42244 0 3 econsultancy_xml <p>There are two main reasons for the decline, Jakob says: </p> <ul> <li> <strong>Less room for improvement<br /></strong>Most of the <em>"truly horrible"</em> websites, which in the past gave usability agencies plenty of opportunities to improve their design, have now been fixed, so it is now slightly harder to enhance the user experience. <br /><br /></li> <li> <strong>Budgets have remained constant<br /></strong>Even though the average website has improved over the last decade, the share of resources allocated to usability has stayed at around 10%. </li> </ul> <p>The survey measured RoI through typical metrics such as conversion rates, traffic numbers and user performance. </p> <p>Jakob says that 12% of projects still achieve major improvements (a rise by a factor of 10 or more), something that echoes the findings of our recent <a href="/reports/usability-and-user-experience-report-2007">Usability Survey</a>. </p> <p>In it, 45% of respondents reported that their organisation had netted an ROI of 300% or more from usability investment. </p> <p>So there's still plenty of low hanging fruit out there, it seems.</p> <p> <strong>Related research: <br /></strong> <a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/usability-and-accessibility-buyer-s-guide-2007">Usability and Accessibility Buyer's Guide 2007<strong></strong></a><strong> </strong></p><strong> <p> <strong>Related stories:<br /></strong> <a href="/blog/1502-revealed-world-s-top-10-user-experience-gurus">Revealed: world's top 10 user experience gurus</a> <br /> <a href="/blog/1090-five-reasons-why-you-should-embrace-usability">Five reasons why you should embrace Usability</a> </p> </strong> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph>There are two main reasons for the decline, Jakob says: </Paragraph> <List Type="Disc"> <ListItem> <Emphasis>Less room for improvement<LineBreak /></Emphasis>Most of the <Quote>"truly horrible"</Quote> websites, which in the past gave usability agencies plenty of opportunities to improve their design, have now been fixed, so it is now slightly harder to enhance the user experience. <LineBreak /><LineBreak /></ListItem> <ListItem> <Emphasis>Budgets have remained constant<LineBreak /></Emphasis>Even though the average website has improved over the last decade, the share of resources allocated to usability has stayed at around 10%. </ListItem> </List> <Paragraph>The survey measured RoI through typical metrics such as conversion rates, traffic numbers and user performance. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Jakob says that 12% of projects still achieve major improvements (a rise by a factor of 10 or more), something that echoes the findings of our recent <Link URL="/reports/usability-and-user-experience-report-2007" Window="Self">Usability Survey</Link>. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>In it, 45% of respondents reported that their organisation had netted an ROI of 300% or more from usability investment. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>So there's still plenty of low hanging fruit out there, it seems.</Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Related research: <LineBreak /></Emphasis> <Link URL="http://econsultancy.com/reports/usability-and-accessibility-buyer-s-guide-2007" Window="Self">Usability and Accessibility Buyer's Guide 2007<Emphasis></Emphasis></Link> </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Related stories:<LineBreak /></Emphasis> <Link URL="/blog/1502-revealed-world-s-top-10-user-experience-gurus" Window="Self">Revealed: world's top 10 user experience gurus</Link> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="/blog/1090-five-reasons-why-you-should-embrace-usability" Window="Self">Five reasons why you should embrace Usability</Link> </Paragraph> </FormattedContent> 2008-01-22T19:11:00+00:00 0 1 econsultancy_xml <p> <strong>A new study from Jakob Nielsen suggests that average returns from usability work have fallen "substantially" in the last few years. </strong> </p> <p>The average ROI from the projects <a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/roi.html">surveyed</a> was 83% - down from 135% six years ago, but high enough to show that they are still well worth the effort. </p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>A new study from Jakob Nielsen suggests that average returns from usability work have fallen "substantially" in the last few years. </Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>The average ROI from the projects <Link URL="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/roi.html" Window="Self">surveyed</Link> was 83% - down from 135% six years ago, but high enough to show that they are still well worth the effort. </Paragraph> </FormattedContent> false 2099 364908 Horrible websites 'becoming less common' false 2008-01-23T10:11:00+00:00 horrible-websites-becoming-less-common 2009-04-30T06:16:45+01:00 2009-04-30T06:16:45+01:00 315