The Morville Model: What is it?
When it comes to web design, how much do you consider user experience in the process? It’s a major part of any successful website and Peter Morville created a unique and informative guide to the user experience in what is called the ‘UX Honeycomb.’ This honeycomb helps website developers understand and value user experiences with a variety of facets – all of which help developers create a positive experience for those who visit a webpage. The Morville Model is also accessible to all aspects of web design in that no matter what the budget is or how much time can be devoted to creating a website, everyone is on a level playing field and can provide a unique, positive experience for all visitors to any given page. Here are important aspects of the Morville Model:
Useful
– Despite everything else when comes to creating an experience for a user, being useful must be at the top of the list. When creating a website, you are deemed the expert of the subject so don’t leave your visitors having more questions than answers when they visit a page.
Usable
– Clean design and easy-to-use layout are essential, no matter what the website is about – users don’t have time to figure out where hidden tabs are or navigate around large boxes of text. In order for the traffic to grow on any website or page, it needs to be useable!
Desirable
– You need to create a desire for users to want to visit your page. Keeping it aesthetically appealing and building a connection to the brand is ideal. A website is often the vital first impression any user will have of your business or brand – so it needs create a positive experience quickly.
Findable
– Just as you want users to arrive on your website, you want them to find what they need before moving on elsewhere. If the information is hard to find, they won’t spend time looking for it! For that reason, it’s important to put vital links and contact information in easy to find locations on the website, as well as links to other pages within the design.
Accessible
– Don’t exclude anyone with your website. Just as there are accommodations for those with disabilities within companies and public establishments, a website should be able to be accessed by every user. It’s generally a good business practice – and ethical practice – to never exclude anyone from using a website.
Credible
– In order to retain and build an audience on a website, it needs to look and feel credible to users. This includes informative text and proper design elements that match the concept for the page. Many Internet users are quick to believe everything they read on the World Wide Web or they are very skeptical – you need to establish credibility for your readers so they trust what you have to share and come back for more.
While the concept of the Morville Model and Honeycomb design provide various points for a website to follow in order to expand a positive user experience, the questions asked also ensure that website developers and designers are looking into the human experience of using the Internet. Instead of focusing so much on the design and layout, it also requires that designers think about the quality of content, priorities and desirability of a message. No matter what industry or website, the Morville Model is an exceptional tool at creating the best possible user experience for all who arrive on a given website – and best of all – it’s free to implement and can be used no matter how much time or money a developer has.