Posts Tagged ‘offshore dedicated team’

How to make users to read your web pages till the end

Friday, October 30th, 2009

We all have heard a popular rule of the first screen: “User does not scroll a web page, that is why all your information should be on the top of it”. This rule is based on the fact that users do not use the scroll bar because they feel too lazy to do it. Guys from the CXpartners company (United Kingdom, Bristol) decided to conduct a research to clear up this question. So the Elegance IT company, which specialists are developing new web sites as offshore dedicated team, presents surprising results of this research:

Truly speaking web development professionals know that the rule of the first screen is a myth. :) Over the past 3 years, we have carried out about 800 user tests and only in three cases a lower window boundary has become a real obstacle for users.

Actually this rule came from newspapers: the most important materials are always located at the upper half of the first page. In the Internet it is used to describe a page that users see without scroll.

Why are we are not worry about the rule of the first screen?

Customers don’t care have a web page scroll bar or not, they think it can’t spoil good website design, and we have made sure of it. Users felt more than comfortable scrolling long, very long pages to find what they need. So you can find a lot of successful websites, which creators really don’t worry about the rule of the first screen:

1

Adding evidences

An eye tracker was used for the research; it allows you to see what user sees. As a result we have created temperature maps.

Scrollbars

Analyzing results, we saw a clear spot in the right corner of the map. It was a scroll bar, this means that it is used to estimate the length of the particular page.  Some content at the end of the page provides a stimulus for further reading.

The image below shows two versions of Bristol airport web pages: at the first one the information is divided into two columns, while the second template has an illustration as the main element. As a result, people have used scroll:

2

“Stop sign” for your eyes

Take as an example the First Choice company site, its web page was very long and users didn’t want to read it till the end.

3

A new title with photos changed the situation:

4

Tips for successful website design:

•    large amount of space between elements facilitates eye movements;

•    horizontal lines stop your readers and prevent further page viewing, so all the elements should be above the lower limit;

•    avoid scrollbars inside web pages.

Tags: ,
Posted in Software Development | 5 Comments »

Making your best IT-projects with offshore dedicated team in Belarus

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

The company starting any IT-project with outsourcing faces a list of questions connected with profit, possible losses, risks and opportunities. But nevertheless a lot of companies all over the world prefer to work with offshore dedicated teams. Why? Such cooperation allows them to take priority of different benefits. They can:

- reduce costs;

- concentrate on core business;

- improve the quality of service;

- increase share value;

- use the experience of third-party companies / teams;

- increase profits;

- etc.

Belarusian IT companies are ready to share their secrets of remote collaboration with other European and American companies. Barys Mamonenka, CEO and founder of the EleganceIT company, told us about the main fears of his foreign partners and the main advantages of his software development team that made them change their mind.

The 1st fear: Belarus is on the other continent / so far from my country. May this geographical distance become an obstacle for the future work?

The answer proved in practice: Not at all, modern communications allows being constantly in touch. It makes no difference, where the company is situated: in the building across the street or on the other continent / country.

The 2nd fear: I will have to monitor the process in order to ensure that the work will be done with high quality and in time, isn’t that so?

The answer proved in practice: You should not be frightened by possible loss of control over the development process working with offshore dedicated team. Good project management, continuous exchange of information and gradual work according to the plan – that is the solution of the problem.

The 3rd fear: I’m worried about the fact that I have to share my trade secrets with outsourcing company. It’s hard to imagine what difficulties can arise in case of leakage of confidential information!

The answer proved in practice: Of course, all the companies think about this risk. That’s why it is so important to choose the right IT partner, to work with reliable companies only, cooperating with professionals whose reputation raises no doubt.

The 4th fear: How to overcome language barrier and how much time will I spend on explaining developers my demands?

The answer proved in practice: Companies working with dedicated teams in Belarus were pleasantly surprised that they hadn’t to face these problems. Specialists in EleganceIT speak English fluently, and they can help their partners with the preparation of documentation for the project.

The 5th fear: Building successful communication is not enough to speak the same language. We must also be in our offices at the same time. How is it possible living in different time zones?

The answer proved in practice: EleganceIT clients are grateful to the dedicated team for their good communication skills and readiness to change the work schedule.

So thinking about the pros and cons of cooperation with offshore dedicated teams, take into account the considerable quantity of successful IT-project that was done with the help of Belarusian companies. It shows high effectiveness of this choice. The gained experience became the key factor of flourishing offshore IT business in this county.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Success Stories | 2 Comments »