What is User Experience?
According to the Nielsen Norman Group, leaders in research-based user experience, “The main goal of user experience, or UX, is creating and improving people’s experiences in their everyday life and work. Specifically, UX efforts often focus on improving digital products and services.”
User experience is evaluated using heuristics. A heuristic evaluation is a method for identifying issues with the design of a user interface by judging the design against a set of standardized guidelines (i.e., heuristics) determined to make the website or system easy to use.
UX at MSU
The following are the heuristic evaluation criteria often cited by University Communications and Marketing's Digital Experience group when conducting a heuristic review or audit.
- Aesthetic and minimalist design
- Consistency in design standards
- Fonts and graphics have appropriate legibility and contrast
- Design reinforces the user’s sense of control
- Design makes it clear how page items should be used (e.g., buttons)
- Visibility of system status
- Intuitive content hierarchy and UI flow
- Navigation is visually prominent and separate
- Navigation is contextual
- Links are clearly distinguished
- Secure/logged-in state is distinguishable
- Relevant to target audience needs
- Reflects value proposition(s)
- Honest and transparent
- No noticeable or unreasonable delays
- Access to help
- Printable
- Accurate search results
- User interface interaction response is visible without scrolling
- Logical/anticipated user interface response
- Forms follow best practices
- Ability to undo or change choices before committing
- Evident task confirmation/completion
- Use a familiar framework, making it easier to absorb (mental model)
- Progressive levels of detail
- Use terms, metaphors, etc. familiar to target audience
- Reduce uncertainty, display data in a manner that is clear and obvious
- Content broken into digestible chunks (gestalt)
- Content display follows best practices
- Practice judicious redundancy
- Easy to read or scan
- Has an audience-specific tone
- Is engaging
- Presented consistently
- Facilitates important user activities
- Communicates the primary message as expected
Key Recommendations
Below are some key recommendations for commonly found features on college and academic department websites.
The main navigation bar should have seven or fewer categories. There should be a concise amount of submenu options. Labels should be short and clear.
The homepage should cover key tasks that prospective students are trying to accomplish, including accessing programs, admissions page and a means for requesting additional information. Calls to action at the top of the page is more helpful than news and upcoming events.
Include multiple ways to browse and search news and events. Examples include topics, departments, areas of research, date and popularity.
Provide quick and easy access to programs and degrees in the menu. Include a page that provides an overview of all majors and minors for undergraduate programs and all degrees for graduate programs. Ideally, include a brief description of each program or degree.
Provide quick and easy access to an admissions page on the menu. Include calls to action to this admissions page on related pages within the website, such as program page(s). The admissions page should be concise and include a graceful handoff to the university-wide admissions website. Showcase the steps in the user journey from starting an application through acceptance.
Provide a range of ways to discover research areas, such as by area, impact or research center.
The directory should be easily accessible from the navigation menu. It should include the college or unit faculty and staff together in one list and offer search functionality.
The footer should include links to important website pages, such as departments or programs, as a helpful failsafe to ensure users can find these pages.
Documentation updated: Nov. 1, 2024