mryap blog

I’ve signed up to receive our power bill via email.

So, I get an email telling me our latest bill is now available online.

In this email, it provide a prominent link to log in and view my latest bill

www.esb.ie/youraccountonline.

It would be great if the the email contains all of the information I’m most likely interested in –

• Amount I have to pay and
• Date that the payment is due.

This allows me to move on to my next email.

If I find something no quite right, I can always click on the link and log-in to investigate.

Those are all small things but a much nicer user experience. 

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent.
It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction.

- Albert Einstein

Misspell something in Google and it searches anyway. It went one step ahead and suggest a link with the correct spelling. Microsoft new search engine, Bling let you know by including the result for both misspell and correct words

Stop using system generate error message. Go one step forward and eliminate error messages from your system altogether. Always turn an error into an opportunity to help, engaging your visitors further. Do not leave them high and dry.

Last thing you want is to have visitors give up and abandon your websites

Derek Powazek’s article “Calling All Designers: Learn to Write!” rightly argues that designer can create better online user experience by writing well.

He states that “…when it comes to experience on the web, there’s no better way to create it than to write, and write well.”

I first posted this on Irish Internet Association's Feedback Friday
PuddleDucks is an online retailer of outdoor clothing clothes for children and adults.

" What’s in It for Me Customers comes to your websites for a purpose. Your homepage has answer : “What’s in It for Me?” Upfront you list out what your site offers and you categories those into different pathway : children and Adult. Your prospect knows what you are offering. Unfortunately, I miss those links under both categories. I do not know those were click-able. You also have the Special Offer label there that is very hard to miss. However, the Special Offer label is too near the search. I thought the search field it only for special offer items. According to Gestalt principle, elements are placed close together they tend to be perceived as a group.

Trust There is trust communicate via the website. An important elements for online business. There is a physical address and contact number. Thought I have not try calling that number. In addition, third-party security seal from Thawte reinforces the trust message. You also has a dedicated page for Security Policy. All these put your prospect at ease of doing business with you. Such elements of trust message is available throughout the websites.

Text I found the text is too small to read on the screen.

Customer-Focused Word I would recommend using the word “YOU”. Research has show that you will pay attention if you see the word you. Using words such as “you” or “your” helps customers relate emotionally to a product or service.

Social Validation What other people said about your products carries more weight than what you said. You put that to good use. “What Customers Say” is buried among the left navigation links. I recommend putting this link (http://www.puddleducks.ie/puddleducks-customer-comments.html) in the top Navigation bar along with Home, About Us, Delivery, Contact Us. In that way, people will not miss it and goes a long way to get them to open their wallet.

Too Many Choices for Navigation There are 14 links to click on your left navigation menu. It overwhelmed your prospects. Research has suggests that while lots of options can lure your customer to look, a smaller set of options persuades them to pick. Last thing you do not want people to freeze up and don’t take any action at all."

 

Usable remote controls by Bill Moggridge.