Jakob Nielsen's 10 Rules of Web Usability

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I always say that web usability is one of the most important workhorses of web positioning. I have seen for myself how web pages with great content were penalized for being unusable. That is why I am surprised that many large portals spend hundreds of euros on links or articles and neglect such an essential aspect as usability.

Just the other day I was looking for courses on usability and I was surprised at how unusable some of the websites I visited were. The credibility of these websites was the same as that of an overweight nutritionist. Jokes aside, there are still many people who are not clear on what a usable website should be like. To make things easier, Jakob Nielsen (one of the most reputable experts in this field) came up with the 10 golden rules of usability. They are the following:

Jakob Nielsen's Rules of Web Usability
#1 Visibility of system status
The website must inform the user at all times of where they are and what is happening. No, I am not referring to the news appearing in real time, but rather to the user receiving adequate overseas chinese in australia data from the website.

For example, if you are downloading something from the web, a good feedback would be a download progress bar; or if when sending data through a form, the web would notify you if the form has been sent correctly.

#2 Relationship between the system and the real world
What this rule means is that the website should speak the same language as its users. This will be a language that everyone understands (unless the website is for a very specific audience, such as a portal for physicists, in which case the language would be adapted to that group). This refers not only to the text, but also to the visual elements. For example, we all associate green with things well done and red with errors.

#3 User control and freedom
Users should be able to navigate the web with complete freedom. The idea is that from where they are, they can go to any place on the web without encountering “dead ends.” In other words, they should be able to reach any page on the web from any page (and ideally in as few clicks as possible).

#4 Consistency and standards
The entire website must have a consistent and standardized design. It cannot be that on one page the background is black and on another white, to put it exaggeratedly. Established web standards must also be respected. For example, we all have internalized that the color red is associated with errors or alerts and that green is associated with well-executed actions.

# 5 Error prevention
As they say, prevention is better than cure. That's why web designers are advised to make sure their site is error-proof. Don't let your users fall into the trap of making mistakes.



#6 Recognition before memory
The website should be intuitive. The user should be able to carry out an action without having to remember how he did it before. Don't you sometimes find yourself in a section of a website and have to remember the path you took to get there? These are the things that we want to avoid at this point.

#7 Flexibility and efficiency of use
If someone is a regular user of your website, why not make things easier for them? Provide experienced users with quick paths to perform common actions. This way you also increase the percentage of repeat visitors.

#8 Aesthetics and minimalist design
Eliminate any irrelevant information or dialog on the web. Less is more, and black text on a white background is the best readable text. By the way, I especially hate intrusive pop-ups, but for me all pop-ups are. Avoid them whenever you can.