Usability errors or just lazy?

Every now and then as the person responsible for what goes on a website you miss something and think doh!

So when I do this I make myself feel better by visiting known errors on bigger websites to see if they’ve been fixed. Here are my top three.

(Why top 3? The problem with these are errors around engagement. All they have to do is seal the deal and they have a committed user forever. But they blow it.)

1. How to lose an interested customer

Website: www.stuff.co.nz

Example: Add to portfolio button

“You need to be logged in to get to this page” is fine but WHERE?

• The log in on the top right is too small and above my field of vision. It took me too long to see it.
• I’m also new to this part of the website and I presume I need to join first. Where do I do that?
• The worst part about this is that they had me convinced, I was going to get engaged and revisit but too many friction points and a lazy designer or developer or business owner has lost me. How many others?
• Even worse is that they have the page they’re just too lazy to point the right link to it.

2. How not to become the home page

Website: www.nzherald.co.nz

Example: Make us your home page button

• Even thinking most people will read past the first paragraph never mind going through to wikipedia to learn what a browser is;  is simply naive.
• And if they don’t know what a browser is they’re hardly going to know whether they have firefox.
• Yet another lazy developer who can’t be bothered reading a simple DHTML tutorial.  The simple solution here is to code a button up that automatically detects the browser type and forces the home page.

3. Keeping the conversation, well, gone!

Website: http://www.linkedin.com/

Example: ( … ? ….) Ever tried to keep track of a conversation you have added to on linkedin?

• So I’ve put up a bit of news or commented on an article on a group. How do I know if there is a response to it? Well keep visiting the thread buddy.
• Facebook and Twitter alerts people, Linkedin doesn’t. Odd because FB and Twitter threads are generally absurd rubbish and Linkedin has genuinely good information.  I’d like to get alerts.

___

As an aside, I’m not sure who should be in the gun for these. The designer? Nope. The developer? Nope. Or maybe they’ve all become a bit slack? Nope.

Nope because the fault is that far too many web owners do not look at the behaviour of their users before they do something. And afterward no one thought ‘let’s test this and see if it works!’

I’m starting to see this a lot with communications specialists now as they’ve become to far removed from the other facets of the marketing fraternity. Most couldn’t even describe the customer they are talking to without a full brief. And unfortunately these are the same people who often decide on what goes on the website. Doh!

An m-commerce check list

I’ve just withdrawn our mobile product so we can for revise and (hopefully) relaunch something more suitable and more successful for our customers.

What we have withdrawn are several text alerts and a user initiated send and receive service for data on shares. The product was good, well put together and reliable. However it never really did the business for us and while it had it’s fans, it was clear it didn’t fit most of our clients.

So part of the review is what went wrong? And the easiest way to approach this is what would be right? Luckily I’ve been involved in m-commerce as an early adopter and lucky enough to work on a couple of NZ’s major mobile applications. Here are the ingredients that got it right for them.

1. A commonly consumed service

All the top mobile services I’ve worked with are commonly consumed outside of the mobile world. This one is obvious, if a service has demand elsewhere there is potential to move it onto a mobile. Kiwibank’s TXT Banking follows this – everyone checks their balances, some people regularly.

2. Convenience extends consumption

All show greater usage as the medium in which it is consumed becomes more convenient. M-top up was a huge success for Vodafone as it linked bank accounts with mobile accounts and ensured faster payment of prepaid phones. The result was more calls and more revenue.  In the internet world share market data increased consumption as it moved to the internet from newspapers. So going to mobile should increase consumption? It did for the ones that used it but ….

3. The tribes got to like the phone

By this I include phones that text and phones like the iphone.  Mobile internet never took off as well as it has without the iphone. The iphone overcomes a lot of usability issues like screen size, navigation and pure enjoyment of the device. Enjoying the device is key, people will remain curious on how much more they can get out of the phone. Whereas SMS on any phone was never a favourite of 50 year olds. What is to enjoy about SMS? They were more happy with the internet. Bigger screens, bigger keyboards. Proof? Bloomberg’s iphone app versus our SMS service. Same customers, very different result.

4. It’s easy

Easy to install (if at all), easy to use, no guide required. If it isn’t easy and intuitive then you have a main barrier to adoption. The willing is often their but the will to persevere should be on the your developers, not your consumers. Java applications suffer from this.  They’re good applications, easy to use but unless they are on the phone when it is bought it is very difficult to drive adoption. Webraska’s navigation application has benefitted greatly from OEM partnerships. Whereas banks have had to spend millions on marketing to gain traction for mobile banking.

5. It’s (often) free

Don’t try to charge for anything where you are asking the customer to take a leap. They fear looking stupid and making them pay rubs salt into the wound. Make them pay later when the value has been proven.

6. It fits

The application has to match the customer base, the company, the brand, the product suite and the offer. IT needs to look like a natural thing for the business to do with the customers they have. Orphan products no matter how cool, innovative, useful and demanded will never be as successful without a fit.

Feel free to add more.