Blog three of an eight-part series on the tenets of a powerful user or audience experience
So far in this series, I shared insights about the first and second tenets of creating powerful experiences: useful and usable. In this post, I want to discuss the third tenet: findable.
Building on the metaphor about public transportation, you started your experience with a public transportation system from the moment you thought about taking a train, bus, subway, or metro system. Perhaps you found the bus or metro useful because it gets you from point A to point B and it gets you there fast. You also found the metro or bus usable because you were able to easily purchase a ticket or card online and add money to it for fare.
Now that you know your metro or bus option is both useful and usable, you’ll begin to ask yourself questions about findability:
- “Will I be able to easily find the metro entry point?”
- “Will I be able to read the signs directing me to the correct bus?”
- “Will I be able to navigate the routes and stops?”
In short, being findable is about whether the public transportation system, website, one-pager, platform, etc. – and the content or information within – is easy for its users and audiences to find.
We live in a world where most people do not read, but scan, and they muddle through information because they’re too busy, too distracted, or unengaged to dig deeper. We can all be guilty of this. So, if a public transportation system, website, brand, or other product is not easy to find or navigate for information and services, users and audiences will quickly leave if they even found your product or service to begin with.
To design a powerful experience for users and audiences, you must be easy to find and navigate, because they will not spend long looking for you. They will find someone else who is easy to find first and engage with them instead.
Search engine optimization (SEO) and usability testing play major roles in findability. Ensuring a site’s SEO is implemented for Google rankings will increase visibility and as a result, findability. Usability testing will also help to find potholes in findability. By watching real users and audiences interact with your site, one-pager, service, etc., you can see firsthand where they get stuck, frustrated, and give up, and as a result, fix the potholes.
If your users and audiences cannot find your website, service, or product, then engagement with them is over before it begins. You must be findable.