info on a CDROM, and many Apps are on several discs. How does this product get reshaped for a tighter, easier Web product? Or, what if you are starting from scratch and never had a CDROM product? When offering a superior Web Application to your online audience, there are many things to consider all the way down to the "nuance" of a triggered behavior.
Here are just a few tips to keep in mind when choosing a UI design partner and when actually developing a strategy for a superior product design:
- Web Apps require an inherent learning curve. Applications are designed to fulfill the customer's needs, and also to fill the company's business plan requirements. Things such as cutting down on areas like F2F training and/or sales time, customer service time on the phone, etc. come into play. You better have a darn near perfect experience if you aren't offering the traditional channels of training, anymore. In addition to designing the primary Killer App, what about creating a Distance Learning App or tutorial to guide your customers? How does the psychology of a Distance Learning application differ from the primary App you are offering? Well, the answer is, it differs a lot. We find that with less intensive applications a full tutorial might not be necessary because the App itself is short and intuitive. Sometimes a Flash (a technology from Macromedia) demonstration does the job by utilizing an informational training "videotape" for those that are broadband-enabled (faster connections). Conversely, on the more intensive applications that required days of face-time training, users are more comfortable knowing that a full tutorial is nearby to help them set up and make choices that best suit their company's needs. Heretofore (and even today), a great deal of handholding went into training folks on applications. Until the online application approach is the norm, customers are going to need assistance transferring to the online application. Therefore, a Distance Learning tutorial is highly recommended for a robust application.
- When embarking on a from-scratch or redesign application project, start with the customer at the focal point. This is one of the most important factors that will contribute to designing a successful application. Work with an experienced UI professional and if available, someone with experience in the Cognitive (thought process/thinking) side of the equation, a.k.a. Human Factors. Create different user profiles. If you don't have aggregate user profile information from experience, create hypotheses and test those hypotheses as early as possible with focus groups and usability testing on prototypes. Don't believe your own conclusions too firmly. Get out there and seek professional advice, and afterwards, get to the end user. Take the time to find a very targeted audience that will actually use your application and see what they need and want, how they intend to use it, teach it to their staff, etc. Focus group testing is less accurate, but Usability Testing yields good data if your audience is targeted.
- Applications that are robust in nature need not one, but several prototypes for the different parts of the application. Ask your UI design partner to create mini-Apps (prototypes) with a cohesive umbrella UI strategy for how all the pieces fit together.
- More on Human Factors. Design firms don't always have expertise in Web Information Architecture. This is the skill-set you really need to scrutinize. How your UI partner thinks, how they create hypotheses and layout strategies for your product is key to creating the Killer App. What does Cognitive analysis mean to them, what evidence do they have of successful case studies, what was the thinking behind the UI for the different portfolio pieces, etc.
As history has shown us, "good design takes time." Web Application Providers will get better at their execution as they get smarter about the analysis of Human Factors of what customers really want and need, and as they more carefully choose the right partners with the right skill-sets and experience for superior UI design. And ultimately, users will have a greater level of satisfaction.
Remember your competition is poised to grab your market share at any given second. Every hole in your application that your user can slip through is a gold mine opportunity for your competition to take advantage of.
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