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Hello everyone! Welcome to Breadcrumbs! For those of you are interested in improving the User/Student Experience, but have no idea where or how to start, this series is for you. Moving forward, I will be including some concepts that will help illustrate guidelines and principles – but most importantly, demonstrate how some of these seemingly abstract usability concepts can easily be applied to your work here at É«ÀÇÉçÇø.

Let’s begin with a very common scenario...

You launch a new website or app! Oooh what feel good moment.



But, just as you're eating your celebratory turkey and cheese, something crosses your mind. Did you forget to add the mayo? Or did you realize you didn’t include any usability guidelines, or principles, or testing before your big launch?

“That’s alright,” you think. “We worked really, really hard on it! I can’t wait to hear what people have to say!”

Oh, well....that’s interesting feedback. It may be time for some quick changes.

So, did your nimble changes work with the audience or did it just confuse them a bit?



Hmmm....it doesn’t look like it worked. You may begin to get a little frustrated.



Really. Frustrated.



You may even convince yourself this isn't your fault. After all....

Don’t worry! Here is a fool-proof solution that is super easy to pull off and works absolutely never!


 
Assuming this page even loads with all the gifs (a usability fail in its own right, but I’m human and I really liked these gifs), let’s break out one comparable usability notion and discuss why it’s important - and how it impacts our work.  

Content: Too much of a good thing is...well… not a good thing.

Have you ever written a beautifully crafted, ridiculously long email? I know you know the one I’m talking about. The Citizen Kane e-mail that includes the project historical background, action items, plot twists, findings, and major takeaways. You are about to hit send and your computer freezes. The epic that took you two hours to compose is now goooone. NOOOOO!

After you peel yourself off the ceiling, you’re able to re-write the entire message using a short, meaningful summary, a few bullets, and a conclusion that teases a more detailed follow up. So, what exactly happened here?

Perhaps the concise second draft is due to writer's fatigue, or maybe it's because you now have the accidental opportunity for self reflection and content review. Either way, this second version illustrates that long narratives do not effectively communicate your point. I am in the process of working out the neurological law explaining this phenomenon, but in the meantime, it is important to understand that our website is no different than the email scenario above.

Let's dig into a É«ÀÇÉçÇø example...

There is a page within rowan.edu that includes exactly 2,935 words. In case you are wondering, that is the equivalent of someone writing AND someone having to (unfortunately) read a 6-page single-spaced paper. This is an astounding amount of content for web and, honestly, probably not even the worst offender currently within our domain.

Solve using a design concept

Fancy Design Concept: Progressive Disclosure

What It Means: Per screen, include only the minimum data required for the task at hand. By guiding the user through information or actions across different screens, you are able to sequence the experience and minimize the likelihood of your user feeling overwhelmed (aka having Cognitive Overload). In other words, maintain your user's attention by actively reducing your content clutter.

Non-Fancy Concept(s) about People: You may have a lot to say, but don't assume people will read what you wrote or perform an elaborate work flow just because you want them to. The safer assumption is that your audience is busy, multi-tasking, and will scan or quickly click through your content until completing their primary objective. People want control, and that means being able to control how they access pertinent information. 

In the event that you have a lot of information to read or a multitude of steps for a user to follow, it may be useful to try the following:

Potential Solution(s):

• Break up content and options across different pages when appropriate. 
• Potentially use an accordion to help structure and condense longer form page content.
• Put priority content and features first, then include secondary content and features.
• Lead with the easy stuff. Then go into more detailed content or features.
• Include bullets, short paragraphs, and pictures to help break up the monotony.
• Review/Peer review work.
• Think about how someone outside of your office will perceive your content.

As a quick exercise, why not try and review one priority page within your own site to see what could be optimized. If that goes well (You are an expert now, so how else could it go?), try doing another page....and then another....and then another....and then....before you know it....

If you made it this far and want to learn a little more, we have additional content guidelines and Information Architecture concepts just for you. These content pointers may be useful during new content creation or when editing something previously published. 

Now, go do great things. Cheers.