|
Abstract
Prior to March 2001,
the NIST website was a hodgepodge of eclectic styles and types of content.
Each of NIST's major departments maintained their own set of web pages
using their own formats and content outlines. Visitors to the site commented
that they were not always sure which pages were in fact part of the NIST
site and which were not.
Adopting the slogan,
“One Face for NIST,” the NIST Public and Business Affairs Division
embarked on a year-long effort to work with the NIST departments to implement
a single visual format and consistent content elements. At the same time,
an extensive set of new pages were created to improve access to NIST research
results for lay audiences such as students, teachers, policy makers, and
the general public.
A key success of the
program was its low cost and consensus building approach. NIST departments
participated early and often in the redesign process. Templates and training
sessions allowed non-designers to adapt existing pages to the new format.
Research studies helped identify needed improvements and refine draft
web pages to improve navigation and content.
Tool Kit:
10 Step Program to Homepage Harmony
- Establish Goals—Faster
navigation, easier to understand content, consistent, quick to load
format
- Win over the boss—Explain
the value of web consistency. Stronger organizational identity. Happier,
less confused customers.
- Enlist the troops—Involve
all groups of the organization that will help implement the redesign.
Make it easy for them to share information. Set up a list serve.
- Talk to surfers—Gather
comments good and bad about the current web pages. What are they looking
for when they come to your web page?
- Click through—Develop
a text-and-links-only “click through.” Allows design team
to focus on functionality before worrying about aesthetics.
- Make a template—Design
home page and sample 2nd and 3rd level pages.
- Check in—Thumbs
up or down? Get some feedback. Improve as needed. Test. Test. Test.
Old browsers. New browsers. Big monitors. Little monitors.
- Train the troops—Provide
hands on training classes with written directions for implementing the
new design. Post this information on an internal web site.
- Set a Timetable—Deadlines
focus the mind.
- Launch and Listen—Compare
web statistics before and after the make over. Encourage input from
employees. Continue to make improvements. Conduct a formal survey of
potential users.
Website
Makeover
Lessons Learned
- Practice web site
triage. Start by adopting a uniform format for top level pages and work
your way down to interior pages.
- Don't demand 100
percent compliance before launching a more uniform website. Half a band
in uniform is better than no uniforms at all.
- Provide multiple
routes to the same destination. Web users have different surfing styles.
- Make links as
descriptive and specific as possible.
- Watch out for
preconceptions. Take a course or do your own investigating to learn
about web usability research results.
- Don't change url
addresses on pages being updated or redesigned to avoid broken links.
- Make sure pages
are accessible to those with disabilities.
- Create a Web Style
Guide and post it on an internal site as an organizational reference.
- Adopt “customer
service standards.” All web pages will list a contact email. All
web pages will have a back to the homepage button. Content will be reviewed
and updated regularly. Put these standards in the Web Style Guide.
- Evaluate web sites
based on tasks successfully completed, information successfully found.
Don't just ask for opinions.
- Expect continuous
improvement. The beauty of a web site is that you can always make it
better.
Research
and Evaluation
Formative Research:
1998 and 2000 surveys
of NIST stakeholders found they:
- had trouble finding
things on the NIST website;
- were confused
by the different formats for NIST's 12 different laboratories and other
major units.
A web based survey
of NIST industry and research customers found:
- users wanted better
consistency across NIST websites;
- more frequent
updating of websites;
- more descriptions
of research in plain English;
- faster loading
pages; and
- improved cross
linking of web pages by topic areas.
Evaluation:
In 2001, a focus group
of typical NIST web page users suggested:
- a three-click
standard for finding most information;
- the use of redundant
links to the same information;
- that index lists
be kept as short as possible;
- that dark backgrounds
on web pages be avoided; and
- that the credibility
of a web page owner is just as important as the design of the site for
predicting usage.
Information gained
from this study was used to make changes to the new NIST site prior to
its public launch.
Budget
About $150,000 (includes salaries of primary staff)
Contact
Gail Porter
NIST Public and Business Affairs Office
100 Bureau Drive, Stop 1070
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1070
Phone: 301-975-3392
Email: gail.porter@nist.gov
Website
http://www.nist.gov
Back
to Best Practices home page
Back
to Best Practices posters page
Created: 7/30/2002
Last updated: 8/17/2006
Contact: inquiries@nist.gov
|
