Evaluating the effectiveness of websites

Abstract

Though much interest has been shown in recent years in studying the usability of websites, little work has been done on evaluating the overall effectiveness of websites, of which usability is only one part. This paper describes a model developed for evaluating website effectiveness. The model is one of communication flows between three actors: the site owner, the site itself, and the site’s visitors. A 7-step pipe of effectiveness is defined, with each step separately evaluated using the most relevant means, gathering information from the appropriate combination of actors. The seventh stage involves creating logic models for both visitors and owners (in consultation with each group), and trying to bring the two models into harmony so that the needs of both owners and users can be fulfilled.