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Should we delay the Website launch to make it more and more better for User Experience and accessible, Is there any limit?

I was making a website and i tried to make it as good as possible for better UX but before to launch I requested some of my UX friends to review it as sometimes we can't find the scope of improvement even thought we are good. But my every friend gave me some more suggestions related to design Interaction, but at the same time they are against each other on some points. One friend suggested this http://launchlist.net/

My questions: Is it good to go for 100% perfection even if it can delay the product launch? Where a website is something which we can update any time after getting responses on how users are using it. Every UX person has a different vision for different problems, there are no Unanimous UX Guidelines to follow like W3C Guideline for HTML, CSS and Web Accessibility.

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Yes. Better #UX means more value delivered to users! – user8861 Oct 6 '11 at 4:19
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"100% perfection" is a surefire way of getting nowhere fast. If its decent as it is, better to make the pitch first asap imo. It's more efficient to shoot-aim-shoot then to aim-aim-aim-aim-shoot.... you get the drift :) – Permas Oct 6 '11 at 11:30
@Permas shouldn't there be a aim before the first 'shoot'? ;) – João Portela Oct 6 '11 at 12:48
Hehe, more like a quick glance at where the target is :P – Permas Oct 6 '11 at 13:31
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The big thing here is iterative design and iterative changes. If you only have one shot to make your site design work you're doomed to start with. – Ben Brocka♦ Oct 6 '11 at 21:36
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7 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

No site is "100% perfect". Be realistic: sites iterate over time where you release, receive feedback, develop, release, etc. There is always room for improvement.

That aside, you ask how to know when to release - when is good enough really good enough? User testing will be critical here (this is vastly different from getting your UX colleagues to offer suggestions). Have your users use the site. In your analysis you can identify the UX and accessibility issues, address those that are critical, and then release.

Be careful - releasing the site doesn't mean you can forget about it because it must be perfect. Iterative testing, development, and improvement are essential to the success of the site. Releasing into the wild is just the beginning of the work.

Edit: I see your comment to Todd regarding how to get user feedback. Depends on your budget. Low cost options I have seen work include basic stuff such as Feedback buttons, page-specific feedback and ranking controls ("What did you think of this page?"), and surveys. Also, make sure you are gathering good page metrics (I like Google Analytics for this, but there are others). Just seeing where users spend time (or not) can sometimes be instructive (especially if you then ask test participants about those pages/interactions).

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+1 Thanks for good answer – Jitendra Vyas Oct 6 '11 at 11:41
up vote 5 down vote

You'll ever know everything that needs to be fixed until you launch. You should get the site to the point where you can say 'this is a good first impression.' And then go for it, open the channels so people can tell you what they like and don't, and then make tactical changes to make them as comfortable as you can.

What you learn in the first few weeks and months can then shape a followup strategy that gets merged with whatever you didn't get done before launch, and from that you can start pushing as close to perfect as you can.

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As you wrote "so people can tell you what they like and don't" How we can know the what user like and what don't if all users are not known to me. How to know that what user think about my website, after launch? – Jitendra Vyas Oct 6 '11 at 6:07
That's what I mean about opening up the channels: have a twitter account, have email contacts, reach out to new members and ask for their thoughts, run a small survey after launch. There are all kinds of ways to collect feedback. It's best if feedback channels are built into the product to start, but if you can't do that, at least open up ways for them to talk to you after. – Todd Sieling Oct 6 '11 at 15:37
up vote 2 down vote

In my opinion is almost always better to launch than wait. You need feedback from users, you need to know that your system is what people want, you will only know that for sure when you launch. There's a great presentation from the guys who created dropbox, take a look at it, it might help you out.

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My philosophy on this subjects differs. I believe in the 2011 ux is extremely important, and should not be taken for granted; however, if you spend all your time on trying to deliver the best possible UX, when will you have time to actually innovate? You can make as many user scenarios hypothesis as you want, but they are just that- assumptions. You need to get your product out there, and let users actually use your product. Have efficient tools to measure usage(heating mapping -> crazyegg.com and mixpanel-> low level analysis of app usage), so you can gain insight into real world user behavior. Those insights can prove to have huge upside, why? Its allows for you to iterate your product with a data driven approach. So at the end of the day, data always win, because it provides substance on how to structure workflows, where to position html elements, how to build a product that delivers a great UX. I believe that's what your going for, correct?

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up vote 1 down vote

To echo what people have already said : How would you know the site is 100% what your users want, without user feedback? Use whatever tools you have available for feedback, in-the-field user testing, phone support, Zendesk (http://www.zendesk.com), Ethnio (http://ethn.io/) or Get Satisfaction (http://getsatisfaction.com/) are good examples.

Launch with the minimum viable product and gather as much feedback as you can, be responsive and make iterative changes. Your product will be better for it. It rarely pays to delay a launch.

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up vote 0 down vote

While it is impossible to make a site 100% on launch. I would suggest cleaning up glaring user experience issues and accessibility errors. While the user experience can be tweaked as time goes on accessibility issues should be corrected as soon as possible. From the public sector stand point nothing is to go live until it meets all 508 requirements.

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up vote 0 down vote

Put your project online.

Then test the design and ux with some potential users (try with your friends at first).

Write down what doesn't work and what users want.

Re-iterate design phase and test.

Update your online website.

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