At NPA, we’re careful to stay educated about the new trends and technology, but more often than not the questions we get asked are very similar to the questions we were asked at the first ePhilanthropy conference in 2000. How do I get email addreses? How should we redesign our site? What department should “own” the site?

In this business, we are proud to work with nonprofits of every size and find that no matter how sophisticated the organization, there are fundamental principles we use with every client. Our intuition tells us that these general principles of goal-setting, donor-centered design and writing, and telling the story efficiently and effectively are bed-rock for this growing industry of online fundraising.

In a recent article, Jakob Nielsen (the guru of web usability) is profiling his new book which, of course, you have to buy for the full story. However, he offers a summary of his findings, “A remarkable 80% of findings from the Web usability studies in the 1990s continue to hold today.” His article goes on to say that:

• “More than half of the usability findings from the 1990s remain in force.
• 10% of the original usability issues have resolved because of improved technology, but they typically haven't addressed the real issues that cause users to get lost, misinterpret sites, or be annoyed.
• More [issues] were taken away because of changing user behavior than because of technology improvements. The Web is easier for people to use today, simply because people have more experience with its conventions, even when they're bad.
• 22% of issues are less of a factor today because of designers showing restraint.”

Usability, in short, is a measure of how easy your site is to use. Have you made it hard for people to give to you? Is your form so difficult or fancy, that users simply quit? What Nielsen found is that the same usability guidelines from the early 90’s are applicable today. If you want to know about usability, there are two great online resources:

1. Dept. of Health and Human Services: http://www.usability.gov/pdfs/guidelines.html#1
2. Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html

NPA has been using the best usability guidelines and research for years as a part of our web site audit projects. For more information on a web site audit, visit us at: http://www.npadvisors.com/service-audit.asp

Reference Links:
Full Alertbox article:  [ http://www.useit.com/alertbox/guidelines-change.html ]
Jakob Nielsen’s Prioritizing Web Usability [ http://www.useit.com/alertbox/guidelines-change.html ]

June 2007