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When we sit down at a computer and take the time to "use" the Internet, what are we looking for? We are looking for functionality, or in other words, we want the Internet to fulfill our needs. Today we go on line to pay bills, buy books, trade stocks, shop for groceries, check email, read the latest sports updates, instant message with our friends and family, etc. Essentially, we are asking the Internet to allow us to do what we want, and therein lies the purpose or power of the Internet. "If you think about it from the users' perspective, having something that works is not boring, it is exciting. What is exciting about the web is when it allows you to do something," 1 states Web Usability guru Jakob Nielsen. In order for the user to experience the full power or functionality of the Internet, it is essential that they have the ability to find what they are looking for, so they can "do what they want" online. From a user's perspective there is almost nothing more frustrating than going to a website and not knowing how to find what you are looking for. "It was such a horror to watch people shop there and try and find some clothes," 2 says Nielsen, in reference to Boo.com, a cutting edge e-retail website that incorporated stunning visual effects, but turned out to be an unmitigated financial disaster. According to Nielsen, the web designers who created the Boo.com site focused more on utilizing the latest technology and creating cutting edge designs, than on the end user's needs. "Half the case against them was that Boo.com crashed your computer or took ages to download…"3 The true power of a website is that it connects people, businesses, organizations and customers together in a way that never existed before. What other business can process instantaneous worldwide transactions in a split second, and is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year? What other medium can bring loved ones together across the globe at a fraction of the cost of the telephone? What other tool is so powerful that people use it at home and at work practically around the globe? Today a website may be aesthetically pleasing to look at, but if it does not offer the functionality that users are looking for, it becomes useless. Can you imagine logging on to your hotmail account, and not being able to figure out how to check for any new email? The concept of developing "user friendly" websites should not be lost on business related applications either. Every year businesses spend tens of thousands of dollars training new staff on how to utilize their internal applications, and tens of thousands of dollars more on developing websites that allow customers to interact with them. Careful strategic planning and development of websites will not only increase a company's return on investment, but it will also help to reduce the number of hours needed for training, which subsequently contributes to the company's bottom line. Consequently, it is of the utmost importance that websites are developed and maintained in such a way that the end user can harness the full power and functionality of the Internet. In other words, when we log on to the Internet, it is critical that we have the ability "to do what we want." James Jenkins,
ProSoft
Consulting Inc.
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