User-centered design is simply the philosophy of designing a website or interface based solely on the needs of the end user. The concept is pretty simple and straight-forward, but many designers overlook these ideas while focusing on designing aesthetically pleasing websites.

Design quality and brand image are important, but usability and user-centered design makes for a successful web initiative. This topic of designing with the user in mind recently came to mind when I recently visited the website of a local restaurant. The site was designed well. There were large images of the popular dishes. It was very clean and branded very well with all the restaurants brand elements. But there was one flaw with the site - usability.

I visited the website with one goal in mind - that was to find the lunch specials and place an order for pick-up. I clicked on the “menu” tab with the idea that I would be able to view their menu in some sort of digital format. But instead, I got a flash slide-show of their popular dishes. Huh? That’s not what I wanted or expected. I expected a menu list of items with descriptions. What happen to designing for the user? This was a perfect example of a site that was aesthetically pleasing but with a poor usability factor.

This example of poor usability is just one of many that I run into time after time. At VigorFish, we preach this constantly and design websites based on the user-centered design principles. It’s quite simple - do not forget about the user.

Is your site designed with the user in mind? Contact VigorFish today for a free no obligation review of your website. We’ll review your site free of charge and give you 3 things you can change to enhance your existing usability. What are you waiting for, shoot me an email.