Usability driven website design — An equine sports case study

There is considerable anecdotal evidence that equine sports enthusiasts in Devon and Cornwall still shun equine event search websites in preference to traditional information sources such as newspapers, magazines and word of mouth. On this basis, we have carried out a usability analysis of key equine event search websites serving Devon and Cornwall. This analysis suggests that these websites are designed in ways that make them unfriendly and unwelcoming to prospective users. As a follow-up to this analysis, we have used Shneiderman´s eight golden rules for interface design to develop a prototype search website. Tests carried out with participants drawn from the target user group suggest that this prototype website outperforms the currently leading equine event search website in Devon and Cornwall. This leads us to conclude that website design and development should be guided at all times by usability principles.