Websites add value to customers by expanding what they are able to do and be. Good websites enable people to become more informed people, people who better understand the world around them. people who have the information they seek to make better decisions. Good websites are structured in such a way that makes it easy for the users to do what they came to the site to do, and these sites come to be user friendly by careful testing.
What value can websites offer?
People value that which makes it possible for them to realize their central capabilities, and websites are tools which can aid peoples’ imagination, reasoning, and thought about how to actualize these capabilities (Nussbaum, 2000). Where can I get a Covid-19 test nearby? Who can help me fix my leaky roof? What gives me a sense of security? Who can help me grieve? How should I plan my life? How can I meet with others who share my conviction? How can I get connected to nature? With whom can I laugh? Where can I buy a new furnace? Imagine the capabilities you foster.
How websites add value to customers
We can think of as people seeking to actualize their capabilities as them seeking a particular good. To achieve a particular good, the person must be able to access a flow of those particular goods, a good of order for them to enter (Lonergan, 1993). Websites act as material equipment in this operation. Websites facilitate the flow of knowledge about how to realize these goods. A website which assists in this flow of operations well does so in part by putting the intelligible in the sensible. We can call this characteristic the website’s aesthetic value. Websites have aspects which can be sensed, such as words on the page or sounds from a video. When properly arranged, these sensible aspects convey the intelligible, or patterns or ideas that the people seek, perhaps answering the person’s question about the services a contracting company offers or telling someone when and where they can attend a particular event.
Websites’ distribution of information about how to realize capabilities operates on the intellectual level of human consciousness, in which we “inquire, come to understand, [and] express what we have understood” (Lonergan, 2017). The web is a great instrument for making information easily available to people. People use the internet to inquire by asking questions of search engines. They find answers on websites, and they often communicate in response to what they have found. This communication can take the form of placing an order, making a call, or writing a response.
How the structure of website can amplify the value it offers
Good websites create informational user experiences (Rand-Hendriksen, 2014). These sites provide accessible information. The end user rarely cares about a technically impressive feature of a site. They usually came to the website because it offered them some sort of information they are looking for. A more informational experience on a website has that user spending little time wondering how to find what they are looking for and most of their time engaging with what it is they sought and found. If a company runs courses as a primary feature of their business, putting information about the courses on that on the home page of their site makes sense. Users who then come to the site looking for information about courses will have a higher percentage of their time on the site be transmitting to them the understanding they seek.
Standard Design suggests prioritizing web layout that makes it easy for users to know how to interact with a site (Nodder, 2015). This framework suggests shaping your site with components common to many websites. A menu bar across the top of a webpage is a standard design. It is a common feature of many websites, and as such users are accustomed to it. Users may even expect a feature like a menu bar to enable them to navigate a website and look for something like this when they want to see what else a site has to offer. Many users are familiar with how standard designs work. Users value getting to the information they want quickly and knowing how to interact with a site to accomplish their goals.
A/B testing is an experimental method effective at amplifying the value websites provide to customers (Wahi, 2020). A/B testing involves making two versions of the same website except for one difference. The difference can be a change made to the website which you hypothesize may improve a lead or lag indicator that corresponds to usefulness for the customer (Marr, 2020). Maybe you predict that adding a search bar to your site will help drive more sales on your site due to the search bar making finding products easier. The A version of the site would remain without a search bar, and the B version of the site would be the same, except it would include a search bar. Then user activity on the two versions of the site could be gathered and contrasted to test what difference the search bar made.
Websites can facilitate the flow of the realization of human capabilities
Websites can expand human capability for thought by offering a method for people to identify what exists in the world (Lonergan, 2017; Nussbaum, 2000). This is easier to do when websites instantiate the good of order in such a way that makes the intelligible present within the sensible (Lonergan, 1993). Websites which are effective at promoting capabilities prioritize creating informational user experiences (Rand-Hendriksen, 2014). Standard design is a method for web design that implements makes sites easy to use (Nodder, 2015). A/B Testing is an effective method for improving the user experience (Wahi, 2020).
We can help you expand the value your site offers
If you are interested in getting some assistance with leveraging the internet to provide greater value to your customers, contact me, and I would be glad to help.
Bibliography
Lonergan, B. (1993). Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan: Topics in Education (F. E. Crowe & R. E. Doran, Eds.). University of Toronto Press. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Topics_in_Education/8Vqa4_4mCTQC?hl=en&gbpv=0
Lonergan, B. (2017). Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan: Method in Theology (J. D. Dadkosky, R. M. Doran, & S.J., Eds.; Vol. 14). University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Method_in_Theology/9Po2DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
Marr, B. (2020, October 23). What’s The Difference Between Lagging And Leading Indicator? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2020/10/23/whats-the-difference-between-lagging-and-leading-indicator/?sh=207fbf0f5009
Nodder, C. (2015, December 15). User Experience for Web Design. LinkedIn Learning. https://www.linkedin.com/learning/user-experience-for-web-design/
Nussbaum, M. (2000). Women and Human Development. Cambridge University Press.
Rand-Hendriksen, M. (2014, December 19). Mapping the Modern Web Design Process. LinkedIn Learning. https://www.linkedin.com/learning/mapping-the-modern-web-design-process/
Wahi, M. (2020, May 4). The Data Science of Experimental Design. LinkedIn Learning. https://www.linkedin.com/learning/the-data-science-of-experimental-design/