Part 2 : Now, what I really hate is...

We then expanded on the theme of improvements to look at those aspects of websites that genuinely irritated the interviewees. The biggest surprise for me here was just how emotional people got; there are things that these users genuinely dislike. A reminder that website changes and developments shouldn't be undertaken lightly.

Unnecessary animations come in for some stick, with the emphasis on unnecessary. Here it's important to note that it's not animations per se that are criticised, but those that somehow impede the user experience - by contributing only to a longer download or distracting the user excessively from the task in hand. John Brown said, "The most annoying thing is when you have to wait ages for something to load, and then when it's finally ready it's a really tacky animation which doesn't add anything to either content or functionality on the site."

His views were supported by Mr. Gowrishankar, "If some animations are provided, they should be restricted to the minimum, as otherwise they tend to distract the viewer."

Daryl Sawyer pointed the finger at, "...large Flash intros that take forever to load and don't allow you to skip them."

Pop-ups also come in for criticism. Again, it's not pop-ups per se, but their impact on the use of the website. Daryl Sawyer again, "...Pop up windows that hide text you need to see when they're open." Peter Gowin on dialog boxes, "I hate dialog boxes where you have to just click on "OK" before you can go anywhere."

Peter's other "hates" continued the theme of things that interfere with the ease of use of the site: "I hate sites that disable the back button, or that open a new window every time you click on a link." (Daryl Sawyer voiced a similar dislike of new browser windows.)

Poor design for different browsers and screen resolutions was also a common irritation. Peter Gowin: "I don't like being forced to scroll left or right. Have you tried reading text where you have to keep scrolling to and fro to read each line?"

David Lee followed a similar theme, "Many website authors fail to perform aggressive tests on their script source code. These authors need to test their web pages on a variety of browsers and operating systems."

John Brown added, "The whole point about the Web is that all the content should be open to everyone, no matter what system you have. It irritates me when a website is designed for a specific browser and just won't work on another one."

A final irritation focused on what David Lee describes as, "overzealous use of fonts, graphics and colors." He continued, "There are too many bells and whistles; stand over your programmers with an iron rod."

So what websites do these users like? Four of our five interviewees mentioned , because of its speed, efficiency and uncluttered layout, and three picked out and CNN. Usefulness, ease of use and navigability, up-to-date content, and the fact that they "work" were criteria cited in explaining the choice of favored sites.

That ends this first look at the user view. Even though these comments are the opinions of just 5 randomly-chosen business users, they do echo almost uncannily those of many Web experts, particularly usability gurus like Jakob Nielsen (who will feature in a coming issue of ibizInterviews by the way). And sites that cater to the wishes of the user will be rewarded for it. At the same time, remember that it's a trade-off; what's best for the customer is often, but certainly not always, best for the business.

I hope you've enjoyed this experiment. Our five users still have lots to say about specific website features, such as counters and advertising, and about their online buying habits and experiences. We'll take a look at their thoughts another time.

Continued...