Investigating Gestalt Theory and Usability Testing Techniques in the Web Design Process
Myles Eftos · 2005
A major problem with large webpages that support a lot of information is that the navigation system often becomes difficult to use. The UWA website has grown to be so large in the past few years that navigation ease-of-use is becoming a problem. One solution to this problem is the use of a web portal. A web portal groups together links of common interest that can be further customised by the user. Web portals will often have common applications such as calendars. Web portals must be usable and as such, the design and layout of the site is very important. The designs presented in this dissertaion call on Gestalt theory which is a group of laws from psychology. These laws explain how humans identify and group objects based on techniques such as proximity, symmetry and colour. By using these laws it is possible to guide the user around the portal design so that they can find the information the designer is trying to present. As part of the web design cycle, it is important to run usability tests to