Websites are like roads. Discuss.

It's been a cold and snowy winter.  A lot of the roads I drive on a daily basis have suffered.  They are now a patchwork of potholes, previously filled potholes and some original tarmac.  It's akin to driving on roads in some Developing countries.

I can't help thinking that a number of websites are like this.  Someone discovers a 'hole' (missing content, outdated functionality etc.), and they come up with a patch.  This could be a new page on the site, casually added to a section where it doesn't quite fit.  Or a new piece of functionality which may or may not fit seamlessly with the existing content and functionality.  The website becomes that patch-worked road.

I look at these roads and wonder whether it would be better just to start all over again?  I realise that this would cause a great deal of disruption, in the short term.  And would probably cost a large sum of money, again in the short term.  But think of those long term savings.  And you could have a nice smooth road to drive on.

Equally for websites, what could be a worse user experience than not being able to find the information you want?  And not being able to use functionality on a site?  And for all the other inconsistencies that are likely to arise as a result of adding things ad hoc to a website.

It can't be a bad idea, when a significant number of changes are required, or have been made over time, just to wipe the slate clean and start afresh.  Done properly, you can then ensure an exceptional (and consistent) user experience on your site.

Burritos as big as your head

I love burritos.  In fact I love pretty much any Mexican food.  So, I was delighted to visit The Mission Mexican Grill (they know burritos) in Reading over the weekend.  The smell of the place, the sight of other people's burritos - it all whet my appetite.

When I got up to the counter to order, it reminded me of Subway - lots of things to choose from to go into your burrito.  I started getting a bit panicked - how am I meant to know what all the different fillings are, and what goes together best?  And then I saw the menu.  It is phrased in such a way that it intends to help you choose your meal.  Ignore it.  I read it, and my mind started boggling with all the available choices - you choose your beans (black or pinto), your main filling (chicken, pork, steak or vegetarian - more of that later), whether you want cheese (30p extra) OR guacamole (70p extra) OR sour cream etc.  In fact you can get all 3.

Best just to let your server lead you through.  If you get a chance to interrupt her that is - before you know it you will have a burrito as big as your head, no doubt with a few things you don't want (e.g. cheese, guac AND sour cream).

All this aside - the burritos are GREAT and you won't need to eat for at least 24 hours later.

Loving Sporcle

Another example of a site that does one thing really well, is Sporcle.

For the user, it's addictive, educational and fun. And for businesses it has potential for driving interest, awareness and affinity, not to mention the potential for conducting fast, simple research.

I put together this Sporcle in less than 30 minutes.

Most popular websites in the UK

It only takes 3 minutes to play, so give it a go.

Once again. Simple is best.

Just tell me how much it costs to park my car

I'm off to the o2 Arena on Saturday night to watch a gig.  It's a pretty awkward place to get to if you live Westwards outside of London.  Taking the train will probably take considerably longer than driving, what with all the changes and waiting around.  But what about parking?

My first port of call was the o2 Arena website.  Obvious place to start I would have thought.  They have a label: ''Getting to the o2".  Perfect.  I arrive on a page, and the second item on the list is "Parking".  Brilliant.  Then things start to go a little pear shaped.  The next page I arrive on has information about how to get there by car.  I don't want that.  I want information about parking.

And more specifically I want information about how much parking costs.  I scroll down the page and I see a nice big button "Pre-book Parking".  Great.  But I still haven't seen how much it costs.

On the resulting page I have to fill in a large form.  I don't want to fill in a form without knowing how much it's going to cost me.  At the bottom, I notice the call-to-action is "Check prices and pay".  Am I paying now?  But I don't know how much it is.  I realise I haven't filled in any payment details.  I relax slightly and click.  My page is then riddled with error messages because I still don't want to fill the form in!

I am far more likely to fill the form in and make my booking if I have all the information I need up front.

Parking tickets

How many times have you arrived at your airport car park in a rush?  Parked up in the first space you find, then run to get the bus you see coming towards the closest bus stop?  And completely forgotten to make a note of where you parked your car.

Then you come back to the car park days/weeks later and you can’t find your car.

It hasn’t happened to me *smiles smugly*.  But just yesterday I was on the bus back to the car park, and a couple on the bus could not for the life of them remember where they had parked their car.

If only they’d kept a note of where they’d parked their car!  But who is organised to have somewhere to write this information down when they’re catching a flight?

Enter the latest in parking tickets – on the reverse there is a space to write your parking area and row number down.  All you need to do now is make sure you have a pen to hand!  User experience is all around us.