Many of the observations we make when conducting usability studies may seem painfully trivial when viewed in isolation.

In some cases, even one minor fault can have a hugely negative impact on a web site. In combination, even a small number of minor faults can result in a really poor user experience, lost customers, lost orders, competitors taking the lead.

Also consider how much attention to detail is given to the aesthetic qualities and graphic design of a good web site. Colours tweaked, pixels pushed, balance and spacing fine-tuned, copy scrutinised and re-edited.

Good coders also pay attention to how a site is constructed – page code needs to be clean and correct in order to ensure an accessible, search-visible, all-inclusive and maintainable result.

Detail takes time and costs money, and ensuring a good user experience with high levels of goal achievement is just as important. In fact, if you don’t get this right, all other efforts can be affectively wasted.

Small details are a seriously big deal when it comes to usability.