Today, websites are increasing at a unprecedented rate, as they pervasively serve as a means of communication breaking the time and space barriers, as well as a new sales channel enabling electronic business transactions. The key issue that arises from this website-centric age is how well a website meets the user's needs and expectations by supporting the user's experience.

A recent study conducted by Forrester Research has found that nearly 10% of Fortune 1000 companies need major overhaul of their company websites requiring at least six-month breakdown, while a majority of the remaining companies need a site remodeling that may take 3 to 26 weeks. Poor quality websites can cause a significant loss to firms by lowering revisit rates and thus negatively affecting sales. It is critical for a firm to review the quality of the user's experience on a website on a regular basis, and incorporate the results in the website redesign process, so that they can better achieve their corporate goals.

Korea Website Institute (KWI, for short) was founded to help firms meet this challenge and improve their website quality. As our motto suggests, we will pioneer the world of website innovation.

Ilyoo Barry Hong, Ph.D.
Director, Korea Website Institute