50 Tips To A User Friendly Website

Discussion in 'Web Development and Programming' started by Brandon, Apr 22, 2010.

  1. Brandon

    Brandon Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2009
    Messages:
    6,602
    Likes Received:
    1,706
    Location:
    Topeka, Kansas
    First Name:
    Brandon
    1. Clicking on the logo should take you to the home page;
    2. Your logo/site title should be positioned in the top left of the page;
    3. Duplicate your main navigational links in the page footer with links to additional, but less prominent pages;
    4. Keep your navigation positioning consistent from page to page;
    5. Don’t open links in a new tab/window, except PDF’s and embedded documents;
    6. Highlight your current location in your navigation bar;
    7. Use reasonable sized fonts (12px or larger);
    8. Make sure font sizes are flexible (Use em’s or %, not px);
    9. Sans-serif fonts are easier to read at small sizes;
    10. Serif fonts are easier to read at large sizes;
    11. Center your layout on the screen;
    12. Use a page width appropriate for your audience (Older people use lower resolutions, tech saavy people use higher resolutions);
    13. Use whitespace to logically group related items on the page;
    14. Use font sizes, colors and styles to prioritize content;
    15. Use 1.4 or 1.5em line height;
    16. Use line lengths of 45 – 60 characters, the same as a paperback book;
    17. Link to related content within the context of your page content;
    18. Make sure your links change color/style when visited;
    19. Always underline links, except some navigational cases;
    20. Do not make important parts of the website look like an advertisement;
    21. Use pull quotes to highlight important content in a lengthy article;
    22. Text should be concise and scannable;
    23. Use dark gray text instead of black text on a white background;
    24. Break long pages into multiple pages;
    25. Do not use all uppercase words, word shape helps word recognition;
    26. Divide text into sections and use sub headlines to make content more easily scanned;
    27. Keep a consistent layout, colors and typography throughout the whole site;
    28. Print friendly automatically with print stylesheets;
    29. Use buttons to submit forms (Some images which look like buttons are ok);
    30. Don’t disguise or over-style inputs;
    31. Don’t redesign standard UI elements, like scrollbars (this means you, flash people!);
    32. Use breadcrumb navigation for hierarchical content;
    33. Search results page should reiterate the phrase you searched for;
    34. Do call your homepage “home” – not “welcome,” “front page,” “your company name” or anything else;
    35. Use short and easy to read URL’s;
    36. Give links to other content on your site related to their current page;
    37. Optimize images for fast downloading;
    38. Publish new content regularly, don’t “set it and forget it;”
    39. Test in all browsers and OS’s, and different versions – IE, Firefox, Safari, Opera and Chrome;
    40. Listen to your users and let them dictate changes (user centered design);
    41. Avoid using jargon in page copy unless absolutely necessary;
    42. Keep forms short, only ask for what you absolutely need;
    43. Encourage conversation around your content. Comments, forums, etc…;
    44. Include a text only sitemap;
    45. Use the title attribute on links to add more context;
    46. Never use “click here” as the text on a link;
    47. Write in a inverted pyramid style;
    48. Create friendly 404 pages which help people find content;
    49. Create incentive to come back later;
    50. Connect information via hyperlinks, don’t force navigational channels;

    Thanks to Designing Interactive for the info.
     
  2. sbglobal

    sbglobal Regular Member

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2010
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    0
    thanks for sharing information
     
  3. Cerberus

    Cerberus Admin Talk Staff

    Joined:
    May 3, 2009
    Messages:
    1,031
    Likes Received:
    500
    Really good tips as always. I should go through this section more and see what else you have in here. When I came here I thought it was more just general type stuff, but I am glad to see you have stuff like this. Always welcomed reads :)
     
  4. Panache

    Panache Regular Member

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2002
    Messages:
    429
    Likes Received:
    3
    Location:
    USA
    Great tips! This is very true. Really, it does set me off a bit when websites *don't* do this stuff, and makes it much more difficult to use.
    All websites should implement these tips.
     

Share This Page