The Web is about self-service. To achieve success in self-service, you need to really understand how your visitors think and behave. If they are to serve themselves, they must feel comfortable and confident. That requires getting to know their needs in a comprehensive manner. It requires an ongoing conversation with them.

The phone rang in the office of a McDonalds manager. The manager picked up the phone. The first thing he was asked was why he was in the office. Why wasn't he out in the restaurant?

Success in self-service is dependent on an intimate knowledge of how people behave. In a plush restaurant, there are experienced waiters to escort you and advise you. In a self-service restaurant, the design needs to escort and advise you. That requires very careful design that has a crystal clear understanding of what people want and how they behave.

On a day-to-day basis, a Web team can get caught up in the pressure of keeping a Web site running. Getting out and talking to those visitors who read the Web site can seem like a luxury. It is not a luxury. It is a necessity if you want your Web site to work well.

If you are a Web manager, you need to get out on the floor on a weekly—or even daily—basis. You need to start watching how people use your Web site by initiating usability studies. You need to talk and listen to people at every opportunity. This will help you develop a “nose” or “gut instinct” for what people want.

This is not a like-to-have option. This is a must-have option. You simply cannot design and manage a successful Web site without understanding your visitors inside-out. This is the heart of self-service design: knowing people better than they know themselves.