It is in our nature to make mistakes from time to time. Even if we are extremely diligent, careful, and cautious, we are bound to make mistakes. When it comes to web design, human errors may have a small or significant impact on the users. For example, if you don’t enter your personal information correctly on Facebook, your friends will see it when they go online. Similarly, if you are using websites such as PayPal, even the smallest mistake can prove to be costly. If you don’t enter the correct details, you may end up sending thousands of dollars to the wrong person. To ensure that everything goes according to plan in your web design, here are six tips that you can use to reduce human errors!
1. Always confirm before any action
The first step to reducing human errors in web design is to make use of the confirmation dialogue. If you have used websites such as Google Photos or Apple Photos, you always get a confirmation box before you delete the picture. For example, in Google Photos, the confirmation box will tell you what happens when you delete the photos. If you are okay with it, then Google Photos will remove the pictures accordingly.
You can use confirmation boxes in your web design to reduce human errors. When your users get confronted by confirmation boxes, they will double check before going ahead. Although it will disrupt the user flow, your visitors will find this technique to be extremely useful.
2. Avoid memorization
Your users should never have to memorize what they have entered in your web design (other than their username and password). If your users are preoccupied or multitasking, memorization is a burden. Also, people are more prone to errors when they are not focusing on the task at hand. As a result of this, the chances of human errors increase significantly.
Always make sure that the process is as simple as possible. Even if it is just the on boarding process, you must make sure to avoid memorization. For example, let’s say a user has entered all the details for purchasing a product from your website, including the discount code. In the second page, when the user has to complete the purchase, your website asks him/her to enter the discount code again. Not only this annoying to the user, he/she may also not remember the discount code, increasing the chances of making a mistake or entirely leaving the purchase page altogether.
3. Error warning
Your web design must warn users when they make mistakes or errors on your website. By using this technique, you can minimize human errors considerably. For example, if you have used Grammarly, you will notice that the website highlights the error.
You can also take a look at Twitter, which has a warning system in place for users. As you are typing your tweet, there is a small box at the bottom of the chat box which indicates the character limit. As soon as you are close to the character limit, you will see a number below which indicates the same. When you go over the limit, Twitter highlights the excessive characters. Also, Twitter disables the tweet option till you meet its character limit.
You can draw inspiration from these websites and implement it in your web design.
4. Preview outcome
Your users should be able to take a look at the outcome of their actions before executing them. For example, if you visit any e-commerce website, they will always display the details you entered before proceeding with payment. The reason e-commerce websites utilize this technique is to reduce human errors as much as possible. For starters, they don’t want their users to order products to another person’s house.
5. Undo support
Another great way to reduce human errors in web design is to have support for undo function. If you use any Google website, you can always undo your actions. For example, if you send a wrong mail to the trash on Gmail, you can use the undo function immediately. Similarly, you can use this in your web design. Let’s say that your user has to enter their details as part of the sign-up process. If the user realizes that he/she has made a mistake, he/she can easily fix it with the undo function.
6. Utilize color
Another way to show users that they have/haven’t made any mistake is through colors and contrast. Normally, people associate green with good and red with bad. When your users make a mistake in your web design, you can highlight it with red. The same is also applicable when your user hasn’t made any mistake.
These are the six web design tips that you can use to reduce human errors in your website. If you are looking to build an amazing website for your business, why don’t you contact ANM.digital? Our professional developers and designers will go the extra mile to meet your web design needs!
