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To answer we need to ask the second question; why haven’t they fixed these issues already, I am yet to meet a web team who was too lazy or ignorant to fix the problems with their website. The reason for issues on their site always come down to some external constraint placed upon them which they are not able to overcome. A website is a window into the heart of a business. It exposes all their flaws and shortcomings to the world. When I look at a website, I don’t just see design, code and content. I perceive constraints in the DNA of an organisation. I see how little the company values and understands digital. I see how inward looking and how oblivious to user needs they are.
A website is a window into the heart of a business. It exposes all their flaws and shortcomings to the world. A good website review should concentrate on these deficiencies and flaws. Not only the cosmetic issues of the site. It should focus on the failures of the business, not the web team. A good website review will still point out the problem with the information architecture. But, it should go on to say this is often a symptom of a company who is inward looking or working in departmental silos. It should say that if the business wishes to make the site easier to use it will need to address these issues. A good website review should do more than identify problems with the site. It should highlight the root cause.
When talking about performance, you might need to point out that poor performance is often because internal teams are not given the time to properly optimise a site because management moves them on to the next project. When faced with poor usability, don’t just point out the issues and how to fix them. Instead, explain they need to establish a culture of regular usability testing. Take time to highlight the barriers that often exist which prevent this. In other words, don’t just focus on the problem and the obvious fix. Instead, shine a light on the underlying issues that caused it. You might not always be sure what the underlying problem is. If this is the case, then ask. I can guarantee the web designers can tell you why the problem exists. Sure, they might just be making excuses.
But most of the time they will not be. Most of the time they will be identifying a significant constraint that needs addressing. In time you will predict the answers without even asking. I have seen the same symptoms caused by the same underlying problems so many times now that they are blindingly obvious from just looking at a site. From a bad user interface created by print designers, to content written by somebody with no experience of writing for the web. Time and again, I see issues of under-investment, insufficient leadership, cross-departmental feuds and more. These are the issues we should be identifying and calling out.