Duke Ovie

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF DESIGN AND USABILITY OF WEBSITES

The number of websites online is growing at a rapid pace, and thus the study of design and usability of websites becomes relevant. The design of a website deals with the overall design of a site while the usability of such site refers to the overall user experience. This study explores older versions of a website and compares them with their current version in order to find out how they have evolved over the years with a focus on design and usability. Four experiments were conducted with 91 participants who evaluated selected websites through heuristic evaluation, observations and carrying out tasks. The results of the conducted experiment indicate that users perception of good design and usability changed as much as the websites have. In particular, users did not find the design of older websites aesthetically pleasing but found it useful. Also, they found the impact usability on newer website useful but not too aesthetically pleasing. Overall, even though users found the design and usability of current websites satisfying but yet felt like something some changes should be made, the need for developing websites for the future with a focus on users cannot be overlooked.