Principles of an effective Web experience

Why is it important to make sure our Web sites are in alignment with best practices? Imagine getting in a car and finding the steering wheel in the back seat. Or driving on the left in some towns and the right in others. Or having traffic signals with purple, magenta, and orange lights.

Here are principles that can help us evaluate how effective a Web experience really is for our visitors:

For community members and visitors

An effective Web experience should be:

• Dependable – Is it available whenever and wherever I need it?
• Intuitive    Can I easily explore, find, and contribute?
• Useful    Is content relevant, accurate, and up to date?
• Engaging    Is the experience appealing? Does it draw me in?
• Personalizable    Can I find, save, and subscribe to my interests?
• Welcoming    Do I feel a sense of community? Are a variety of perspectives and voices presented?
• Meaningful    Is the experience valuable and worth my attention?

For authors, editors, architects, and designers

An effective Web experience should also be:

• Simple – Can I add content, categories, and tags with little training?
• Findable – Can I make my content easier to find?
• Immersive – Can I upload or embed audio, video, and Flash?
• Stylish – Can I make changes to the colors or layout?
• Archival – Can I look back at previous versions and compare or undo changes?

For publishers and administrators

An effective Web experience should also be:

• Simple – Can all roles do work with little training or support?
• Accessible – Can content be used by people with various physical and cognitive abilities?
• Flexible – Does the process allow for future enhancements?
• Extensible – Can the process integrate with external services?
• Sustainable – Does the process include support to keep it vital?