Improving public relations web sites through usability research

Abstract

Public relations communicators can use a variety of techniques to pretest the effectiveness of messages, including readability testing, focus groups, peer and jury reviews, experiments and field testing/test marketing. Another yet-untapped technique is usability research, a set of procedures used for more than 50 years in product and software development. Although usability is a technique that can be applied to any type of public relations message, usability research has particular relevance for enhancing the effectiveness of web sites and other new interactive techniques. This article examines the nature and value of usability research, and the elements of an effective web site based on usability principles. Applications to other types of public relations communications are also discussed.