Making your website
‘user-centric’
Danielle Roddick
Web Services Unit
What is a user-centric website?
• The audience/ user is front and centre.
• Content authors and developers know the
demographic profile of the audience – including
interests, wants, needs, and skill-sets.
• The audience is considered when every decision
is made – from the content, to the designs, and
IA.
YouTube: ‘The ROI of User Experience
with Dr. Susan Weinschenk’
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O94kYyzqv
Tc
Source: ROI of User Experience. http://www.humanfactors.com/project/index.asp
What are the features of a usercentric website?
• It depends on the user!
Sources: http://www.brainpop.com/
http://www.scienceresearch.com/scienceresearch/
Key features
User-centric websites
Maker-centric websites
• Use simple, clear language.
• Contain objective and neutral
content.
• Speak to the audience (Using
terms such as “we” and “you”).
• Are active and task-orientated
• Have simple navigation, which
makes it easy to locate
information.
• Are engaging and dynamic.
• Use internal jargon or industry
terms.
• Contain content that is not
objective.
• Speak from a company
perspective (“The University”
and “our staff”).
• Are inactive and informationorientated.
• Have complex navigation, which
makes it difficult to locate
information.
• Are unengaging and “corporate”.
My Aged Care:
A ‘consumer-centric’ website
• First asked the question: “Why are we creating
this website?” (What does this website need to
deliver/ accomplish?)
• Researched the consumers’ information needs
and how they would usually locate this
information. (Focus groups and user testing)
• Considered the emotional state of consumers at
the time of accessing aged care services.
Source: Fermor, K. & Thwaites, D. (29 April 2014) Case Study: ‘Designing and Launching the ‘My Aged Care’
website: A consumer centric approach,’ Presentation at the 5th Annual National Public sector Communication
Officers’ Conference, Canberra.
Considering the user in design choices
Source: Fermor, K. & Thwaites, D. (29 April 2014) Case Study: ‘Designing and Launching the ‘My Aged Care’
website: A consumer centric approach,’ Presentation at the 5th Annual National Public sector Communication
Officers’ Conference, Canberra.
Considering how the audience should
be represented
Source: Fermor, K. & Thwaites, D. (29 April 2014) Case Study: ‘Designing and Launching the ‘My Aged Care’
website: A consumer centric approach,’ Presentation at the 5th Annual National Public sector Communication
Officers’ Conference, Canberra.
Carefully considered language
Source: Fermor, K. & Thwaites, D. (29 April 2014) Case Study: ‘Designing and Launching the ‘My Aged Care’
website: A consumer centric approach,’ Presentation at the 5th Annual National Public sector Communication
Officers’ Conference, Canberra.
The result!
Source: http://www.myagedcare.gov.au/
Put yourself in the shoes of an
academic….
Imagine you are sitting in your office and you are thinking:
•
•
•
•
•
I have established myself as a leader in my school
I am building a solid reputation in my field of research
I have published papers in international journals
I am collaborating with leading experts in my field
All while maintaining a large teaching load…
…Surely I would qualify for promotion from Senior lecturer
to Associate Professor!
I wonder when the next round of academic promotions
begins?
What next?
Would you have looked in the OPC
website?
Would you have also looked in the OD
website?
‘Academic Promotion’
‘Academic Mentoring Program’
Creating user-centred content
Consider:
• Are any similar issues at play in your websites?
• Is there any information that your website is
currently missing, that might be useful to your
audiences? Is it located anywhere else on the
UWS website?
• Could this be an opportunity for cross-unit
collaboration?
Final tips for user centric websites
• Prominently position important/ popular
content.
• Use your Google Analytics Reports.
• Have a clear picture of who your audience is.
• Don’t be self-serving.
• Try to identify and solve problems.
Thank you!
Any questions?
[email protected]
[email protected]