Cool Doesn't Count in Web Design

Robert Metcalfe, Ph.D., the inventor of Ethernet (which likely runs your connection to the Internet) is credited with having established "Metcalfe's Law" in the early days of the Internet, when many people had multiple e-mail accounts because major networks were not interconnected. He said that the value of a system is not based on its sophistication, but on the number of people that use it. That's true of your Web site.

I'm old enough to remember the introduction of the fax machine. The first fax machine wasn't very useful. There was no one else to send you a fax. But the second fax machine became quite useful, and as they proliferated, their value increased. (You may decide whether your fax machine is an indispensable business tool or a collector of advertising spam. That's not the point.)

Specifically, Metcalfe's law says that the value of a system is equal to the square of the number of users. It's not a precise mathematical formula, but it means that each additional user adds vastly more value to the system.

Web sites are systems that are examples of Metcalfe's Law. The only true measure of your Web site's value is the number of people who use it, who sign up for your e-mail newsletter, who participate in your advocacy program, who donate online. The Flash technology and animation don't count if they don't increase the usage of the site. In fact, they can often get in the way, since the latest, fanciest, "coolest" techniques often only work on a PC (about 65 percent of users on a site we manage) using Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher (about 50 percent of all Web visitors).

Your limited Web resources are better spent on good content, usable navigation and design, and marketing. After all, if usage is the most important measure of success, then making the site more usable is key. After the site is made usable, then inviting more users (i.e. marketing) is the next logical step.

Thinking About a Redesign

"We're thinking about redesigning our Web site." We hear it frequently. So what does it mean, and is it a good idea?

First, "design" means two distinct elements of a Web site. To many, "design" means the graphic image of the site, the look and feel, the colors, images, and typestyles used to present the content of the Web site. This is called "graphic design" and it is quite different from the architecture of the Web site's data infrastructure, its navigation, and the organization of pages within the site. This is called "structural design." So, how it looks is very different from how it works.

Both graphic design and structural design are critical to a successful Web site, but they require vastly different planning and resources.

Here are several bad reasons for redesigning a Web site:

• You and your colleagues are bored with the current design. With all due respect, no one cares if you're bored. Imagine how boring it must be for the poor people at McDonald's to see those golden arches every day.
• You have $10,000 left in the Web budget for this fiscal year and think that's about right for a new look and feel. If you sense that your Web site needs a facelift, use the money as a down payment on an Internet marketing audit that will reveal the truth about your Web site and what it needs to do to serve your constituents.
• A competitive organization has just announced, with much fanfare, that it has just re-launched its Web site with an all-new design. At best, your redesign would look like me-too-ism. Instead, consider that maybe the other organization's changes will frustrate more users than its old look. Get ready for an influx of new users to your site, if yours is more easily usable.
• You have noticed that repeat visits to your site are trending lower, and you want to do something to bring those users back. Users are probably bored with your content, not your design. Invest in some new, relevant, accurate, and timely content that will bring users back. Create some interactive devices like polls, surveys, advocacy, and a searchable database. Redesign your e-mail newsletter and get it out to more people.

Here are a few good reasons to redo the graphic design of your site:

• It doesn't reflect your organization's brand identity: Too many organizations have designed their Web sites in a branding vacuum. The Web site needs to reflect the same logo, colors, slogans, and typeface as your offline communications. I've never been to McDonald's Web site, but I'd be shocked if there weren't golden arches there! If your Web site doesn't look like the cover of your annual report, or your letterhead, then you need to change one or the other so you have a uniform appeal to your audience.
• Your current design is not user-friendly: If your site has type that's too small or insufficient contrast between background and copy, then it's a good idea to upgrade your design. Are the colors Web-safe? Are your text links blue and underlined, and do they change to purple once they've been clicked, or are they some funky green and pink?

A good design may not jump off the page at returning Web visitors, but it should reassure them they've come to the right place, and it should work well on all major browsers. Later, when you review the structural design of your Web site, you may need to alter the way your new design fits on the page, but you should not have to make major changes to your look and feel.