Why is the usability of your law firm's website important from the standpoint of ROI? Here's how Jakob Nielsen, the highly regarded website usability expert, puts it:
On the Web, usability is a necessary condition for survival. If a website is difficult to use, people leave. If the homepage fails to clearly state what a company offers and what users can do on the site, people leave. If users get lost on a website, they leave. If a website’s information is hard to read or doesn’t answer users’ key questions, they leave. Note a pattern here? There’s no such thing as a user reading a website manual or otherwise spending much time trying to figure out an interface. There are plenty of other websites available; leaving is the first line of defense when users encounter a difficulty." (from Usability 101).
Legal marketers involved with a website development project would be wise to invest time in learning basic usability principles and concepts so they can provide appropriate guidance and feedback during the design phase. Don't rely blindly on the designers to get it right.
Here's a link to an excellent blog post providing short descriptions of, and links to 20 websites addressing website design and the user experience (note: several primarily address the user interface for web applications, which is a different issue; focus on the sites discussing website design principles).
Comments