The document discusses designing for a great user experience when creating a website. It emphasizes understanding user goals, personas, and needs. Key aspects of user experience include copy and information architecture, the user lifecycle, creating mental models, focusing on simplicity with less text and fewer choices, and testing designs with real users. The document stresses that creating a good user experience should involve the whole organization and be a central focus.

1. Designing for a great
User Experience

2. What is User Experience?

3. But first...
Why do you need a website?

4. Objectives:
what do you want to achieve?
• Organisation goals
• Website goals
• Conversions
o sign up a volunteer
o make a sale
o make a donation
o register
o share on social network

5. User experience:
a means to an end
- to achieve a goal
What changes to
experience change
conversion positively
or negatively ?
Rinse and repeat.

6. Who does your website need to
speak to?
Include external and internal stakeholders

7. What do they want from the site?
How can the site provide value or be of use for them?
What is it that they are trying to get done by using your site or service? Understand their purpose for
using you, how they talk about it, Where they are coming from.
Have empathy with your users. See it from their perspective. If you know the job they want to get
done, you can put yourself in their shoes in order to make the right decisions.

8. How will they access the site?
Desktop, tablet, mobile?
If starting from scratch
consider Mobile First or
Responsive Design.

9. What makes a great experience?
Developing personas for your primary audiences can help
in identifying what makes a great UX for each
Young person (under 18) Corporate supporter Funder
Young person (18-25) Supporter (friends and family)
* Sketches courtesy of my lovely agency yoomee

10. User Experience Honeycomb

11. Copy and Information Architecture
Q. How do users read on the web?
A. They don't
Users mostly glance at each new page and scan text. They
click on the first link to catch their eye or which vaguely
resembles what they’re looking for. There are large areas of
the page they don’t even look at. In other words, they read
the web like a billboard rather than a document.
Look at any video game – they rarely have more than three
option buttons on any one screen. Too many choices
confuse.

12. Usage lifecycle
a user progresses from initially being unaware, through
being a first-time user, to ultimately becoming a
passionate user.

13. Creating a great User Experience
1. Respect the usage lifecycle
Realise that not all users are at the same level of experience with the website.
2. Use mental models
The site’s user interface should reflect how users perceive the real world, not how the technical
implementation is structured.
3. Less is more
People don’t read the web like books, they scan copy looking for headlines and key points. Focus on
short web copy and minimise choices.
4. Test with real users
All changes should be regularly tested on real users, with time allowed for feedback and
improvements.

14. Everybody's Job
Great user experience needs to be part of the
mindset and focus of the whole organisation

15. Pleasure in the simple things in life
Damien Austin-Walker
@b33god
Head of Digital - @vInspired