Devil’s Advocate - Why Web Usability Should Be Ignored
Monday, January 7th, 2008Categories: Web Usability
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Before you start thinking that I’m a terrible human being, let me remind you that this is the Devil’s Advocate Series, where I take the opposite viewpoint of an issue I feel strongly about. This week, I’m tackling Web Usability. Normally, I’m a huge usability fan and do my best to keep websites highly usable, but today, I’m going to rip it to shreds.
Here are reasons why efforts to make a website or flash microsite more usable are futile:
Conforming Makes For a Boring Website
If all website’s had search bars, navigations, stylesheets that were highly usable, our websites would be near copies of each other. A piece that’s designed should have unique flavors or details that make your website different or innovative, which brings us to the next point.
You Need to Be New and Innovative
Who ever talked about a website that looks identical to someone else’s? You can stretch boundaries and get noticed by experimenting with a footer navigation, eccentric colors or more unique ideas like avoiding navigation or search forms altogether.
You Need to Involve Your Users
Don’t you want users to play around with your website and find tidbits or easter eggs? Shouldn’t websites be fun if you want to keep people’s attention? This is called minesweeping, it’s very popular amongst the younger crowds who love it. Unfortunately, for the older crowd, it means frustration.
Consumes Time You Don’t Have
Some of us, at one point of time or another, had to choose between doing extra work like: ALT tags on images, table headers in tables or a non-list based navigation or simply skipping it because there simply isn’t the time. I’m guilty of this, and you shouldn’t feel bad about doing it either. You need to worry about getting your project out the door and you can nearly guarantee that your client won’t notice either.
Screen-Readers Make Up For a Tiny Percentage of Users
If you’re going to put coding time and thinking time to think about a tiny percentage of users, when will it end? Should you design your websites for users with IE5? What about designing for screens still running 800×600? What if Javascript is disabled? What if someone custom-built their own internet browser? You need to learn to draw the line somewhere.
That’s all I can think of, if anyone has any other ideas, feel free to add them. 
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January 9th, 2008 at 6:24 am
Oh, you are reading the minds of some of the developers I have done usability with! However, things like creativity and interesting sites is key. Some usability people forget this - Heck, if Apple didn’t try something new and out there we wouldn’t have the iPod!
January 9th, 2008 at 11:14 am
James, you tried doing usability with developers? I’ve had experiences where they were either pro-usability or just couldn’t care less if the application worked.
January 9th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
I used to think that once developers have done usability once they will do it again, but that is not the case anymore! Some do, but most just can’t onsell the value to their clients
In consulting there’s nothing better than selling usability yourself. Or having the client mandate it
Another thing that frustrates me is how many tech people are focussed on the project outcome not the business outcome. Have you found that?
January 10th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Tech people focus on getting the job out the door with emphasis on meeting specs and having it in a working condition.
In response to your last paragraph, it’s a definite yes.