This article was originally published in the May 2009 issue (Vol 14, No. 2)

STC UUX Community Newsletter
Usability Interface

Editorial

By Sherri Martin-Hutchins, Newsletter Editor

I keep my floss on the bathroom counter. Why am I telling you this? Well, bear with me. There is a point.

I don't like flossing. I suppose not many people do. I recognize that I need to floss for good oral health, but it's not an activity I look forward to each day. I've eliminated one barrier of the flossing process by not having to dig through a drawer in search of a tiny box of floss.

Recently, my husband had a business trip. While he was packing, I helped him gather toiletries, laying them on the counter for him to pack. He grabbed them all, including the floss, and tucked them in his suitcase.

When I saw him pack the floss, I realized that I would need to find another box later that night. Surely there was one tucked in a drawer somewhere.

The problem is that I never remembered to look for the floss later. Why? Because the mental trigger I have created to remind myself to floss is to leave the floss on the bathroom counter in plain view. While I brush my teeth, mindlessly scanning the room, I see the floss laying there patiently waiting its turn and then I use it. When it's not there, I don’t give it a second thought.

Now think about your web site. What is the thing that you have that your users need? Have you removed as many barriers as possible to make that thing easy for them to find/get/do/purchase/fill-in/download?

Users don't always have the time or the desire to scour a site. Even a perfect offering may be overlooked or simply forgotten if you don't make it easy for your user.

Instead of only having a small download link at the bottom of a long passage of text, place an additional large "Download" button at the top where everyone can see it.

Rather than turning off a user by asking for a phone number that you may never use, keep only absolutely critical fields on your form. It's better to have more people with exactly the data you need, than fewer users with data you will never use.

Recognize that, in some cases, your users may not actually want to do the thing they are on your site to do. Make it as painless as possible to complete their task by removing their barriers as well.

Do you have an article you want to submit to Usability Interface? Email me at sherrimar@gmail.com.