Rubbish websites

Lewis - There is just too much information on one page. Research has shown that website users spend just a few seconds looking for the information they need on a webpage before going somewhere else. Web designers need to split the information up into small sections, with really clear links in the navigation so it's obvious to everyone where they need to go.

Swanage expect people to download the PDF brochure or look through loads of different coloured timetables to find out when the trains run. The Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway do a really good timetable page. You just click on the day you are travelling, and you get a detailed timetable for that day. You don't need to know if it's a Blue day or Sky Blue Pink day - you just get the information you need. No clever programming - just a well-structured website which is designed for the customer.

If you want to use a lot of text, you should also look for ways to add links to it, which will make people click through for more information. The Swanage homepage talks about the Driving Experience courses. Why don't they make this a link to the Driving Experience page? Because there ISN'T a link, website users may assume that there isn't any more information available on the website. If they were brave, they could look down the navigation bar - all 36 items!!!! - and find a link there. But how many will actually do that, I wonder?

Richard

 

Absolutely correct, I learned of a study where a camera was placed on top of a computer screen to track the user's pupils to map what they were looking at, each test user was told to find a certain piece of information on the internet, with each website they visited it was found that users would first look to the left of the screen for a menu of some sort and users would then skim read the first two lines of each paragraph.

Two useful tips for designing a web page.

 

ecclesbourne valley railway has a new site, while i have to say its much improved on the old one it still looks very white and 'clinical', i also dont like how the events are listed, eg the events go from one side of the page to the other and makes it a bit hard to look at, i like how alot of other railways websites list the events as links to a page so you click on the event you like and it opens up as having its own page. The lack of photos of their steam loco might also put off some steam enthusiasts from visiting?

Whitwell Stations website could be improved it hasnt been updated since about October 2010 (not even listing the 2011 events yet!) a stock page would also be nice to see with a breif history on their locos

 

When I design websites for organisations, they usually want EVERYTHING on the website - ALL the text, images and graphics from ALL their brochures. One of the hardest jobs is to persuade them that less-is-more, and I try to edit everything down to a third or less of its original length. I also try to use lots of words which visitors might search for in Google. They don't search for marketing buzzwords, so saying "Easy parking at Norden Station for visitors with cars enhances the experience of a unique journey" isn't going to help people find your website. I'm not sure what this means anyway!

For example, here's the first paragraph of the Swanage Railway website:

There is a lot of information in here, but nothing stands out. A web version of this might be:

All the underlined words would be links to other pages on the website. This is pretty brutal editing, but I hope you get the idea. It is also much easier to skim-read on a screen.

Richard

PS: For all you Swanage fans - :sorry: I'm not picking on your website . I just happened to be looking at it when this discussion started. There are plenty of other railway websites which would benefit from the same treatment.

 

Just out of interest what do people think of the Barrow Hill website? http://www.barrowhill.org/

It is an awful lot better than the previous ones but I think it still could have some way to go.

Try looking at the directions and the map to the roundhouse... I know lots of people probably just follow their Sat Nav these days so perhaps people may think that directions aren't as important as they used to be... but those are terrible in my opinion and I know the area!

I'll be interested to hear you thoughts.

 

Re Barrow hill I looked for the 'Visitor information' section for about 10 seconds and didn't find it. Despite the fact I eventually found something at the bottom of the front page it really needs a separate tab on the left as with the others main topics. Most of the larger heritage lines have this very essential info easy to find on the page.

 

As someone else sponsors the stockbook website on its behalf - its costs the society nothing. Simples! Granted the intention is to merge them oneday - but its not the biggest priority.

 

Some heritage railways have websites that are qui#te well laid out but are not made much use of as rarely updated.

The Spa Valley site is an example. It has a really exciting project on the go, with a launch imminent, namely the Eridge Extension, yet that portion of its website was last updated in August last year. Similarly the link to its workshop, a mecca for enthusiasts and where much good work is going on with two overhauls completed in recent months, viz Ugly and Spartan, yet this was last updated in September.

Come on chaps why hide your light under a bushel. Tell us about all these exciting developements and we may just venture out to rural Kent and help you pay for these things!

 

Re Barrow Hill website. I was born at Chesterfield in 1940 and lived in the area until 1959 so knew it well in the 'real days'. There are two vital words missing from the description of the shed that would explain a lot to the uninitiated.

The agreement in 1866 between Staveley Works and the Midland Railway was to shunt the works by steam. The intention was to prevent horses being used but in later years it prevented the introduction of diesel shunters which is why the various ancient tank locos lasted so long.

 

Thats ok.

In the end of the day everyone has their own opinon.
The most important thing is that the fare paying punters get the info that they require....

 

Hi Ralph,

Definatley not; we have already filled some trains on Xmas eve 2011, its on of the most important pages on the site. attracting over 1000 views a month.

So there is a reason its still there