More Design Techniques
You always need to build value in your sites.
- Why should the user come to that site?
- Why should the user come to that site often?
- What is the added value from you site (what can a user get from your site that it cannot get anywhere else?
Content is KING and Relevance Matters
Five Value Factors for Net Users
- (from Tomsen's Killer Content: Strategies for Web Content and e-Commerce, 2000 **)
Credibility: authority of the source of the content, product or service
Innovation: Uniqueness of content, product and/or service
Relevance: Impact on a decision, goal or lifestyle
Timeliness: Immediacy for time-sensitive operations
Utility: Usefulness in performing daily activities
Example: Amazon.com
Services
- Personalized recommendation
- Recommendation boards
- Special buyer rewards
- Community
Value Factors
- Credibility (high brand recognition)
- Price
- Relevance (wide variety of services and products)
- Utility (easy to navigate, search functionality, streamlined purchase)
Content in Action: boaters.com
Relevance
Commodity Content: widely available on the web
Premium Content: only available at that site (see TheStreet.com)
Value: helps customer do something better
Wherever possible, diversify value
Types of Value
- (from Tomsen's Killer Content: Strategies for Web Content and e-Commerce, 2000 **)
Promotional: provides single-topic information about a particular product or company on the Web
Commerce: offers inventory in exchange for payment
Content: offers aggregated information
Entertainment: provides rich media niche content
Personalization
Business Drivers: community building; targeted offers; customer loyalty
Value Exchanges: content, commerce, entertainment
Site Impact: requires marking all potential content served to a net user according to a customer profile
Examples: Yahoo, Amazon, Infospace
Navigation and design
Provide consistency in design to impress "brand"
Provide clear and consistent navigation to reduce user frustration
Provide web "templates"
Site search utilities help reduce reliance on navigation
Use "metatags" to help non-users find pages
Streamline form-based processes
Standardize forms
Automate manual processes
Discussion Pages
UMSL Home Page
CoBA Graduate Programs
Career Planning and Placement
The Current
Student Planner
College of Education
College of Arts and Sciences
Campus Calendar
Academic Calendar
Alphie
The Wall Street Journal
The New York Times
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