A WEBSITE BUILDER

Challenge Statement:

How might we design a website builder that eliminates the complexity of existing platforms, enabling users of all skill levels to create professional websites with confidence and ease?

Proposal Statement:

This project aims to design a user-friendly website builder that streamlines the process of creating and managing websites, addressing common frustrations user face with other website builder platforms. By focusing on intuitive navigation, simplified customization, and clear guidance, this solution will empower users of all skill levels to build professional websites with ease. The goal is to bridge the gap between features and accessibility, ensuring a seamless experience for individuals and small businesses.

Key Objectives:

  • Leverage Nielsen Norman Group usability principles to design an interface that minimizes complexity, ensuring users of all skill levels can navigate the platform effortlessly.

Streamline User Experience:

Simplify Customization:

  • Incorporate insights from the NNG analysis of Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress to prioritize intuitive customization tools and avoid common usability pitfalls.

Enhance Portfolio and Multi-use Capabilities:

  • Build flexible features tailored to portfolios, small businesses, blogs, and e-commerce, while maintaining usability standards highlighted in the NNG comparison.

Promote Accessibility and Inclusion:

  • Address accessibility gaps identified in Wix, squarespace, and WordPress through an inclusive design that meets diverse user needs and aligns with NNG recommendations.

Provide Clear Onboarding and Guidance:

  • Use NNG best practice to design tutorials, tooltips, and support systems that reduce the learning curve and enhance user confidence.

Support Scalability and Growth:

  • offer scalable tools inspired by competitor strengths, ensuring users can expand their website seamlessly with advanced features like analytics, e-commerce, or booking systems.

Optimize for Performance and Usability:

  • Ensure the platform delivers fast-loading, responsive websites with an intuitive design informed by NNG usability heuristics..

Address Common Pain Points:

  • Resolve challenges identified in the NNG analysis of Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress, such as interface clutter, hidden features, or overly rigid templates.

Focus on Visual Hierarchy and Branding:

  • Apply NNG principles of visual hierarchy and interaction design to help users create professional, branded websites with ease.

Foster Trust Through Transparency:

  • Avoid hidden fees or unclear processes by ensuring transparency throughout the platform, addressing a common usability issue in competitor platforms.

Research Goals:

Understand User Pain Points:

  • Identify the key frustrations users face with Six, Squarespace, and WordPress, such as navigation difficulties, hidden fees, or steep learning curves.

Analyze Competitor Usability:

  • Conduct a Nielsen Norman Group (NNG) usability analysis of Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress to compare their strengths and weaknesses in terms of design, functionality, and user experience.

Explore User Needs and Expectations:

  • Gather insights into what users expect from a website builder, including essentials features, customization options, and ease of use.

Evaluate Target Audience:

  • Understand the goals and skill levels of the platform’s primary users, such as small business owners, portfolio creators, and personal bloggers.

Identify Design and Accessibility Gaps:

  • Assess areas where existing platforms fail to meet accessibility and inclusion standards, and identify opportunities to improve these features.

  • Compare the most frequently used and requested features of Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress to determine which elements are essential for your platform.

Benchmark Feature Priorities:

Assess Content Management Needs:

  • Investigate how users manage content, from adding images and text to organizing pages, and pinpoint where they encounter inefficiencies.

  • Research how users interact with customers support, tutorials, and community forums on competing platforms to identify opportunities for better guidance.

Evaluate Support Systems:

Understand Scalability Requirements:

  • Explore how users expect their websites to grow over time, including adding new features like e-commerce, blogs, or analytics

Test Design Concepts:

  • Use insights from the research to create wireframes or prototypes for usability testing, ensuring your platform meets users needs effectively.

Nielsen Norman Group Analysis:

Usability (Ease of Use):

  • Strengths: Drag-and-drop editor makes it highly intuitive for beginners. Offers immediate visual feedback when editing.

  • Wix:

  • Weaknesses: Over-customization can overwhelm users; no clear hierarchy ion advanced settings.

  • NNG Principle: Violates the principles of “Consistency and Standards” with its sometimes inconsistent interface across tools.

  • Strengths: Clean interface with well-structured workflows. Templates make it easier to create polished design.

  • Squarespace:

  • Weaknesses: Steeper learning curve for beginners due to fewer interactive cues and rigid design limitations.

  • NNG Principle: Adheres well to Recognition Rather than Recall” by providing a consistent interface but struggles with “Flexibility and Efficiency.”

  • WordPress:

  • Strengths: Highly customizable for advanced users with plugins and themes. Ideal for experienced web designer.

  • Weaknesses: Initial setup is complex, with a steep learning curve for non-technical users. Backend UI lacks visual clarity.

  • NNG Principles: Fails on “User Control and Freedom” due to complex workflows and limited undo functionality for non-technical users.

Flexibility and Customization:

  • Wix:

  • Strengths: Offers extensive customization options, allowing users to create unique design.

  • Weaknesses: Over-customization can lead to inconsistent designs, and some users accidentally disrupt layouts.

  • NNG Principles: Partially aligns with “Flexibility and Efficiency” but suffers from “Error Prevention” issues.

  • Squarespace:

  • Strengths: Templates are highly polished and enforce design consistency.

  • Weaknesses: Limited flexibility; users may feel constrained by the lack of drag-and-drop capabilities.

  • NNG Principles: Adheres to “Consistency and Standards” but lacks “Flexibility and Efficiency” for advanced users.

  • Weaknesses: Customization often requires technical expertise, making it inaccessible for beginners.

  • NNG Principles: Aligns with “Flexibility and Efficiency” but fails on “Error Prevention” and “Help and Documentation.”

Accessibility:

  • Wix:

  • Strengths: Provides an accessibility wizard to guide users.

  • Weaknesses: Limited compliance with WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) standards in some templates.

  • NNG Principle: Partial Compliance with “Accessibility” guidelines.

  • Squarespace:

  • Strengths: Templates are designed to be responsive and accessible.

  • Weaknesses: Limited support for alt text and ARIA tags in some areas

  • NNG Principles: Stronger adherence to “Accessibility” but lacks “Error Prevention” in this area.

  • WordPress:

  • Strengths: Supports full accessibility compliance with the right plugins and themes.

  • Weaknesses: Default themes and plugins may not meet accessibility standards without customization.

  • NNG Principles: Strong potential for “Accessibility” but requires user expertise to implement effectively.

Error Prevention and Recovery:

  • Wix:

  • Strengths: Undo and redo buttons are prominently available.

  • Weakness: Overwhelming customization options can lead to frequent user errors.

  • NNG Principles: Strong adherence to “Error Prevention” but needs better guidance for preventing layout disruptions.

  • Squarespace:

  • Strengths: templates enforce consistency, reducing design errors.

  • Weakness: Lack of undo/redo functionality in certain areas makes recovery difficult.

  • NNG Principle: Good “Error Prevention” but weak on “User Control and Freedom.”

  • WordPress:

  • Strengths: Revisions history allows user to restore previous versions of content.

  • Weaknesses: Error in plugin or theme customization can break the site, often requiring technical expertise to fix.

  • NNG Principles: Poor “Error Prevention” but strong on “Recovery Through Revisions.”

Visual Design and Consistency:

  • Wix:

  • Strengths: Highly flexible design tools, allowing creative freedom.

  • Squarespace:

  • Strengths: Consistent, visually stunning templates with professional layouts.

  • Weaknesses: Limited freedom for users seeking highly customized designs.

  • WordPress:

  • Strengths: Endless customization possibilities with themes and plugins.

  • Weaknesses: Visual consistency depends on user expertise and choice of tools.

  • NNG Principles: Relies heavily on the user’s ability to enforce “Aesthetic and Minimalist Design.”

  • Weaknesses: Lack of enforced consistency can result in amateur-looking sites.

  • NNG Principles: Struggles with “Aesthetic and Minimalist Design.”

  • WordPress:

  • Strengths: Unlimited customization through themes, plugins, and code. Highly flexible for experienced users.