The resulting recommendations from this study were constructed from the challenges faced by the participants. In some cases, the categories of challenges have been groups together according to the recommendations made here for improvements. Said recommendations are explained and put into context with respect to previous
research, and then lists of steps that web designers can take are then provided. And some of the recommendations presented here are currently being implemented, independent of any knowledge of this study on the part of current web designers.
Improvements to Search Engines
One of the areas in which the several of the participants had difficulties relates to the process of searching for information and sorting through the results. There was a general feeling of being overwhelmed by the number of results from a search, thus the participants described their difficulties in finding exactly what they were looking for. In light of these findings, search engine companies should consider redesigning the user interfaces for their engines in the following ways:
1. Eliminate the sponsored links and advertisements. These tend to be displayed at the top of the search results, off to one side, or both. In some cases, these layouts may result in a greater level of confusion for these participants, especially when results appear in more than one column on the page.
2. Consider taking out the actual URL for each search result. This URL is displayed in green type-color at the bottom of each result in the Google, Yahoo, and MSN search engines. Because the titles of the search results are linked to the pages themselves, the URL listed below is redundant and takes up space.
3. In place of the sponsored links, consider adding suggestions on how to refine a search to narrow the results. Such methods include the use of plus (+) and minus (-) operators and the use of quotation marks to denote phrases. These instructions could replace the right-hand sponsored links.
Repositioning Search Boxes
Two of the seven participants confused search boxes that were prominently placed on certain websites with the address bar located near the top of commonly-used web browsers. These search boxes were elongated to lengths rivaling Google’s search box, and because these search boxes were being placed near the top of these sites, their proximity to the address bar at the top of the window was too close. The two participants confused the purposes of the two text boxes.
Both MSN and Yahoo have these types of search boxes near the top of their respective homepages. It is the recommendation of this study for both companies to relocate and resize their search boxes in order to mitigate the confusion experienced by these users. However, if both companies are determined to keep their search boxes in their current locations at the top, the web designers should consider reducing the size in order to draw a sharper contrast between the search boxes and the browser’s address bars.
In addition to reducing the size of the search boxes, it is recommended that the search box be relocated to the top, right-hand side of the homepage, rather than in the top, center of the page. Those users who desire to use the search box for its intended purpose can still do so, as the box will still have a prominent position on the page. Moving the search box to the right will provide a clearer contrast from the address bar that spans most of the width of the browser window. This relocation should ultimately reduce the
confusion these participants experienced when trying to type a URL into a search box rather than the address bar.
In summary, it is recommended that:
1. The size of the search box be reduced, in order to avoid confusion with the browser address bar.
2. The search box be relocated to the top, right-hand corner of the page.
Improved Display of Information and Links
Previous research suggests that the optimal number of links for a navigation bar is somewhere around 6 or 7. This is a reasonable recommendation that should be
implemented, if not across the board, then at least in websites geared toward senior citizens. Kurniawan and Zaphiris (2005) have also shown that using strictly textual links, rather than image links, allows the population of elderly users to keep track of the links they have visited before, assuming that web designers do not override the “visited links” design property. This is not possible when using image links. The results of this study are consistent with these earlier findings and recommendations.
Kurniawan and Zaphiris (2005) have argued in favor of breadth versus depth when creating navigational structures for a website. In other words, allowing for a
greater number of options on the home page then reduces the number of layers needed for internal pages or pages not immediately accessible from the homepage. The results of this study show that, for the majority of the participants, the presence of too much information and/or too many links can be confusing. Further, some of the participants failed to take advantage of both the horizontal and vertical navigation bars located in the pages visited during the second task.
The recommendations for the overall display and the display of links are as follows:
1. Use either a vertical navigation bar at the top or a horizontal navigation bar on the left-hand side. Do not use both.
2. Group pages into meaningful categories that can be accessed from the homepage rather than provide links to all individual internal pages. 3. Use only textual links when possible. Refrain from using image links. 4. Limit the number of links given in a navigational bar to 6 or 7.
5. Display all important information above the fold in a 1024 by 768 pixel display resolution.
Improvements to Travel Sites
With the increasing popularity of travel websites such as Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, and PriceLine (not to mention the airlines’ sites), booking travel arrangements online has become the preferred method for many users. Two of the seven participants had various difficulties with these types of sites and, since mistakes while using such sites can be quite costly, recommendations for improvements to avoid such mistakes are necessary.
One of the participants had particular trouble remembering the destination airport name and 3-letter code for his/her travel plans. It is possible that, had the participant not eventually remembered the correct name, he/she may have booked a flight to the wrong destination. And since flights booked on these sites tend to have restrictions in terms of cancellations, refunds, and changing itineraries, the participant most likely would have had to pay an additional fee to fix the destination airport mistake. Taking this argument a step further, it is possible that the participant might never have realized the mistake which would then increase his/her chances of actually boarding the wrong flight on the day of travel.
To help counteract these potentially costly problems, travel websites should implement a strategy that better ensures that the correct departure and arrival airports are entered. For example, U.S. Airways, in revamping its website in 2006, added a new feature to the form boxes for the departure and arrival airports. As a potential customer begins typing in the name or 3-letter code of the airports, a little pop-up window appears that enacts a script (possibly a PHP script) that searches the database of airport codes and returns matching codes. This list is then narrowed as the user continues to type, and the user can either choose to finish typing in the name or code or select the correct option (with city listed) from the popup box. All travel sites would benefit from such a system.
Here is a list of recommendations:
1. Consider implementing a database-driven system similar to the system U.S. Airways recently implemented that allows for easy access to the correct airport code for a given destination.
2. Have an automatic pop-up calendar for the date-entry boxes. Orbitz employs such a feature. This helps avoid problematic pull-down menus and gives users dates in a calendar format.
3. Simplify initial flight search pages and provide a link to a more advanced search page for users with complex travel arrangement needs.
Getting Rid of the Clutter
Three of the seven participants expressed or displayed problems dealing with the abundance of information presented on certain websites. These participants displayed a sense of bewilderment at the vast contents of information available from some of the websites they visit, and such bewilderment has become a real barrier for making strides towards a higher level of usage for at least one of these participants. Websites need to be informative; however web designers must also take into consideration that certain users will have more difficulties in digesting and processing all of the information they are seeing.
Perhaps the most effective recommendation for de-cluttering a website is to focus on increasing the amount of whitespace. In addition to helping those with vision
problems and limitations, this will force the designer to arrange the text and information in a more coherent manner. This is achieved by encouraging designers to better organize information into recognizable groups, using increased whitespace as the group borders. This approach may not work quite as well for websites containing single blocks of text, but sites containing text that can be so grouped, will benefit from increased readability and navigability.