Lost in Translation
Robin Williams, author of The Non-Designer’s Design Book, goes one step further. She suggested having someone who’s never been to your site navigate each page in front of you, pretending they are your target audience. “Your job is to put duct tape over your mouth and tie your hands behind your back—just watch,” Williams emphasized. Although those measures may be slightly extreme, it all goes back to one crucial point. “The key is to identify the target users you wish to focus on and design your website to best accommodate them,” Finck affirmed. The bonus? These information-gathering techniques are often budget-friendly, he said.
Immersion technique #1: Get three to five people together and watch them navigate your site. Don’t help. Instead, take copious notes and have them detail where they get tripped up. “Put this information together into a cohesive list for yourself [that includes] exactly what you think needs to be done, and exactly what you discovered from watching potential visitors [surf] your site,” Williams said.