We recently conducted user research for a regulatory body. Being a regulatory body, their website caters to two vastly different user groups. The primary user group comprises users from legal and regulatory departments from government and private organizations. These users are drawn to the website to satisfy their work obligations. Because of the environment they operate in, communications between the regulatory body and the primary user group is technical in nature. The general public constitutes the site’s secondary user group. The secondary user group is drawn to the website sporadically, to satisfy specific requirements. Even though visits are infrequent from the general public, as a user group they are considered as important by the regulatory body.

This varied nature of target audience presents an interesting question - given the nature of the industry and their operation, how can one website satisfy the needs of two different user groups whose goals, tasks, motivational elements, language are very distinct and different? In this type of a situation, creating two websites could be viewed as an easy way out. However, the time, money, commitment required to manage two websites could present further problems down the road.

Based on this experience, along with many other similar projects we have undertaken, we have summarised below tips and fundamentals to be mindful of when developing or redeveloping websites which caters to varied audience groups.

• Primary navigation should not be complex and biased– Irrespective of how users land on the website, the primary navigation plays a pivotal role in facilitating movement of users within the website. Hence, it is important to have a navigation scheme which comprehensively caters to the needs of different user groups. Avoid incorporating business jargon and industry specific expressions on the primary navigation.
• ‘About the organization’ should be written with different user groups in perspective –Many organisations undermine the importance of their 'About Us' section by delivering poorly thought out and constructed content in this area.. As a result, new users struggle to understand the purpose of the organization and either users lose interest after visiting or end up chasing the contact options available on the website.  Many queries from online users and customers could be easily addressed through a well constructed 'About us' section.  Note that ‘well constructed’ does not directly translate to mean ‘provide copious amount of information’.  The content should be specific about how the organization can help different user groups. Content should be easy to scan and call outs to salient points should be used to help users grasp important points quickly.
• Technical speak found within the content should be augmented with non technical equivalent content – If conversion of all content on the website sounds daunting, identify sections which is frequented by all user groups; consider converting those sections into a language which could be understood by different user groups. Use of illustrations and images could be used as an effective tool to explain technical content. Also, include a comprehensive glossary for easy reference.
• Avoid inconsistency in language in different sections - This is a general rule recommended for all websites by Usability practitioners. However, this rule is even more important in this context because of the varied nature of the user groups interacting with the website. Having different words to mean the same thing across the website could confuse users, especially the ones who visit the website sporadically.
• Focus on engaging users – Most websites and businesses globally concentrate their efforts on how to retain customers, conversions or how to bring users back to the website. In this context, the primary metric should be engagement. Engaging users from varied background could be an arduous task. Besides content, interactive features presented on the website, the design elements on the pages should be able to communicate with both the user groups. Don’t create bias based on the frequency of visitation.
• Finally, test early in the development lifecycle with both user groups – Involve both the user groups for all rounds of user testing. Even though the secondary group does not frequent the website often, it is still important to obtain their feedback and identify any grave issues which could have an impact on their experience so that they can be addressed early in the process.