:: Driving an Experience in a Non-Linear Medium

It is often suggested by Usability professionals that you cannot control who visits your website, and that you cannot force them to have an experience that they did not come to the website to have. It is true that, as a web designer, it is important to design an experience that anticipates and satisfies the informational needs and tasks of end-users, but that does not prevent you from also designing an experience that satisfies the objectives of the business.

Target an Audience that will be Receptive to Your Brand
You can increase the likelihood that a specific population of people visit your website. Doing so, requires a multi-channel marketing strategy that begins by identifying where your target audience spends most of their time. To find out, recruit and interview representative samples of this population. Piece together their daily routines and habits. Understand what TV programs they watch, periodicals they read, and websites they visit. These resources become possible platforms for smart website marketing and sponsorships. Use cross-channel marketing tactics to drive the right traffic to your website.

Create Website Pathways that Satisfy Business Objectives
The second suggestion by "user-advocates," claims that you cannot, and should not, control what end-users do on a website because of the non-linear nature of the web. The fallacy and danger of such statements lies in the premise that business objectives and user objectives are mutually exclusive. I propose that business objectives are generally met when end-user objectives are met. A healthy business is dependent on satisfied customers. Understanding what customers are coming to the website to do enables web designers to create pathways for customers to satisfy their needs. Prioritize navigational elements and elevate contextual links accordingly.

Jonathan Lupo VP / Information Architecture - Empathy Lab

:: Interaction and Usability in Asia

Greetings from Asia! It is the 2008 Chinese New Year...the year of the rat. This year, my visit to Japan and Taiwan has allowed me to experience innovative, industrial design that focuses on usability and accessibility.

1. Audio feedback - As a musician, I was delighted to hear music being utilized as an indicator of various "environmental states." In Kyoto and Tokyo, a musical melody played when pedestrians had "the right of way," alerting the blind that it was safe to cross the street. A melody also played as a subway train paused to accept passengers, signaling the length of time before the train departed. In Taiwan, the garbage trucks played music similar to U.S. ice cream trucks, to alert residents to take out their trash. Audio cues in the form of vocal instruction are also ubiquitous in Asia. It seems as though every ATM, train ticket machine, elevator, and kiosk has a multi-lingual voice, to provide instruction the user.

2. Maps - On my flight to Asia, I was able to access an interactive map that showed the current location, distance to final destination, flight speed, altitude, as well as temperature. Japan's high-speed trains and subways were also equipped with maps that lit up current locations and stops along the way.

3. Tactile cues - The streets of Japan were literally lined with strips of bumps to enable blind pedestrians to walk safely, in the correct direction.

As an information architect, it was great to experience Asian industrial and urban design. It is evident that much thought and planning goes into how products and objects will be used by all types of people.

Jonathan Lupo
VP / Information Architecture - Empathy Lab