New study on factors that improve online experiences

IDEA, the Institute for Dynamic Educational Advancement, just released “Finding Information: Factors that improve online experiences,” which reports the findings of a study that the California-based nonprofit organization conducted recently. IDEA used three complementary surveys to determine how people find information online and how the experiences of website visitors can be improved. Furthermore, the study tries to get at the differences between actual and perceived needs of end users by focusing on three different sets of survey participants: nonprofit organizations, web designers, and the general public (visitors), hence the three complementary questionnaires.

IDEA had four key research questions in mind when developing the three survey instruments, which, I am pleased to see, are available as appendices in the report:

1. What makes a website effective?
2. What factors contribute to visitors’ enjoyment of a website? Does this vary by segments within each population?
3. From a visitor’s perspective, what factors determine a quality website?
4. Are there differences between visitors’ needs as perceived by organizations and designers, and those reported by visitors themselves?

The researchers obtained 563 clean responses from nonprofit organizations and cities, 250 from web designers and firms, and 1675 from the general public. Overall, IDEA’s data analysis resulted in eight major findings:

1. Designers underestimate the thresholds for an effective site
2. Easy access to complete information is key to visitor enjoyment
3. Good visual design and up-to-date information are critical
4. Visitors want information fast
5. Visitors want a broad range of topics
6. Designers are overly optimistic about visitors’ ability to maintain orientation
7. Visitors still need handholding
8. Visitors point to the lack of breadth and depth of site content as causing an “Information Gap”

The study and executive summary are available online. There, you'll find more details about the study's findings, as well as some recommendations from the researchers.

How do you think your organization may use or benefit from these findings? What do you think about the study in general? I'd love to hear your comments.