WEBSITE UCD

A 2009 online user research study by Nielsen Online revealed that more South Africans are spending their time online than ever before:

• The number of South African unique browsers and pages viewed increased by 25% between December 2007 and December 2008
• Total time spent online increased by 45%.
• Home use:
  • The web was accessed on average 16.8 days a month in April 2006 (compared to 14.4 days on average in 2002)
  • 37% access the web every day
  • Spend on average 5.8 hours online per week
• Work use:
  • The web is accessed on average 23 days a month, basically every working day
  • Spend on average 7.4 hours online per week

South African-based websites started out as purely information based or brochure sites. Soon thereafter business owners started realising the internet's advertising potential and began spending money on positioning their products and services online. They realised that more visitors to the website would lead to increased sales. Companies then started to invest in organic search engine optimisation by making sure key wording, meta-tagging and title tags were linked to their websites. To enhance the number of online visitors, the notion of sending HTML newsletters, SMS campaigns, pay-per-click campaigns and even email branding progressed into common practice.

This is where the South African Market finds itself today, but we are still far behind the rest of the world in terms of relating web activity into financial turnover. More and more visitors use the internet and visit different service provider sites, but it is necessary to optimise the conversions (in other words, getting the visitors to make transactions on the websites they visit). This is where User Centred Design (UCD) started.

Armed with the latest statistics and trend information, ProsperO Digital Agency follows a policy of UCD when developing a client’s website.

Think about this: Your website's success depends on the actions users take on your site. So it would make logical sense to design the website to influence user actions in such a way that you achieve your marketing goals, right?

ProsperO Digital Agency makes use of a 5 Step UCD process when designing a website:

• Your company objectives: ProsperO takes your company objectives into account when designing your website. We work around what you want your website to do and set out making those goals achievable.
• Then we look at your competition and we make your website even better, keeping you one step ahead of your competitors.
• Effective communication is the next step in the process of building a fantastic website. Words are the key selling point and you need to communicate with your target audience. What people read on your website could make the difference between a "sale" or a "no sale". The only way to know is to test, test and retest. ProsperO will make sure the website copy reflects the message you are trying to send to potential clients. We calculate who your target market is and how they retrieve information from the internet. We analyse which tone of web copy to associate with your product or service that will attract your target market. We also look at which images should be used. The web copy for a person in senior management in his late 50’s will not respond to a website with web copy more associated with students and 20-something individuals. Nor will the web copy convey the right message if the product is left out of account. The web copy for a beach backpackers cannot be the same as the web copy for a 5-star exclusive guest house. Identifying and speaking to clients effectively is one of ProsperO Digital Agency’s trademark services.
• Site map and wireframes: Once we know the company objectives, what the competitors are doing, your target market and how to communicate with them effectively, we will then start working on a site map and wireframes. In this way we are able to create a virtual layout of the site and place the key focus areas in the design.
• The website design, focusing on the look and feel of the site, is the last step of UCD. Giving the user(s) what they want and will understand, in a great-looking website, with easily accessible information on your services and products. Regularly updated news will ensure your customers’ return.

ProsperO Digital Agency has developed web design techniques to uncover the needs of users which deliver profitable user experiences and produce results.