Subjects - Internet and Businesses Online

Issue
What pitfalls should companies avoid on their Web, Intranet or portal home pages?

Response
The home page of a Web site, Intranet or portal is the most important page. It should tell site visitors, what they can do precisely deeper in the

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

site or at least inform them, what they may be able to expect. However, in most cases, the home page is just a compromise to satisfy internal politics and neglecting site visitors’ needs. To set up an effective home page that matches corporate objectives and user’s expectations the follow

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

ing pitfalls should be avoided:

1) Too much information instead of links: Many home pages provide detailed information such as complete news, company description, etc. or are overloaded with images. Site visitors do not want to read information on the home page nor guessing what might be

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

hidden behind an image. They want to find a link to start navigating to the information, which they came for. Providing detailed information on the home page limits the space available for valuable links. Further, it increases the risk that site visitors do not even start navigating the

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

ite, as they do not find their specific entry point to start their specific action or scenario. There are two types of pages, which apply to any Web applications such as Web sites, Intranets and portals. Those are navigation pages and destination pages. Navigation pages allow site visitor

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

s discovering the options to navigate. Destination pages provide the information, which site visitors are looking for. The home page is the ultimate navigation page. It needs to provide as much as possible links to the various Web sections. The Web strategy determines the links from the h

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

ome page to the site sections. There are two major linking approaches:

- Individual link, which relates to one link for a complete Web section.
- Category links, which is one link to a complete Web section, followed by links to further detail this section (sub-category links). Pro

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

vide category links for strategic Web sections that you want your target audience to browse and navigate to (for example for IT companies provide category and sub-category links to product and service overviews, customer engagements, download section). Use individual links for Web section

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

that target secondary audiences (for example company profile or recruitment).

2) Animations / animated links: Even though that usability research clearly shows that animations such as rotating banners, animated text, etc. distracts site visitors, it is still used on many business sites.

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

In most cases, marketing managers request Web designer to implement animations although designers know that animations are more destructive than increasing site effectiveness. Web designers need to clearly explain the differences between offline and online media. In offline marketing, pu

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

blicity needs to attract the attention of prospects. For example, if you are walking on a street, advertising such as ad posters must attract your attention, as you are not walking down a street to discover ads. In online media, site visitors already decided to go to a Web site with a sp

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

ecific goal in mind (e.g. finding contact, product or support information, etc.). Hence, the Web site does not need to attract the visitor’s attention. There are successful concepts to replace animations such as the so-called hooks. Hooks are static images or graphics with a minimum of te

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

t to tell site visitors what they can expect by clicking on them. Hooks are not limited to the home page but can be used on all navigation pages. Effective hooks target the page audience (best practice sites: www.cisco.com, www.ups.com/content/gb/en/index.jsx ). Place hooks on the home p

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

age that target the prime Web audience, on subsequent navigation pages, refine hooks accordingly to the page audience.

3) Not telling what site users can do on the site: Site visitors do not go unintentionally to a Web site. They have a specific action in mind such as finding pricing inf

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

ormation, applying for a job, downloading the annual report, etc. Using action verbs such as download, apply, compare, discover, etc. facilitates site visitors to find immediately the link to start their scenario. Action verbs define further links (for example a link named “product” can b

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

e misleading as it does not tell what kind of “actions” will be available such as downloading, comparing, ordering, test driving, etc.). Complementing links with action verbs helps to reduce site visitor frustration and to increase site effectiveness.

4) Missing the home page basics: The

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

e are a few usability practices, which Web designer should implement on the home page such as:

- Home page length less than two screens at a resolution of 800x600, best would be to fit within one screen. Place strategic links on the first screen (upper half of the home page, if the home

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

page exceeds one screen), as site visitors generally do not scroll on navigation pages and hence would miss the important links.
- Links to site support tools such as site map or site search. About 30 percent of site visitors prefer finding their information using site search. Theref

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

ore it is crucial that Web sites provide search functionality (e.g. the search box) directly from the home page.
- Link to privacy policy from the text navigation at the bottom and link to the company profile (navigation bar and text navigation bar). - Company logo available in the

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

upper left corner. However, it should not provide an active link on the home page but from any other pages within the site.
- Navigation consistency with the rest of the site. Ensure that the navigation on the home page is consistent with the rest of the site to avoid user confusion

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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