A morning seminar with an optional workshop for those responsible for managing and developing their website as part of gaining, retaining and servicing customers - web managers, marketing & CRM managers, partners, small-business owners and managing directors.

This seminar will show you the key principles of web usability to improve the user experience on B2B and B2C websites. It will draw on examples and case studies from a variety of industry to show how navigation, page layout and content can be optimized to provide a persuasive and powerful site for your current and future customers.

Other areas covered include:

• How to provide a positive first impression through the home page.
• Tips on how to create site navigation structures that help your visitors navigate the site with confidence.
• 'Before' and 'after' case studies of sites that have had significant usability improvements and the business benefits that resulted.
• How to research and understand your users' needs.
• Overview of the opportunities from the recent innovations in social media and rich internet applications.

Presented by guest facilitator Chris Rourke*, founder and managing director for User Vision one of the UK's leading user experience and user-centred design consultancies.

Practical workshop:

Following the seminar, we will have an optional interactive workshop looking at methods that can be applied to improve the interface design and interactions. This session will put into practice what you have learned in the seminar, with hands-on exercises and demonstrations of methods that can be applied to improve your website and provide a better user experience to your customers.

These methods will include:

• Usability eye tracking - learning from having participants perform relevant tasks on your site.
• Card sorting architecture - a simple yet powerful method to organize your site content to make it more findable and improve navigation.
• Site evaluation - reviewing websites against key usability principles to identify and resolve usability issues.

For these eye tracking and site evaluation exercises we would welcome using examples from your own website, so please let us know in advance if you would like to volunteer your site.

Who should attend?

• Web managers, marketing and communications staff, intranet or extranet managers.
• Partners, small-business owners and managing directors.