How to avoid redesign failure

We’ve all seen or heard about the horrors of failed redesigns. Regardless of the size or scale of a site, any redesign is frought with potential perils and pitfalls. Alienating your existing users is probably one of the biggest dangers of any redesign project.

Of course, the larger the site, the greater this danger becomes. But even a small site can suffer from ill-will if they don’t consider their existing visitors when tackling a redesign project.

The following guide should keep you on the right path for creating a revamped and re-imagined site that keeps your users happy.

And if you’ve already found yourself in the midst of a failed redesign, we’ve got help for you, too.

Redesign right

When you decide a redesign is necessary for your website or web app, there are a number of things you need to consider beyond the technical aspects. Remember, your site likely already has regular visitors or regular users, and they’ve come to expect certain things when they visit your site. You need a good reason for changing those things, and you need to take them into account when starting on your redesign and throughout the process.

Communicate with your existing users from the beginning

Unlike a new site design, a site being redesigned likely already has a user base. Involving that user base from the beginning on your redesign can result in a much better user experience in the end. After all, these are the people who are already using your site, who are already familiar with what you have. Sure, some people are resistant to change in any form, but others may be able to offer you some fantastic insight into what’s great as-is and what could use some revamping.

It’s important to take into account the way visitors use your existing site. Just because you wanted them to use the site in a particular way doesn’t mean that’s necessarily the way it’s being used in the real world. Take this into account when you’re redesigning, and don’t break existing user patterns.

Test for both new and existing users

Conventional testing wisdom often says you should only test on new users to get the most accurate results. This is a great strategy if you’re testing something like a sales page. But if you’re redesigning your entire website, you want to get feedback from people who are already using your site. The last thing you want is to launch a redesign and alienate every existing user you have.

Let your existing visitors know that you’re testing out a new site. Consider giving them the option to test the new site if they choose to do so, and then ask for some unobtrusive feedback in the form of a survey or similar mechanism. Then, listen to what they’re saying.

Let users upgrade on their own schedule

This is particularly important with more app-like sites. Letting users switch to the new site version on their own schedule is a great way to prevent complaints. Social media sites are probably the most common sites to do this type of thing (like Twitter did with their new layout). This prevents surprises for your existing users, and lets them make the switch when they have time to get used to the new interface.

It’s important to set a deadline for the switch, though. Make sure you let users know that they can switch any time between now and some future date, and let them know that on that future date everyone will get the new interface. This prevents surprises while also preventing stragglers from requiring you to support the old site indefinitely.

Make it easy for users to offer feedback after the change

There are a ton of tools out there for collecting user feedback. Use them to find out what your visitors like and don’t like as you launch or as you’re testing. Then, make sure you address anything that’s raised by more than a handful of visitors. Remember, for every visitor who voices a concern, there could be dozens who feel the same way who aren’t saying anything.

Make your reasons for redesigning clear

It’s important to let your regular visitors know that you have reasons for redesigning your site. Too many people who aren’t familiar with the technical aspects of running a website think redesigns are purely for aesthetic reasons. Let them know what functionality you aim to add or what user interface improvements you’ll be making before the fact. A blog post addressing your redesign plans can be a great way to open up a dialogue with regular visitors and users.

Offer a tour or tutorial for any major user interface changes

If you’re changing the way parts of your website work, or drastically rearranging elements on the page, it’s a good idea to offer a video or other tutorial or tour of the new design and features. This can help your existing users quickly adapt to the new design, and feel less alienated. It gives the impression that you care about the experience your users are having, and that you want that experience to be as good as it can possibly be.

What if your redesign has already failed?

So you’ve launched your redesigned site already, and now all you’re hearing is complaints from new and old visitors alike. What do you do? Should you just go back to the old site and try again? What if that’s not an option, or you’ve invested thousands of dollars and months of time in the new site? What then?

It’s all about damage control

The first thing you need to do is acknowledge that your redesign hasn’t gone over well with everyone. Let people know that you hear what they’re saying and that you’re considering their concerns. Whether you do this through Twitter, your blog, or some other outlet depends on where you can reach the highest number of your users.

Acknowledge and address complaints

Acknowledge specific complaints if you can. If everyone is complaining about how a certain function is hard to find, then address that. There are a few ways to do that: you can simply post on your blog or send out an email about it with any helpful information or tips, or you can make a change to make it easier on your visitors. If it’s a really big problem, making a change is probably the better solution.

Don’t be afraid to roll back

If there are huge complaints, or if you see that your traffic numbers are going down, don’t be afraid to roll back parts or all of your site to the previous version until fixes can be implemented. If your website’s success is suffering because of a redesign, there’s no sense in sticking to the new design. You’re better off rolling back and acknowledging that your visitors are unhappy (and therefore showing that you place user experience above all else) rather than trying to blindly insist that the new site is better.

Monitor carefully

Whenever you’re launching a new design, it’s important to track your analytics carefully. Set up goals and funnels for various functions on your site, and then make sure the you’re not suddenly losing a lot of visitors at a particular point.

Analytics can help you make proactive changes to your site, anticipating what visitors are getting hung up on. Make sure you have some baseline statistics to refer to and compare.

Also monitor the tone of social media posts about your redesign. If you see a lot of complaints circulating, or even a lot of confusion, be proactive and engage with those people. It’s important to be engaged throughout a redesign so that your users know you’re making changes in an effort to benefit them, and not just for some undefined goal.

Many designers come to me for usability testing consulting services. One of the reasons they reach out is because they assume usability testing must be a complex, scientific process. As a result, they’d prefer to have an outside company conduct their usability tests.

Then I tell them I rarely run usability tests anymore! Why? Well, in my experience the best way to do usability studies is to do it yourself. So I spend a lot of time helping teams do learn how to do it themselves, not doing it for them. By conducting their own quick and dirty usability studies, design teams can get feedback faster, easier, and more affordably than hiring an outside professional.

Usability Testing Is Not a Complicated Process

The first thing I tell designers is that it’s a mistake to think that usability testing has to be complicated. It’s a technique anyone can learn with a little training and a lot of practice. Usability testing isn’t rocket science, but it does need to be integrated into a design team’s overall process in order to work.

I’ve found that the most successful teams learn to conduct their own informal testing whenever they can without waiting for the usability team’s availability. In the most successful projects, the team has a design idea, they quickly sketch it and create a prototype, and then test it as quickly as possible.

When I work with design teams who have never conducted a study, I teach them the basics of usability testing, have them observe me facilitate one or two sessions, and then they try it on their own with my guidance. After a few of these sessions, these usability “newbies” are usually ready to run their own testing sessions.

Usability Professionals Act as the Coaches

So what’s the role of the usability professional? In most mid-to-large-sized corporations, there are too many design projects for one person—sometimes even an entire usability team—to run all of the usability studies the design teams need.

As a result, the usability professional is most successful as a Coach who educates and advises the organization on which projects to focus on, how to plan and run their studies, and how to analyze the results. They can better serve design teams by sharing best practices for conducting usability tests, interviews, field studies, diary studies, and other research techniques.

How Can Design Teams Start Testing On Their Own?

If you’ve never conducted a test, start right away. Try a test next week; it’s not as complicated as it may seem. At its core, a usability test involves putting a person in front of your product and watching what they do. Your goal is not to implement the scientific method as you elaborately lay out a treatise on the usability of your product – just to observe how well users can accomplish their desired tasks with it.

Time and time again I’ve seen immediate results from such an approach. Learning how to run internal usability tests will not only save a company money, but will instill a “design for usability” mentality into your design team and, hopefully, the organization as a whole.

So instead of hiring an outside professional to do usability testing for you, try to find one who will act as your coach and guide instead. In no time you’ll be up and running with a regular testing plan that will benefit you far longer than the immediate project. Your design team will be more self-sufficient as a result.

As web designers, we all seem obsessed by HTML5 and CSS3 at the moment. Endless posts, tutorials and discussion about them dominate the blogosphere. But how much are we learning that can be applied today?

Don’t get me wrong. We all need to understand HTML5 and CSS3. And a lot of it can be used today.

My point is that we seem to be spending a disproportionate about of time reading up on the subject when so many other areas deserve our attention.

While others are reading yet another tutorial on CSS animation, why not broaden your horizons by researching subjects that will allow you to offer an even better service to clients?

I’ll share with you five areas that I believe are much neglected and that we need to learn more about.

Demo of a 3D sphere created in CSS3

Do you really need to know how to create a 3-D sphere in CSS3? (Image: Paul Hayes)

1. Customer service

“Customer service?!” you cry. “I don’t work at Starbucks!”

If that’s your attitude, think again. Customer service lies at the heart of everything we do as web designers, and yet we rarely think about it, let alone read anything on the subject.

A member of staff working in starbucks.

You may not work at Starbucks, but customer service is intrinsic to our role as web designers. (Image: ChiBart)

We need a good grounding in customer service for a couple of reasons. First, we are in the service business. We like to think that we build stuff, but actually we are offering a service to our clients. We don’t just build websites: we guide clients through an unfamiliar process and provide a lot of advice and support along the way.

Secondly, the majority of websites that we build have a strong element of customer service. We provide a service to end users in the form of either an application or, more often than not, information.

Whether we want to offer a better service to clients or end users, the message is the same: we need to brush up on our customer service skills.

My recommendation is to start by subscribing to a few customer service blogs. Customer Experience Matters a good starting point.

2. Psychology

Understanding of psychology should be woven into every aspect of our job, from sales to project management to user interface design to design aesthetics. Everything we do as web designers should be informed by knowledge of how people think.

Unfortunately, few of us have taken Psychology 101. What we do know we have learned instinctively rather than through any formal training. We design based on gut reaction rather than informed knowledge.

Being able to get inside the heads of others is crucial, whether it’s users or clients. Whoever it is, we have to know our stuff.

Stephen Anderson's psychology resources

A great introduction to the field of human psychology, curated by Stephen Anderson. (Image: Mental Notes)

Thankfully, Stephen Anderson has pulled together a great set of resources to introduce the field of human psychology. If his extensive list is a little intimidating, I recommend starting with “Made to Stick” or “Nudge.” “Neuro Web Design” is very good, too.

3. Context

There was a time when you could make an educated guess at the user’s context. Surfing the web was done at a desktop computer in relative quiet. Unfortunately, despite those days being long gone, many of us still assume that context when designing websites.

The reality is very different. For starters, we rarely have the user’s full attention. They are surrounded by distraction, both offline and on. The computer is now as likely to be in the family room with kids running amok as in a quiet study. While looking at your website, the user is probably also checking email, catching up with friends on Facebook and tweeting.

The problem doesn’t end there. We no longer just surf the web on a desktop computer. There are netbooks, tablets, televisions and mobile devices of all shapes and sizes.

Girl using a mobile phone while on a train.

We can no longer assume that people access the web from a desktop computer. (Image: Shutterstock)

Unfortunately, not a huge amount has been written on the subject, beyond my own rambling thoughts. But I am convinced this will be a defining factor in web design over the coming years.

If we want to continue creating cutting-edge websites, then we need to take context seriously. Ultimately, good web design is more about context and content than HTML5 and CSS3.

4. Content strategy

How did we ever decide that content was the client’s problem? Why should we expect them to know about writing for the web when we, as self-proclaimed web experts, do not?

Content is the foundation of every website. This includes content in all its forms: images, text, video, audio and functionality.

How a website is built and what it looks like pales in comparison to the content. Still, many of us regard it as the client’s problem.

Clients will be demanding a lot more help to get their content right, and if you don’t offer it, then they will turn to your competitors. I would be willing to bet my company on it.

Don’t get me wrong. You don’t need to become an expert content strategist. As McCoy would say, “Damn it, Jim! I’m a web designer, not a copywriter.” (Okay, he was a doctor, but you get the point.)

But just because you are not a content strategist doesn’t mean you can ignore the basics of writing for the web. You should know what a content audit is, how to make copy more scannable, and what goes into a style guide.

If you can’t answer these (and many other similar questions), then it is time to upgrade your skills. A good starting point is anything by Relly Annett-Baker, or get your hands on Kristina Halvorson’s book Content Strategy for the Web.

contentstrategy.com/

Kristina Halvorson’s book Content Strategy for the Web is great for learning the basics of content strategy.

5. Strategy

Things used to be so simple for the average client. They came to you, and you built a website that sold whatever service they were selling. Now we ask them complicated questions about business objectives, success criteria and calls to action. Compounding their worries, they have to think about Facebook, SEO, Twitter, user engagement and endless buzzwords.

In short, the average client is no longer looking for someone to just build a website. They are looking for a consultant to guide them through the confusing online world. They need someone who can look at their business and answer one simple question: how can the web best help them?

The problem is that most web designers are either frustrated artists or code monkeys (okay, maybe that’s a stretch). But we are not business advisers.

Geek Dressed as Business consultant

How much do we really know? (Image: Shutterstock)

We like to think that we know how the web can benefit a business. But we really don’t know that much. We are not schooled in business theory, marketing or economics.

Again, we don’t need to pretend to be something we’re not. But we do need to improve our basic understanding of these topics so that we are at least capable of having a discussion with business folk about how the web can help them.

When was the last time you read an article on direct marketing or corporate restructuring?

The problem

Herein lies the problem. We are so busy reading HTML5 tutorials and looking at CSS3 demos that we miss these other areas.

We are scared by what we do not know, and so we tether ourselves to subjects that we have a handle on. But as the web becomes more complex, we will need to broaden our horizons.

I am not suggesting that we all become generalists. I am saying that our skill set should be T-shaped. We need broad superficial knowledge of a lot of subjects and then deep insight into one area. The problem is that most of us don’t look beyond that one area of expertise.

If you don’t broaden your outlook, clients will look elsewhere.

Written exclusive for WDD by Paul Boag.

Typography is defined as the style, arrangement, or appearance of typeset matter. A look around your surroundings will reveal how much typography has influenced the world. But does it matter, particularly with the likes of YouTube, Flickr, and other forms of media growing so rapidly?

It doesn’t have depth, color, motion. It doesn’t generate feelings or emotions. It provides us with information; line after line of monotonous information. It’s text!

The YouTubes, Vimeos, Flickrs, and Instagrams of today’s generation feed those who want to forget about typography. They want information with visual and audible cues. As one would expect, gobs of text doesn’t exactly inspire them.

But the Web is still young. Things are growing at a rapid pace, much faster than before. We could, in a large part, thank Internet Explorer 6′s demise for this progression. Now we have the freedom to run wild, explore our creativity, and make typography something that does more than present information.

Will we take advantage of this rare opportunity?

Time is of the essence

Remember back to a time before there was broadband. Remember how impressive it was to see big blobs of information after clicking on this thing called a “webpage.” Sure, there wasn’t much in the way of images, sparkly graphics, or video — and also not much in the way of distraction, either — but there was a great sense of appreciation to be had; this is a new world of information, and it’s all accessible with the tap of a fingertip. Sure, it might have taken a bit longer than it does today, but when all was said and done, we were all floating on cloud nine.

That was then.

It no longer has the same magical feel that it once had. I know that I take it for granted. Maybe we all do. We expect images, videos, and visual feedback. We want things to gracefully fade in and out. We want to see the subject matter, in as many pixels as our screens will allow. And we want to see video, just in case the point wasn’t made clear the first time (bonus points if you include cute kittens).

We expect more than we did back then — rightfully so; this is 2011, and we have the technologies available to us as developers and consumers to enjoy information and new and inspiring ways.

Beautiful typography stands out throughout Mattt Thompson‘s personal website.

Designers and developers are producing content for a new age of consumerism. Those consumers don’t have all day to sift through information. There is too much of it. We know that. What we spent hours doing a decade ago, they spend mere minutes, if they can even last that long. They want information, and they want it now, and they want it in easily digestible formats that will get them in and out in the fastest way possible. If this means writing something in three pages that normally required three hundred, then so be it. They don’t have time to watch 10 minute long YouTube videos — they want it in a single minute.

In the battle for attention, the “TL;DR” is the admission that the battle has been lost. Yes, this ADHD-filled world is going to take its toll on the Web. It’s going to get a whole lot worse before it gets any better.

So who has time for text? We have audio and video at our disposal. It can present information much faster than text could. Indeed, whoever said that a picture is worth a thousand words was not lying; people these days prefer it that way.

But what if there was a way to regain their attention using nothing more than typography?

Typography’s resurgence

Thanks to a growing number of improvements in Web typography, we might not have to worry about the fate of the written word. Instead of diminishing the value of typography, we are seeing a resurgence in it. Interest in typography, especially from Web designers, has skyrocketed. The tools used to render typographical elements are improving — from enhancements introduced and continually developing with CSS3 to JavaScript tools like Lettering.js and jQuery. It is now feasible to create a webpages that look beautiful by using nothing more than a little vision, creativity, code, and typographical know how.

CSS3 has introduced a fair share of flair for typographers. A number of new properties have enabled them to radically expand their usage of typographical elements: transform, transition, column, text-shadow, rotate, and blur properties are just to name a few. The @font-face property, in particular, has also done plenty for Web designers that services like TypeKit are now solely geared towards supplying Web designers with beautiful, Web-ready fonts, something that wasn’t even possible a few years ago.

Designing Monsters uses CSS3 to create bold, eye-catching typography.

JavaScript is also contributing to typography’s resurgence. Lettering.js, in particular, is one of a few tools that have been produced to aid in the creation of beautiful typography on the Web. A JavaScript library called jQuery, which is arguably one of the most discussed on the Web these days, is also stirring things up. JavaScript doesn’t have all of the limitations that CSS3 has, particularly when it comes to the Web browser support; it isn’t perfect, but it gives Web designers more abilities to expand their typographical ambitions.

All of this has culminated into a plethora of typographical experiments that look beautiful in native Web browsing environments (if the given browsers support CSS3 and JavaScript); however, many of these impressive experiments lack consistency throughout the browser market. Some experiments result in variances in different browsers, others won’t render at all.

Unfortunately, this leads to questions as to whether or not all of CSS3′s latest features are ready for the primetime. Sure, Web developers will freely explore their creativity on personal websites; however, exploring these advanced features on a site that receives thousands to millions of hits on a daily basis is risky without planning for the worst case scenarios.

There is plenty of optimism, though. It just might take awhile before we see something like this, this, this, or even this appearing on your everyday webpage.

The future

There are many questions about the Web’s future. What impacts will the rise of video have on media consumption. What impact will the drastic increase in media being presented to users have (and will those consuming it be able to manage)? What will the transition to mobile devices bring? How will the open Web compete with application platforms like iOS and Android?

Naz Hamid utilizes the latest techniques to create a stunning typographical experience.

But the question about whether text/typography will be relevant in the future, that is simple: text is one of the best ways to present information. Web typography will continue to make advances that will ensure that the look of text on the websites will remain fresh and beautiful as ever. Also, the way we perceive text will adapt to these improvements.

Embrace all of the various media formats, but remember that typography is still the most important type of media that exists on the Web today. It was there when it started, it’s here now, and it will continue to be for the distant future. So be sure to explore ways to continually maximize its beauty and usefulness.

Written exclusively for WDD by James Mowery.

Designing websites and related media for kids presents plenty of opportunities for Web designers. Openings are available at many businesses and schools, as well as through parents and kids themselves, giving designers many ways to find work on electronic and print projects that appeal to kids. The types of work range from interface designs for video games to websites for birthday parties.

There was a time when kids’ websites were brash and busy, packed with colors and cartoon typography. Fortunately, the scale of the children’s market across most product ranges has resulted in rapid innovation in recent years. Most websites aimed at children (or children and adults) now follow principles that take some account of kids’ perspectives on Web design.

Dna-kids-homepage in Best Practices For Designing Websites For Kids

Both young kids and teenagers appear to like many of the same design traits that adults like, including clarity and high-quality content. At the same time, kids seem to enjoy a wider range of interactive features and greater novelty. This article explores child- and teen-friendly Web design guidelines and looks at the steps designers should consider before getting involved in work that will be marketed to kids and their parents or caregivers.

Hopefully, Web designers will be able to use these guidelines to attract more business from clients who deliver Web services to children, by demonstrating an awareness of the needs of this special age group.

Show Respect

Children become sophisticated consumers from a surprisingly early age. They are sensitive to age-targeting and bias in website design, so it’s important not to talk down to them.

A designer’s best defence against patronizing youngsters is to get some kids to comment on the design in the planning stage, because there’s a difference between remembering what it was like to be a kid and being a kid. This distinction operates on a number of levels in a design, ranging from the stylistic preferences discussed on Jacob Nielson’s usability website to the emerging behaviors brought on by widespread generational changes to Internet use.

Lego’s shopping website shows considerable respect for kids and parents alike. Products are arranged in clear categories, the overall styling is clean and consistent, and visitors can zoom in on products to see exactly what they will be buying. Kids can browse and navigate freely, while focusing on the product rather than being distracted by intrusive advertising and gimmicks. When they find the product they want, the child can easily draw their parent’s attention to the splendid item they’re about to pay for.

Lego-world in Best Practices For Designing Websites For Kids

Stick To Plain Talk

Research-based guidelines by Usability.gov state that adults like plain speaking as much as kids. Consequently, there is little to be gained from excluding kids from any website by making the language, layout, navigation or typography any more complex than is necessary. At the most basic level, over-elaborate language and dense text risk turning a website into a picture gallery, because the text, the wider message and the sale are lost when a child disengages from most of the content. The approach is simply not necessary because more able or sophisticated readers are happy to read concise language and seek further details as required.

Mr. Men is a website aimed at pre-schoolers and their parents. The straightforward design, with its white space, bright colors, concise text and blocky buttons, draws visitors in. The big buttons filter visitors to age-relevant sections of the website. The website features images of all of the characters, activities for pre-schoolers and shopping options. The shopping is outsourced to stores such as Amazon; as a result, Amazon gets most of the cash, but the owner needs to do very little to maintain the website.

Little-miss-sunshine22 in Best Practices For Designing Websites For Kids

The Mr. Men design may not be flashy or highly interactive, but it stays on task and bridges the gap between two generations very effectively.

Gain Trust

Parents and children look for safe, reputable, secure websites where content is actively moderated and support is on hand. Parents in particular will appreciate a certain amount of hand-holding in the form of accessible tutorials and walkthroughs. One of the most successful websites in recent years to build trust also happens to be one of the most controversial.

The various Sims games and websites (such as the Sims 3 website displayed below) cover a wide range of teenage and adult themes. The characters of players can get blind drunk, stay up all night, have kids way too early and do a good deal more. Electronic Arts gets around parental concerns by using its website to convince parents to trust the company. It does so with a well-rounded and integrated set of support services. The clear interface, familiar features from the games, forums, contact details, concise documentation and abundance of video tutorials all contribute to portraying the games as safe, consequence-free sandbox worlds. From there, it’s not a stretch for many parents to think that letting their kids look after a couple of virtual toddlers is not such a bad idea.

Sims3-homepage in Best Practices For Designing Websites For Kids

One critical part of the hand-holding process for any website is the sign-up process, which Debra Gelman discusses in detail over on A List Apart. The article is recommended reading, because sign-ups are critical to the success of most websites and should be trustworthy and convenient to use.

Web designers might also wish to read through the Byron Report, which investigates the concerns of UK adults regarding children’s websites. The report’s attention on the opinions of adults seems worthy, given that they are the ones completing sales and paying for purchases.

Interact

According to Jacob Nielsen’s research on teenagers, interactive website features (such as forums, mini-games, polls, ranking systems, competitions and 3-D interfaces) are valued by kids if they build a sense of community and foster participation. Bolting such features on will not likely prove effective, because kids will soon see the gaps and re-evaluate the website, despite any initial interest.

Stardoll integrates a range of interactive features and community support very well, offering a glitzy, glamorous look at fashion for tween and teenage girls. Any number of other websites allow you to dress up avatars and chat about your creations online with friends; Stardoll stands out by offering plenty of options for styling avatars and for its friendly and well-integrated community. The interactive community gives it a leg up on websites that offer only interactivity or only a static community.

Stardoll-homepage in Best Practices For Designing Websites For Kids

A recent report (PDF) from PlayScience proposes that the blend of interactive content and community features found on websites such as Stardoll is particularly effective on websites aimed at girls. The research depicts boys as being more focused on games, while girls switch between many different social and interactive activities.

Reward Loyalty

Kids consider their virtual goods and reputation as meaningful possessions, which is the reason they spend money on advancements, awards, objects and other persistent virtual items. With global sales of virtual goods already running at $7 billion annually, many online businesses would likely benefit from design features that attract and retain customers and that promote repeat purchases.

At present there tends to be a divide between website-specific award and ranking schemes on the one hand and aggregated personal content on social networks on the other. A kid’s badges, high scores, avatars and items are generally specific to a website, while their photos, chats, links and music live on a social networking platform.

Websites looking to capture that all-important loyalty that leads to subscriptions and sales of virtual goods might want to take account of how to build and sustain loyalty. If the economics of the website call for a proprietary approach, then beefing up the internal model is probably necessary. If fuller integration is commercially viable, then standalone systems like CubePoints demonstrate the type of coherent schemes that could be put in place. For example, even a standard WordPress subscription website can bring together a reward scheme and social networking functionality with the quick addition of a CubePoints plug-in and a forum plug-in.

Cubepoints-homepage in Best Practices For Designing Websites For Kids

Offer Choice

There are many ways to present kids with choices through thoughtful design. Just a few options are consultative polls, competitions, push-button style makeovers and a lot of custom avatars. Typically, these basic elements should gel with the overall style and, particularly, with any other interactivity on the website.

In addition, Web designers might consider it a priority to offer their own in-house or site-specific choices. Opening up choice in this way involves looking at users’ workflow and the motivations underlying their use of the website. The following are a few ways to create more choice:

  • Allowing visitors to adjust the pace and frequency of interaction,
  • Offering flexible or open-ended environments,
  • Varying the range of activities offered,
  • Helping visitors construct and extend their own goals,
  • Offering multiple levels of hand-holding,
  • Enabling the construction and deconstruction of sections of the user’s experience.

Among such options, the greatest choice comes with co-design, where kids go beyond decorating avatars and completing polls and start to independently shape their own gameplay.

FreeRealms is perhaps the most effective co-design website around now. Players learn the interface, play mini-games, advance through levels and collect possessions. Then, quite suddenly, they are running wizard schools, setting up modest online ventures and investing in real estate. This happens without any instruction or guidance from the game, but rather from within the safety of a moderated and fully logged Web environment. For all intents and purposes, the website operates much like Second Life, without the live ammunition.

Freerealms-homepage in Best Practices For Designing Websites For Kids

Aim For High Impact

For some, high-impact Web design equates with 3-D graphics and both feet jammed on the accelerator. This presents a problem, because few things will make the user’s progress through a website go slower than lavish 3-D content. Certain types of gaming websites are suited to in-your-face 3-D experiences, but there are a lot of ways to achieve high impact.

Comic websites (such as those by Marvel and DC Comics) are particularly good at using existing content to bolster subscription services, mainly by recycling characters and artwork from their extensive libraries. Visitors have pretty much instant access to many high-impact static images and the means to build their own mini-comics and heroic characters in 2-D. There’s no need for much 3-D in these circumstances, because the websites are mainly about enjoying the comic book format. Video games and movies linked to recognized comic brands are already licensed to alternative distribution channels.

Marvel-homepage in Best Practices For Designing Websites For Kids

Be Child-Centered

Education Arcade’s report (PDF) discusses attempts to combine video game entertainment and education (or “edutainment”) several years ago. These efforts show the dangers of passing off learning activities as fun by sugar-coating them with mini-games. Some game websites, including Sony’s FreeRealms, have succeeded in offering independent learning within a decidedly gaming world. For now, delivering formal learning through genuinely entertaining websites remains a relatively expensive proposition.

However, Sims 3 and Free Realms are examples of highly flexible but not hugely expensive resources that support a wide range of curriculum priorities. For those who need more convincing, the relatively new start-up MangaHigh is an encouraging effort to combine purposeful number-crunching alongside genuinely entertaining design and gameplay.

The dividing line can be uncertain and contextual, but as soon as kids sense that an activity or interaction prioritizes a lesson ahead of engagement and motivation, they seem to switch off.

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Conclusions

Ordinarily, now would be the time to highlight a couple of points as key considerations. But it might be more helpful to draw attention to a particular approach that hasn’t been covered yet but that stands out from the rest.

Kids enjoy novelty, and adults go to a lot of trouble to organize parties and outings that give kids new ideas and novel experiences. Ideally, a website aimed at kids does the same. Ask yourself what you could offer that would fit seamlessly in their existing Web experience and that would enable them to do something they haven’t done before.

If you want to do that, you’ll need to suppress the urge to start on screen and spend a bit more time in the planning stage. The reward is a much tighter fit between your design and the kids you’re designing for.