 Home pages are becoming redundant
Sunday, 9 October 2005
Recent usability testing conducted by Mark Hurst boldly asserts that Google has made home pages virtually
irrelevant.
The usability test was a little different to what’s typically conducted. Users were not given pre-written tasks. Instead, they were left to their own resources and experience. Some of the findings revealed that:
- Users prefer to reach websites through Google search results.
- Only a minority type the company’s home page URL into the browser address bar.
- Some users even preferred to search Google for the name of the company they wanted to visit, instead of typing the company home page URL in the browser address bar.
- Almost no one uses any search engine other than Google.
Of course, this only really applies to public websites. Intranets and web-based applications enforce a much more constrained pattern of interaction. But the conclusion from this test seems to match what Jakob Nielsen has been preaching for years:
The home page of your website is becoming increasingly redundant and what matters most is relevant content and simple design which meets the users goals.
Amen.
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