Lost in the world of horrendous design choices

 

Ever been lost and realized you need a map? What if that map did not help at all to find what you were looking for and instead confused you even more? I have – On the Internet. I have bumped into really confusing websites and applications in my time of youth: ”Buttons” that can not be clicked, links that lead you to 404 errors due not having updates on that particular website or application, and a lot of misleading links. Is it really that difficult or near impossible to make a perfect, working site user in mind?

I read a few chapters from a book ”Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug.  It was easy and fun read! Chapter 6. Street signs and Breadcrumbs (page 83 onwards) was so brilliant I wanted to share this with my readers! Navigation on the internet is like being in a mall: First you need to know what you are going to purchase. Second look out for the right department for that particular product. Next you will need to find the right aisle on the step three, and on step look for the product itself. If you did not find it on the aisle you thought the product would be in, just simply move to the next aisle! At this point if you still have not found your product, then you will just change and look out for a different department. But why are you comparing being in a mall to describe Internet navigation you may ask.

While looking out for information about something, you will have the same steps as in the mall situation. Websites and applications should be designed to be easy to navigate, but still today I stumble upon the worst design on the Internet I have ever seen: Absolutely confusing, bloated in misleading links and full of little extra nonsense. As a short-tempered person when it comes to Internet, I do not want to search under the rocks for what I am looking for. All I need is a search bar. I write the thing I want to find, if it is on the website, give it to me. If is not, I will try another place.

In my opinion, website should be as simple as possible for the accessibility perspective. Unfortunately big companies see this as a threat from a market perspective as they can get less clicks on their products. But if the company thinks like a customer and designs their websites to aid them, that is business!

I really enjoyed this and I suggest you to give it a read yourself!

 

Reference:

Krug, S. (2000). Don’t make me think: A common sense approach to web usability. New Riders