Getting Started With User Experience Crafting for Websites

Okay, this is a tough topic, because it involves really hard problems and really easy problems, however I'm not here to tell you how tough it is, I'm here to give you an easy introduction to crafting user experiences.

So, first off, what do we mean by crafting user experiences? Put simply it's what users remember when they visit or use your site. It could be 'man, that site was the coolest' or 'oh, this is so buggy'.

Now, the first order of business is figuring out what you want your users to feel?

Do you want them to leave your site feeling happy? Excited? Efficient? Smart?

Second thing, who are your users? Give an age-span together with professional background. Do you know anyone like that? Excellent, go ask them when it where the last time they felt what you want your website to make them feel.

I assume that you already have a site, now take a look at that. No, really, exit this page, look at yours and return to this. Now.

First order of business, grab all the low hanging fruit. Read through all the popular material that's older than a week and look for obvious spelling-mistakes and sentences that sound strange. Remember, text is the gold standard for communication on the internet at the moment (video is quickly gaining ground though). Also check to see if your articles are up to date, it's usually better to cut than keep something that's stale.

Check to see if its easy to read and pay especial attention to contrast and fonts. Also try to increase the text-size and Google translate it to another language. If it's readable after that you have avoided the worst hurdles.

Also check to see that both images and links have alt-texts (texts that show up when you hover your mouse over them, among other things). Try to keep this text descriptive since it will be read by people with sight-disabilities and when your images stops working.

Last thing to look for is to consider button-sizes and the like. Beginning computer learners tend to use the mouse a lot and buttons and menu's should be of an OK size for them.

Now, return to your friends words on what makes them feel what you want them to feel and try to incorporate that into the page. This is where it gets very, very complicated very quickly, but remember, as long as the site is clear, informative and generally works, then you cannot go to wrong.

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