Never mind the colour, feel the quality (page 1 of 2)

Potential customers who are not satisfied with their online experience know that an alternative is just a click, or a walk away.

You cannot simply build an online business and expect customers to come. That idea died in 1999 and was buried a year later with the dot-com collapse. The same consideration remains true today and takes on an even bigger significance in the Middle East region.

Internet penetration in the Middle East and North Africa remains at a very low level with only about 17 million people online. Only in the United Arab Emirates is there a significant percentage of regular Internet users in the population, approaching 30%. Any potential regional online business needs to understand the relatively small audience for their products, one that is widely distributed geographically, a factor that has implications for anyone where home delivery of a product is a core feature of their online venture.

Aside from regional factors such as geography, demographics and language (most users in the region are concentrated in non-Arabic speaking Turkey and Iran), there are challenges that are the same for any potential e-entrepreneur, be they in Beirut or Bangkok. Many of the challenges revolve around the user - fulfilling their needs in a manner that is satisfying for them. An e-business that fails to take the full user-context into account, runs the risk of becoming a poor service, a useless service, or in the worst-case scenario, a frustrating experience that turns users away from online business in general.

A good example of an online process that takes users into consideration is available at the website of Dubai Police. It permits drivers to search for traffic fines using multiple user interfaces. Dubai Police can also push the information to drivers by fax or SMA. This is a thriving, well-used application, the killer-app of the police website! However, there are plenty of examples where user requirements are not taken as seriously as they should:

- The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) allows users to pay their bills online. However, they also charge users' credit cards with a hefty processing charge. Given that users can use the online banking facilities of most major UAE banks to pay the same bill with no added charge, the effectiveness of DEWA's own system must be brought into question.

- On the website of Royal Jordanian Airlines, a would-be flyer to Europe can choose Shannon as a valid destination for their journey from Amman. No actual flights are found - the route was cancelled in 2003. But this does not stop their reservations engine suggesting a fight to Vienna, New York or Chicago instead, destinations thousands of kilometers away from the preferred destination.

There are a multitude of areas that can be improved to enhance the user experience and to diminish user frustration. These areas cut across cultures and are very relevant in this part of the world where user-centered design usually takes a back seat to bright lights - a case of style over substance. Here are some areas that can improve the online experience for potential customers.

Don't be blinded by the light. High-tech bells and whistles make an interesting statement about the technical and artistic skills of the design team. However, they may detract from the user-experience. Overuse of animation, flash elements, scrollers, and DHTML are classical signs or designer-centered websites.