CReATION: Hong Kong sites fail usability test as user frustrations run high

<p>Poor usability is an enormous hindrance to Internet users' </p><p>successfully completing transactions and most websites in Hong Kong have </p><p>yet to build a strong brand online, a study has found. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Research conduced by Icon Medialab, an Internet solutions provider, has </p><p>found the leading usability problem Hong Kong Web users face is the slow </p><p>download time of websites, with 56 per cent of users normally skipping </p><p>the introductory splash page. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Icon Medialab's human computer interactive director in Hong Kong Malcolm </p><p>Otter said: "The results come as no surprise as local sites are </p><p>generally designed with too many irrelevant graphics that inevitably </p><p>mean minutes of waiting time, which users just don't have. But it's </p><p>important to remember that it is not a case of having too many graphics, </p><p>but more about them being relevant to the site." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Icon Medialab assigned some basic tasks, such as booking flights or </p><p>conducting banking transactions online to test usability. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The results were a heavy blow to local sites - more than half of the </p><p>users failed to complete transactions. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Hong Kong users hate it when you enter a site and before you can do </p><p>anything, they ask you to register. Downloading is also a big </p><p>problem. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>That will improve with broadband, but a lot of people get lost in </p><p>sites. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The advice is to design sites with the user in mind," Mr Otter said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Websites of corporate giants, such as IBM and Compaq, were not exempt to </p><p>the rule. "No matter how large the site is, users should be able to find </p><p>information quickly. They are impatient, and if they don't, they will go </p><p>somewhere else," he added. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Web users preferred localised content and sites. Most indicated they </p><p>favoured Chinese websites because of the closeness of the information </p><p>provided. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>They were also more likely to trust local companies, particularly in the </p><p>finance sector, such as banks or brokerages. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, the majority of users that had been using the Internet for a </p><p>longer period of time said they preferred visiting foreign or </p><p>English-language websites, citing professionalism as the main </p><p>reason. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>These experienced users also conducted more transactions and became </p><p>increasingly demanding of a website in terms of navigation and </p><p>structure. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Users also said poor display and layout hindered searching on pages, </p><p>with 42 per cent having difficulties with classification of </p><p>information. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Icon design and labelling should also be relevant to the market, </p><p>according to Mr Otter, as users often find it hard to identify with </p><p>logos or phrases, which are "not meaningful to them". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He gave the example of a Taiwanese recruitment website, which had </p><p>labelled a section on its site "Find soldiers by horses". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Now I doubt there are many people out there that would understand what </p><p>exactly was under that (section). You only need to use simple, </p><p>straightforward labelling. I'm not saying there is no room for </p><p>creativity - that is always important - but it is also important for </p><p>users to know what things mean. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>People are not forgiving - they remember." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>When it came to actually spending money online, only 10 per cent said </p><p>they bought over the 'Net. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Removing and updating numbers of items being bought is hard. As there </p><p>is no need to deal with input boxes, refresh and update buttons in their </p><p>offline world experience, the online process seemed unnatural to users," </p><p>the report said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Otter added retail brands would have to offer a good deal, or </p><p>something that was unavailable offline to attract online buyers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>More than 400 Web users in Hong Kong participated in the studies. </p><p>Similar research is to be conducted in other Asian countries. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>