Article Author: Jakob NielsenPresenter: Nnamdi Uzoukwu

Date of PresentationSeptember 30, 2008

What is the problem? User Research: Two Rounds Trends in About Us Usability Overviews: Providing Key Context Good/Bad Examples Why Explain Yourself? Connecting to Users Conclusion

An “About Us” section provides the web user history about a company, as well as the company’s mission statement and goals. While most companies have an “About Us” section on their websites, they are inadequate in conveying the pertinent information to the web user.

63 organizations were tested and were put into 5 different categories

Large companies, such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, China Mobile, Citigroup, and Yamaha.

Medium-sized companies, such as Body Trends, Cintas, and Pier 1 Imports

Smaller companies, such as GiftTree.com, ImmunoGen, and OneCall

Government agencies, such as the Department of the Interior, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Small Business Administration

Non-profits, such as American Refugee Committee, and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital

15 sites were tested during the first round 5 years ago, and the last 48 sites in the newest study

Test users were either active Web users, financial analysts, or journalists with at least 2 years Web experience

Users were given: An open-ended task: to evaluate the

organization Directed tasks: to find out who runs the

organization, what community/social programs the organization contributes to, and when the organization was founded.

The Good news: the average “About Us” usability increased from 70% to 79% in between the first two studies◦ success for finding the companies contact information

increased from 62% to 91%

Not so Good news: success for finding out what the company does decreased from 90% to 81%

The even Worse news: user’s satisfaction with “About Us” sections decreased from 5.2 to 4.6 (on a 1 – 7 scale)

The “About Us” section should be detailed into 4 criteria

1.Tagline: a brief summary of what the organization is about

2.Summary: 1-2 paragraphs explaining the company’s accomplishments and future goals

3.Fact Sheet: elaboration of key and pertinent facts about the company

4.Detailed Information: further elaboration on particular parts of the company

Good example provide

d by Alcoa

Bad example from U.S. General Services

Administration

Advantages of having an “About Us” section:

New professionals who are new to the industry or the company (B2B usability)

catering to B2C (business to consumer)(ex: diagnosis of a disease, weight-loss plans,

etc.) PR reasons Trust and credibility Potential investors, clients, and employees

just to name a few

Because the web is very depersonalized, having an “About Us” section on the company’s/non-profit organization’s/government agencies’ website is essential in catering to the web user. It helps the web user relate to the product or firm, learn about the history of the organization, and ultimately determine whether the organization’s mission statement answers the web users’ questions.

A growing number of organizations understand the importance of an “About Us” section on their websites, but to the dissatisfaction of diverse web users, many websites lack pertinent information in their “About Us” section.

Questions????