- Introduction
- Designing for Browsing Users
- Designing for Evaluators
- Designing for Regular Users
- Personalization
- Conclusion
Designing for Browsing Users
Browsing users don't have a good idea about what they want. The site design of your home page should help browsing users to find something of interest, and keep them interested so that they tend to come again. Following are some design tips that can help you reach browsing users:
Follow de facto web standards so that the users don't have to spend a lot of time learning how to use your web site.
Use a good set of keywords for searching. Browsing users generally have a vague idea about their needs and will try a few keyword searches. If the user doesn't find something interesting, he or she will assume that the desired products or services are not available on your site, and will go elsewhere.
Design your site to cater to first-timers. It's safe to assume that first-time users of your web site don't know much about your site and business, and therefore you should have some sort of "getting started" guide for them.
Categorize products and services based on logical groups. This is especially useful for shopping sites, as such categorization can provide users with a good starting point.
Provide learning resources. For example, a financial services company may provide investment strategies/advice so that users who want to make some investments but aren't yet comfortable with their knowledge can learn something from your site. When the user is ready, he or she will think of your site as a starting point.