An important aspect to developing a successful computer interface is early and continual focus on the needs of the intended user. To present information effectively on the web, authors need to be as attentive to the needs of the audience as users of a computer system as they are of the needs of the audience as readers of a text. Writers should be familiar with conducting a thorough reader analysis in order to identify relevant information about potential readers. A user analysis is like a reader analysis, except it focuses on how the interface will support the user in identifying, obtaining, and processing needed information. To ensure that readers who are also users of a computer system can complete their tasks and meet their goals, web publishers should conduct a user analysis along with a reader analysis.
Writers are undoubtedly familiar with the process of rewriting based on reader response criticism.
HCI practitioners also practice iterative design based on input from potential users based on usability tests . Both writers and designers can be too close to a document and fail to identify potential problems or shortcomings without outside feedback. Writers who would never publish a document without revising it several times based on outside input should obtain feedback from potential users and be willing to change the interface for a WWW document based on user comments. Work done in the field of Cognitive Science may be useful to writers in determining how to support users in translating psychological needs and goals into physical action sequences. Research and practice in the field of Interface Design can help writers who have little experience selecting colors, backgrounds, and images to draw the user's attention to important information, assist the user in making navigational decisions, and make the information aesthetically pleasing.