Design is the visual representation of the brand and Story prides itself on having consistently delivered on compelling brand web experiences for almost a decade. However, our experience goes much deeper than usability, accessibility.  Encouraging browsers to become buyers demands a deeper understanding of online behaviour.

Information Design
When confronted by a new and complex information system, users commence building mental models, and then use these models to assess relationships among topics, and to make guesses about where to find things they haven't seen before. The success of a website will largely be determined by how closely the way the information is organised matches the user's expectations.

All websites created by Story are therefore based on a logical pre-loaded, breadcrumb-style menu system, incorporating rollovers and signposting, allowing users to make successful predictions about where to find things. Furthermore, consistent methods of grouping, ordering, labelling and graphically arranging information allow users to extend their knowledge from pages they have visited to pages they are unfamiliar with.


Usability
Usability is a central issue in the creation and management of successful websites. Users expect content to be arranged in a rational and logical way. This means paying attention to every detail of a user journey throughout a site. Failure to attend to these issues results in frustration, with the knock on effect of diminished brand loyalty. Story has developed key skills in this area, and bringsan open, results-driven approach to understanding interface design. In other words, we allow the user experience to shape the site’s look and feel.


Accessibility
Web accessibility is important to businesses not least because it ensures access to information for people with disabilities,but also because it provides greater usability for non-disabled web users and improves the technical performance of the site. Since October 2004, EU law states that websites must conform to conventions and standards in order to ensure access is open to individuals with disabilities. Disabilities of sight, hearing, and movement can all affect a user’s ability to navigate and interact with a site successfully .

Our experience with the BBC RaW campaign has been of particular relevance in our understanding of these important issues (the BBC RaW campaign is Britain’s biggest literacy campaign targeting the 12% of the UK population with reading and writing difficulties).