Thankfully there are a few warning signs that indicate whether information on your site is delivered to users in a way that’s easily digestible and navigable, including:

It Takes Forever to Load

If your website does not load in an expected amount of time, users will leave. It may sound like an unreasonable ultimatum, but it’s true: 47 percent of customers on e-commerce websites expect their site to load in two seconds or less, and 40 percent will abandon a site that takes more than three seconds to load. Do yourself a favor – check out Google’s PageSpeed Tools to make sure your site’s as quick as it needs to be. If it’s not, consider either upgrading your host or cutting excess fat from your site’s pages.

Everything’s Convoluted

It’s incredible how some people have a knack for talking your ear off without saying anything remotely useful. That’s not a good talent to have, especially online where users are bombarded with information.

From a Web design perspective, that means that if your site’s loaded up with unnecessary information or the sitemap is filled with too many bells and whistles, people are likely to get frustrated and ditch out for a competitor. Be succinct and keep it simple.

Doesn’t Cater to All Users

It’s somewhat baffling how many webmasters still don’t see the importance of mobile. After all, mobile searches now outrank desktop searches, and smartphones are quickly supplanting computers as the browsing device of choice. If you haven’t taken active measures to support mobile – for instance, through the implementation of responsive Web design – you need to pull yourself out of the past immediately.

Inclusion, Not Alienation

If you want to avoid having frustrated users abandon your site in droves, your site needs the following features:

• Support for mobile users
• A clean, crisp interface
• No excess information; provide users only what you know they’ll want to see
• Fast load times
• A clear and quick brand message throughout
• Professional, high-quality content that is free of mistakes (e.g. broken links, spelling errors)

Simple enough, right?

Written by: Maxim Emelianov, HostforWeb (via Website Magazine)
Posted by: CueCamp

The post 3 Warning Signs Your Website Annoys Users appeared first on CueCamp.

The biggest user-experience question is not a matter of any individual design issue, such as whether to use mega menus or some other form of navigation menu. The bigger picture requires you to first decide on the overriding UX strategy: to shoot for a big bang and change everything in one go, or to rely in incremental quality improvements, one step at a time.

Since user experience is a quality discipline, there is much to be said for incremental design changes, since we know from extensive QA research that continuous improvement is known to lead to high-quality products. On the other hand, there’s also much to be said for improving everything at once and potentially achieve a much higher quality boost than would result from any one incremental quality tweak.

So how to pick a UX strategy: one big revolution, or many small steps?

Website Overhaul for the Right Reasons

Site redesigns often require a tremendous amount of coordination and resources. Sometimes, a redesign project can be a purely visual reskinning of the entire site, with new styles, layouts, and treatments. Other times, serious taxonomy, information architecture, content, or usability issues are being addressed. Either way, make sure that your redesign project is based on user data and has clear goals and measures of success. Make incremental changes to reach these goals and only resort to a complete redesign if the data tells you to do so.

Examine your site’s conversion rates and get customer feedback to determine what the issues are and whether a legitimate reason exists to take on a major project. Gathering the right data reduces the risk of delivering a design that users don’t want or that of compromising the return on your investment.

Don’t let panic or boredom lead you astray. When embarking on a site-redesign project, companies sometimes fall prey to “the grass is always greener” syndrome. That is, they believe that other people (or companies) have it better, even though this belief can be completely false.

When organizations ask me to help them with a redesign project, one of my first questions is WHY—why do you want to redesign? Frequently the response is, “We haven’t updated it in many years.” Or, “It looks old and amateurish.” The unspoken reason for many redesign projects is, “I’m bored with it.”

You may be bored with your current site, but customers likely aren’t: they usually don’t sit and stare at the site for extended periods every day. Most companies are lucky if customers visit their site once per month, and even in the case of more frequent visits, users tend to like designs that are safe and familiar.

Before you throw out the old and bring in the new, make sure you have solid evidence that doing so is necessary to achieve user-centered goals. Discuss solutions that address the root of the problem. Too often, designers approach solving problems by recommending trendy changes while ignoring less-glamorous aspects such as content, structure, or interaction design, which are often the source of the problems. Visitors don’t spend nearly as much time as you do staring at your own design, so they don’t have that burning desire for what’s in fashion. Customers are extremely task-oriented and care much more about a usable website than a pretty one.

Usually Choose Incremental Changes Over a Major Overhaul

Drastic website changes are jarring for users and risky for business. The cost and effort of getting an entire organization and senior stakeholders to agree on the new website is enormous. Organizations often launch a redesign project with an ambitious timeline, only to see it get stretched and stretched by endless debate. Some projects start and stop multiple times, while other projects fizzle completely. Teams start out excited, but soon become miserable.

The most successful redesign projects have clear, measurable objectives. Before you commit to a full site redesign, you need to define the problems you want to solve and the results you wish to obtain.

Never make radical changes when minimal adjustments will suffice. Too many websites undergo a major overhaul unnecessarily. While legitimate reasons exist for engaging in a redesign, the reality is that many problems you need to solve are isolated and can be fixed with smaller, incremental approaches. Look at the metrics rather than guess what needs to be changed. Allow data to help you determine the extent of the problem and apply the least amount of change necessary to solve it. Radical changes have a higher chance of inadvertently breaking something critical for users.

Be aware of your own cognitive biases. The human mind works in ways that cloud objectivity. The old saying goes, “if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” The tools and technology available to website makers can divert their attention from the true issues and fog their judgment in taking the appropriate course of action. Visual designers may rely on visceral responses in justifying a redesign, and may be biased towards aesthetics-driven solutions. Good designers are aware of these biases and allow data to guide them in selecting the right solutions.

Consider the cost of switching users to a new interface. People don’t like change. Don’t be lured into thinking that a new site will attract customers. To reduce cognitive effort humans make assumptions on how to interact with interfaces based on previous experiences. Once people learn a way of doing things they expect the system to work the same way in the future.

Avoid disrupting the user experience with wild design changes without careful consideration. Customers balk at change, even when the new design is clearly better. Assess the impact of change on users before you decide to make the switch. Spending 1 or 2 days conducting a usability study of your existing site is invaluable.

Sometimes a Major Overhaul Is Best

Extensive changes are risky and generally should be avoided. However, good reasons exist for a major site overhaul at rare occasions. If the issues go beyond aesthetics or the problems are glaring and no longer can be remedied with band-aid fixes, sometimes it’s best to rip off the bandage and fix the problems. Below are some reasons for taking the plunge:

• The gains from making incremental changes are miniscule or nonexistent: For years you’ve attempted gradual fixes but now there’s not much more you can do to improve the site. You’ve performed many iterations and found yourself at the point of diminishing returns.
• The technology is severely outdated, making critical changes impossible: The backend system can’t support interactions and features necessary for critical user journeys. Customers can’t access your content well on mobile devices and social features are clunky. Third-party tools that worked well several years ago can’t keep up with the changing needs of your customers.
• Architecturally the site is a tangled mess: Your site is a big mess and doesn’t function the way visitors expect. The company brand strategy has changed significantly over the years. You’ve altered the site’s navigation structure incrementally to accommodate changes in the information architecture and shifting strategies. However, after several years of patchwork the site is incohesive and people can’t accomplish what they need.
• Severely low conversion rates site-wide: Data analysis reveals a bounty of issues that are impossible to fix to customers’ satisfaction. Conversion measurements indicate extremely high exit rates and bounce rates, and few page views. The issues are so tangled and enormous that no amount of incremental fixes can increase conversions to an acceptable level.

• Benchmarking research reveals your site is far inferior to the competition: You don’t want to change your site every time your competitors do. However, you must do so if research shows that you’re losing customers because other sites are doing a better job of supporting user needs.

Conclusion

The path you choose (incremental vs. major overhaul) should align user needs with business goals. Leverage information from conversion research (i.e., site analytics, user testing) to help you identify the issues and determine how to solve them. Solid numbers keep you focused on the right issues and prevent political arguments.

Written by: Hoa Loranger, Nielsen-Norman Group
Posted by: CueCamp

The post Radical Redesign or Incremental Change? appeared first on CueCamp.

You need more than top rankings on Google. People have to be able to navigate to the product they want and trust you enough to buy. Your website’s user experience (UX) should focus on building your visitor’s confidence by helping them complete their goals. 

Home Page UX Tips That Build Trust On A Quick Glance

Your home page gets the most traffic. Make it obvious that you sell products. Think of your home page as the window to your store. Think Macy’s on Magnificent Mile. Dress your home page with your best products and images. One thing you never see at Macy’s is different dresses swooping by one by one in the window. I’m talking about sliders here. If you have to use them, make sure they are user friendly.

Hero Area Best Practices

Your hero area (also called featured area) is the most prominent real-estate on your home page. You only have 50 milliseconds to leave a good impression, here is how to make it count.

Hero Area Do’s

1. Use simple, uncluttered design. Use as few words as possible.
2. Eliminate everything that does not make an impact. For example, your recent blog posts.
3. Use visual queues like color or arrows to focus attention on a single call to action.
4. Make it easy for people to self identify. Do you sell pricy jackets for women?

Hero Area Dont’s

1. Decorate. Swirls, sparkles, and other meaningless symbols add to the cognitive load and distract your customers.
2. Have outdated content like promotions from last week or even last month. You will instantly lose credibility.
3. Clutter the area with too many messages or promotions.
4. Have an automatically advancing slider or carousel.
5. Emphasize a product that is not representative of your overall mix.

Home Page Navigation

When people visit your site, you want to help them find what they came for. According to conversion expert, Tim Ash, the main focus of your home page is to provide category level navigation. Follow these pointers to help visitors find what they are looking for.

Home Page Navigation Do’s

1. Give visitors a “30,000 foot view” of what your site sells so they can drill down to specific categories.
2. Add your most used tools or buying guides.
3. Provide links to return policy, customer service, shipping and privacy pages.

Home Page Navigation Dont’s

1. Assume you know what people are looking for.
2. Jam every category and subcategory on your home page.
3. Push product level promotions. If you only have a few products, you can ignore this.
4. Use generic stock photos. This screams inauthenticity.

Solid Ecommerce User Experience Boils Down To Simple Primary Navigation

Navigation is critical when you have a lot of categories, variable products or products with many options. Nothing is more frustrating than a cumbersome menu. The quicker people can find what they want, the quicker you can move them through to the checkout process.

The purpose of a navigation menu is to get people where they want to go. Here is a breakdown of what you should address:

Primary Navigation Menu Do’s

1. Limit top menu to 7 choices.
2. Use a secondary navigation at the top right for items like “Contact Us”
3. Use a multi column menu that organizes categories and sub categories.
4. Show high quality images of your product.
5. Make your navigation menu prominent with contrasting colors.
6. Cross reference products into multiple categories. Someone looking for a USB drive may look under Laptop, Accessories, or Computers.

Primary Navigation Menu Dont’s

1. Have a single drop down that takes up a long column.
2. Show link empty category pages to main nav.
3. Over-classify products. If there is only one product in a (sub)category, remove the category and reclassify the product.
4. Don’t use vague options like “more.”

Cart Menus

A cart menu is likely the last button a user will click before taking out the credit card. Don’t over look this tiny icon.

Cart Menu Do’s

1. Show total price and number of items in cart.
2. Link to the cart page where they can see details of their contents

Cart Menu Dont’s

1. Substitute a “mini cart” for a full cart. Your ecommerce site, needs a cart page, not just a cart widget.
2. Link directly to a checkout page that doesn’t show every detail of the products in the cart.

Search

Many users skip the navigation menu altogether and rely on search/faceted search to drill down further. Faceted search can get complicated quickly. From a development and cost perspective, but also a user perspective.  Follow these guidelines to keep things simple and helpful.

Search Do’s

1. Use an open text field box at the top of every page.
2. Use faceted search when there are over 20 products within a category.
3. Filter by price, color, size are basic faceted search options.

Search Dont’s

1. Use filler text on search input. Leave it blank, or say “Search.”
2. Use subjective filtering options such as “heavy-duty” or “light-duty.”

Ecommerce UX Tips For Product Pages

Full product details are critical. For SEO and for user experience. Internal links boost SEO and help the user navigate back to the product listings page. A user friendly layout will have essential product information above the fold.

Product pages are the meat of your site, they need to convert. If  your customer has to select an option before adding to cart, display an error message when the “Add to Cart” button is clicked.

Product Page Content Layering

Your product page can quickly suffer from information overload. You want the right level of product information for people that already know what they want to buy, but also cater to shoppers that need every last product detail. By layering your information, you can cater to both types of buyers.

Product Page Content Layering Do’s

1. Provide a short product summary at the top of the page or next to the photo.
2. Add a border or shaded background to your “action area” – where people select options and click your button.
3. Present the ordering options near the top in the action area
4. Have breadcrumbs on the product pages.
5. Put product details, reviews, data, etc. below the product image and CTA area.

Product Page Content Layering Dont’s

1. Put a large block of copy near or above the CTA button.
2. Hide your add to cart button until someone makes a selection.
3. Make availability information an extra click away.
4. Have a subtle change when someone clicks your add to cart button. People will miss your “Successfully added” message.

A common mistake with many WordPress ecommerce themes was hidden “Add To Cart” buttons.

Product Page Images

Large photos and zoom is about the closest your buyer can get without physically touching the product. Fuzzy, poor quality images make the products look poor quality too. Check out this case study, where bigger, better product images increased conversions by over 300%.

Product Page Images Do’s

1. Use large, high res photos on a white background.
2. Use zoom features to let users see details for themselves.
3. Allow users to scroll to back and forth between images.
4. Provide clear instructions that additional images or zoom features are enabled.

Product Page Images Dont’s

1. Show “lifestyle” images or your product. Show just the product.
2. Don’t muddy up your photos with logos, watermarks or backgrounds.
3. Force an image pop-up to see more details or additional photos.

Build Trust With Buyer Friendly Checkout Process

Your checkout process needs to be simple, logical and distraction free. Don’t complicate it. Macy’s cart page hits many of the main points. The cart shows product details with images, pricing, tax and links back to individual product pages.

Cart Page

The first page in your checkout process is your cart page. You never want to send a user past this page. This page reaffirms what they have purchased in detail. This helps them build confidence and trust in your store.

Cart Page Do’s

1. Confirm everything. Product, size, color, quantity, availability, ship date, estimated delivery.
2. Allow users to navigate directly back to products in their cart.
3. Make it easy to change quantity or delete products. Let users change qty to 0 to remove products or click a “remove” button.
4. Show a picture of the product, in the color it was ordered in. If your customer orders a black jacket and sees a blue one at checkout, they lose confidence.
5. Make the continue checkout button prominent, but allow people to continue shopping.
6. Show the total out the door price.

Cart Page Presentation Dont’s

1. Prematurely ask for a credit card or email address. Let people confirm what they are buying.
2. Don’t use an “Update” button to remove products.

Checkout Page

After buyers feel confident that they are ordering the right product from the right company (yours), it is time to get the party started.

Once users start the checkout process, they want to complete the purchase as quick as possible. Help them help you. Remove distractions and make the process as easy as possible. Don’t make them re-enter their address or guess how to complete the form.

Checkout Page Do’s

1. Ask for only the minimal required information.
2. Replace the main navigation with a “contact” navigation.
3. Keep your checkout process short and your steps clear and logical.
4. Show progress during the checkout process.

Checkout Page Dont’s

1. Present new information or choices.
2. Force people to “join” or “become a member.”
3. Make people re-enter the same information twice.
4. Let users use billing address as shipping address with a single click.

How Does Your Site Stack Up?

You don’t have to have a million dollars to create a positive user experience. Nail these basics and you will get Google and customers to love your site and buy from you.

Interested in learning more about mobile shopping guidelines? Join our webinar on February 10, on “Mobile Shopping: Key Features Users Want” hosted by Michel Sharritt, VP of CueCamp and Situated Research.

Written by: Darren Dematas, Intertwine
Posted by: CueCamp

The post User Experience Tips: How to Seduce Ecommerce Visitors to Buy appeared first on CueCamp.

When we review main menu navigation on websites, the first thing we examine is the menu location. Users want to see the main menu navigation at the top of the page versus the page footer as observed on the Standard Market website. Why? Users are used to seeing the menu navigation on most websites at the top of the page. Additionally, users do not want to have to scroll through a site to find what they are looking for, or to start a search query.

The next thing we look at is labeling. We asked users to find out what beer was on tap at the Naperville Standard Market location. Users first looked at the top of the site to find the main menu navigation, and when they didn’t find it, they scrolled down. Many users said they will leave a website and give up on their search when navigation is missing, or they simply find the contact information and give them a call to ask their question.

Next our users were confused with the labeling of the menu options that they found. Under DEPARTMENTS they found a label named Beer. But then under the label THE CUBE, they found wine/beer/cheese bar. This is an example of poor labeling, as ‘Beer’ is located under two different menus. This confuses users and makes them unsure of what to click on to find the information they want. It also makes the search process longer and more difficult for the user.

It took users several minutes to navigate through the website to find the information they wanted, which caused frustration, confusion, and lowered the likelihood that they would return to the site in the future.

CueCamp helps clients alleviate these kind of frustrations users by carefully organizing web content and creating clear, distinct labels for good website navigation. CueCamp offers a free usability report that reviews 20 different areas of usability in your website, including menu navigation. The report is straightforward and easy to follow, and includes a one-on-one review to ensure any follow-up questions are fully answered.

To request your free usability report, visit www.cuecamp.com and simply fill out the short form. You will have your report within 48 hours. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave them in the comments below.

Written / Posted by: CueCamp

The post Is Your Website Navigation Easy to Use? appeared first on CueCamp.

The scarcity principle is a well-documented social-psychology phenomenon that causes people to assign high value to things they perceive as being less available. In real life, Black Friday is a good example of scarcity: a sale that occurs on only one day of the year (the day after Thanksgiving in the United States) and consists of a limited number of products offered at discounted prices. In the case of Black Friday, the mobs of eager customers are most often a good thing for retailers…until the mob turns violent.

Scarcity Interface Pattern Examples

Limited Time and Quantity

Limited Inclusion

Limited Information

Background of the Scarcity Principle

The Scarcity Principle is 1 of 6 influencing principles coined by Dr. Robert Cialdini, a professor at Arizona State University famous for his 1984 book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.” Cialdini’s book is a study of the psychology of compliance. As a psychology professor, he and his students conducted numerous research studies to identify and prove the 6 influencing principles discussed in his book.

Scarcity is largely effective because of a cognitive bias known as loss aversion, first demonstrated in research conducted by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. Kahneman and Tversky determined that people put more subjective value on loss than on gain and thus strongly prefer to avoid losses instead of acquiring gains. In other words, the pain of losing $100 is perceived as bigger (in fact, twice as big according to Kahneman and Tversky) than the satisfaction of gaining $100.

The strong tendency to avoid losses explains why scarcity is so effective: we feel that if we don’t act upon the scarce product or information, we lose it. For example, if a person is shopping for airline tickets and finds a flight that meets her criteria, but the description indicates this is the last ticket at that price, the person might buy the ticket for fear of losing out even if she wasn’t quite ready to book yet. (The agony of losing the current $100 discount will only be overcome if the user could save $200 on some future deal, and that’s sufficiently unlikely to happen that many users prefer to act to lock in the savings.)

Scarcity is a particularly effective persuasion tool because what, specifically, is scarce can take several forms: quantity, time, or information. Knishinsky ran an experiment that proved the additive effects of these factors upon persuasion. In his study, salesmen were able to double order sizes when they told wholesale beef buyers that the supply would be scarce in upcoming months. The most incredible finding of this study is that they were able to increase order sizes 6 times when they altered their pitch to not only indicate scarcity of supply, but that this information was a secret and only being divulged to the buyer. The double-scarcity pitch (low supply, secret information) was 3 times more compelling than the single-scarcity pitch (low supply)!

When to Use the Technique on the Web

Expediting Desirable Actions: If you find that most people who convert on your site visit your site more times than you think should be necessary before converting, you might try using scarcity to reduce that time lag

Increasing Perceived Value: Indicating that an item has low availability or using photographs that show limited quantity can impact end-users valuation of the object. For example, in fine dining, small portions on large plates can imply that the ingredients are rare and, therefore, should be more expensive.

Testing the Scarcity Principle

The most significant risk with using scarcity is decreased trust and credibility. If your users suspect that the presented scarcity isn’t real, they could go elsewhere. That’s why it’s important to test scarcity as a motivational device before fully embracing it. Here are some questions that you should aim to answer, together with techniques that you can use to do so:

Conclusion

Scarcity, used in moderation and with true information, can encourage users to move more swiftly toward converting on your site. However, the technique has been adopted by so many sites, that its impact may be decreasing. Therefore, we do encourage design teams to test pages and flows with and without scarcity-based elements to determine how the technique impacts conversions, perceptions, and long-term business goals.

References

Robert B. Cialdini, Influence: Science and Practice. Pearson Education Inc., 2009.

Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman. Loss Aversion in Riskless Choice: A Reference-Dependent Model. The Quarterly Journal of Economics. Vol. 106, No. 4 (Nov., 1991), pp. 1039-1061.

Knishinsky, A. The effects of scarcity of material and exclusivity of information on industrial buyer perceived risk in provoking a purchase decision. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University, Tempe, 1982.

Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2011.

Written by: Jennifer Cardello, Nielsen-Norman Group
Posted by: CueCamp

The post Scarcity Principle: Making Users Click RIGHT NOW or Lose Out appeared first on CueCamp.

Many usability problems are quickly being addressed and fixed: for example, a recent post by Nielsen-Norman Group discussed the primary call to action (apply button) displayed below the fold, requiring users with typical screens to have to scroll down to find the apply button. As can be seen in the above screenshot, this problem has been addressed. However, the overall user-experience of shopping for health insurance is still flawed – with basic pricing information being difficult to find, and changing information as users go through the registration process. The new HealthCare.gov website highlights the difference between usability and user-experience: while usability could use improvement, the overall experience of the website is quite complicated, hindering users from shopping for insurance coverage.

The HealthCare.gov homepage has a well-designed wireframe, with clear labels and an easy to understand navigation structure. There are clear calls to action, encouraging users to apply for coverage (the ‘Apply Online’ and ‘Apply by Phone’ buttons). For users looking to explore coverage options before applying, the ‘See Plans Now’ button, circled above, helps users to see plan options before registering. However, once plan options come up, more information to discriminate amongst plans is not available:

While the site states repeatedly that costs vary depending on factors such as income level, more information on the plans could be made available under each option. As shown above, 47 options were available, with little to discriminate between plans other than price.

Application Process

The initial screen for applying looks like the following:

While the above screen is simple, with a clear call to action (clicking ‘Get Started’), the icons representing the application process are not clear. While it appears that a three step process is involved, the icons do not convey meaning to the user as to what is involved. Following, users are asked to create an account:

As shown, the account creation screen is simple (creating a username and password), but the security process complicates things. Instructions on creating a username and password require special characters for increased security, which can frustrate the registration process. Password characters are hidden as dots, making it more difficult for users to see what they are typing for a password. The process indicator (lower-left dots) are not clear at communicating where exactly the user is at while registering, either.

Over-Blown Security Wrecks User Experience

We had a test user run through the application process on HealthCare.gov, and their experience highlights problems with the website’s heightened security requirements, as well as delays from the site being unavailable or too slow:

The entire application process took about 55 minutes, longer than what I would anticipate for filling out a simple application. Why? I was asked many security questions to ensure my identity. I was first asked to make an account, which required me to answer 10 security questions. It was scary to know the amount of information they knew about me. One of the questions was, ” What was the name of the dog that you bought pet insurance for in 2010?” How would they know that? Other questions asked about information on my taxes and credit report.

Once my identity was checked I then watched the wheel of death spin and spin with a message saying that they would email me a link in order to move forward. I went to my email where I waited for about 30 minutes before I received my special link.

Once I clicked on the link I was brought back to the website and asked to login. After logging in I was then asked several more security questions in order to ensure my identity yet again. This time I was asked to set up security questions. Normally on a website security questions that you set up are suggested to you as they were here. However the types of questions set up were much more detailed then I would have liked. As an example one question was,” What is your parents current mailing address?” Another question I could set up was,” What is the VIN number to your car?” I am sure if I ever could not log into my account and the VIN question came up I would not be able to remember the answer.

I then was able to fill out the application, which took me through my personal information, tax history, current income level, and what I expect my future income to be. The application process was then completed, so I had thought. I was then asked to review my application.

During the reviewing process you were supposed to be allowed to correct any information on the application. I made several attempts to change my address. I would click on the EDIT button and it would take me to a different section of the application. I spent about 5 minutes trying the edit process but never managed to change my address. I would be brought to a different section of the application and I would have to continue from that point on filling out the entire application again.

Security is paramount on a government website handling personal information and health records; however, the amount of verification seems to hurt the user experience. As discussed, users must create an account to obtain accurate pricing information and to shop health insurance plans. Users can see a list of plan names for their area with typical pricing, but pricing is inaccurate until an application has been filled out (based upon income and other factors).

Our test user above was emailed after the application was filed, and told that they had to wait to see coverage plans until further investigation could be completed. Our user expected to be ‘rewarded’ with useful information after completing the long application process. The early stages of application on HealthCare.gov look simple, and encourage users to begin an application; however, the reality is a long process with difficulties that waste users’ time and a delayed gratification of shopping for coverage.

Technical Problems and Error Messages

As stated in the news, HealthCare.gov frequently stalled or the system went down for our test users. Below is an example, with a ridiculous ‘reference ID’ code to phone in to customer service:

While surprising for such an important website launch, heavy traffic from initial use might be partially to blame, as is the lack of testing before the site was live. From a usability standpoint, improving user workflows through the site could also yield performance increases, reducing demand on precious system resources that are being shared by so many users seeking coverage before the mandatory deadline.

We cannot imagine the costs being incurred by the number of employees required to handle the phone calls and customer service. As the saying goes, ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure‘, which certainly applies to usability research and careful planning of a website this large and important.

If you have used HealthCare.gov, please tell us about your experience by leaving a comment below.

Written & Posted by: CueCamp

The post Flawed User Experience on HealthCare.gov appeared first on CueCamp.

Website Usability Tip #6: Recognition, Not Recall

Minimize the user’s memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the site to the other. Nor should the user have to remember or learn a new way to do something. (ex. Checkout Process)

• Use common icons that make sense to the user
• Do not over-complicate your interface
• Only use pop up instructions on buttons if you must

Website Usability Tip #7: Flexibility & Efficiency

Flexibility: allow multiple ways of accomplishing the same thing.

Users can find information through:

• A search box
• Using menu navigation
• Breadcrumbs
• Links in the footer

Efficiency: build in simple and efficient methods of doing common tasks, without making it difficult for someone new to the system.

Amazon’s checkout process and shopping cart system are an example, with users being able to set up a ‘one-click’ checkout system where a default credit card and address are stored to make checkout super speedy and easy.

Website Usability Tip #8: Aesthetic and Minimalist Design

Aesthetics is important when designing for the web. Knowing how to balance aesthetics with what users want can be a challenge.

Here are some key points to remember:

• Make sure colors play off of the colors of a well designed logo
• Do not overwhelm users with too much content
• Content should be relevant to the site
• Use clickable videos
• Never use avatars

A big mistake that web designers often make is adding more pages to a website to make it look more ‘legit’. Always remember that users on the Internet usually quickly skim over information, and avoid wordy text. Overwhelming them with redundant information will make them leave the website.

Website Usability Tip #9: Assist Users

Help users recognize and recover from errors.

• Error messages should be expressed in plain language
• If there is a process for ordering something (or otherwise), guide users through the process
• Never make users guess what to do next
• Constructively suggest a solution if a mistake is made

Website Usability Tip #10: Documentation

Even though it is better if a website can be used without any assistance, it may be necessary to provide documentation for complex tasks.

Any such information should be easy to search, and focused on the user’s task.

• List concrete steps to be carried out
• Make sure instructions are not too long
• Ideally, it should be contextual (placed where it is needed, so users don’t have to search for it)

Let us know if you have any questions on our website usability tips. If you would like a free expert analysis of your website’s usability, request a free usability report from CueCamp.

Written and Posted by: CueCamp

The post Website Usability Tips, Part 2 appeared first on CueCamp.

Website Usability Tip #1: Visibility

Always show users where they are at on the website. 

• Use breadcrumbs
• Highlight where the user is at in the menu navigation
• Use sitemaps

Website Usability Tip #2: Communicate Clearly

The website should speak the user’s language. Nothing should be left up for interpretation. 

• Links and buttons should be concise and clear
• Labeling should make sense to the user
• Labeling should also be short and to the point
• ‘Error 404’ pages mean nothing to most users
• Buttons should be labeled in a way to bring a call to action (buy now)

Website Usability Tip #3: User Error

Users often click on items by mistake and need a clearly marked “emergency exit” to leave the unwanted area without having to go through an extended process. 

• Use clear breadcrumbs
• Use sitemaps
• Have a search button
• Make sure your logo is clickable to take the user back to the home page
• In some instances pop boxes may be useful warning your users of their error

Website Usability Tip #4: Consistency

Consistency is key to keep your users happy and coming back for more. Users should not have to reorient themselves each time they click on a page.

• Keep the same format for all pages of your website
• Placement of menu navigation should remain consistent from page to page
• Heading font sizes and placement should be consistent
• Labeling should not change
• Functionality of buttons, forms, etc. should not change

Website Usability Tip #5: Error Prevention

Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place.

• Eliminate error-prone conditions
• Check for errors
• Present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action
• Design a simple environment

Interested in the last five tips? Read Part 2 of our website usability tips. If you would like a free expert analysis of your website’s usability, request a free usability report from CueCamp.

Written and Posted by: CueCamp

The post Website Usability Tips, Part 1 appeared first on CueCamp.

In addition to blindness, some of the conditions to be considered include:

• Motor control
• Cognitive issues
• Low vision
• Color blindness
• Hearing impairments

Take a few minutes, look at your Web site and consider the following scenarios.

• A person has tremors brought on by early stage Parkinson’s. This person finally finds some good information on early stage Parkinson’s; but the Web site has fly-out menus and they can’t get to the information because every time they try to click on the menu, tremors move their hand and the menu goes away.
• A person with dyslexia is looking for information on a Web site. This person has learned to establish patterns and cues to navigate Web sites. The person has taken some time to focus on the patterns on the home page; they click on a link and on the next page the navigation moves to another part of the page, and the primary navigation cues change. This person now has to study the page again to determine the new navigation pattern.
• A person with low vision needs may be relying on the option to enlarge text within the browser and not be using a screen magnifier. Often these users encounter Web sites that have a set font rather than ones they can resize. In this case, the user will never be able to enlarge the text.
• A color blind person visits a Web site. This web site has some very nice soft colored text on a pastel background. All a person with color blindness likely sees is a mass of color, no text all.
• A hearing impaired person visits a Web site to view a late-breaking story. The news story is a Webcast of a talking head and the video is not captioned; this user can not gather any information from this Web site and must look elsewhere.

If any of these scenarios apply to your Web site, you may want to consider making changes. After all, your Web site is the gateway to the information that is most important to you and your audience. Aside from being the law, it makes sense to ensure the site is accessible and usable to all.

Written By: Lisa Kruppa
Posted By: CueCamp

The post Its Not Just for the Blind – Making Your Website Accessible for all appeared first on CueCamp.

Work with a reliable web design company that can help you meet current and future needs.

People are often in a rush to get something, anything, up on the Internet. Because the average business owner is inexperienced at web design and related terminology, website companies that are anxious to offer a cheap, yet profitable (to them) service, bring up a website on the Internet that may or may not help the client generate additional revenue: the goal of commercial websites.

Also, some business owners mistakenly believe they can save money by creating a website on their own by using free software found on the Internet. Wrong. You’ll spend money to compensate for the mistakes the free software makes. You have to understand: It’s free for a reason — it doesn’t cover many areas of web design.

So, it’s important to consult a web design company. However, conduct a background check before you sign a contract. Check out their previous work; ask for testimonials; ask for phone numbers of previous customers and listen carefully to what they say.

To ensure you’re working with an experienced person or company, ask for a sitemap and wireframe (explained below) with your proposal. Anyone who can’t provide this information lacks usability expertise.

Sitemaps are diagrams that group a website’s pages into the hierarchy that will eventually become the structure and navigation of the website. A sitemap is a visual or textually organized model of website content that allows users to navigate through the site to find information. Think of a traditional map that helps you find places, but a site map goes the extra step by linking each listed item directly to its website counterpart.

Well-designed and organized sitemaps allow for scalability (growth) by intelligently designing the information flow. In other words, the website should always be designed with future growth in mind, which can be accomplished through a well-ordered hierarchy, as represented in the sitemap. A good web-design company pays very close attention to detail so that information is logically organized, which the site’s end-users see as clearly defined and labeled navigation on a website.

Also be sure the web design company include wireframes, these indicate to prospective clients a webpage’s visual design; they lay out how content will be organized on the page for the end-users. A wireframe, a visualization tool, presents proposed website functions, structure and content. It distinguishes the site’s graphic elements from functional ones; wireframes make it easy to visualize how users will interact with the site.

A typical wireframe includes: key page elements and their locations, such as headers, footers, navigation, content objects and branding elements; grouping of elements, such as sidebars, navigation bars and content areas; labeling, page title, navigation links and headings to content objects; and placeholders, content text and images.

A reliable web design company continually considers the needs of all website stakeholders (all potential groups that will use the site) and verifies that they can fulfill their needs easily by using the site. For example, a school’s website might have different information for students, teachers, parents, investors, etc., and each of those groups should be able to locate information that fulfills their goals in an easy, efficient manner.

Another web design tool, an advanced free usability test, checks ease of use and functionality. A reliable web-design company will allow you to test your site and conduct remote tests, too. After the test, it will provide advice on how to decide what changes to make.

Delivering a sophisticated, aesthetically pleasing website helps create both a resource that meets the content provider’s objectives the presents to end users a work of art that draws them back again and again to find out “what is new” because of its visual appeal.

The investment in comprehensive design upfront maximizes the positive impact of the site while minimizing ongoing website updating costs. The initial investment serves as a rock-solid core for future growth, where additional information and features can be added down the road without having to redesign the entire website.

In other words, investing in a website design that meets the criteria presented in this paper reduces the OVERALL LIFE CYCLE COSTS OF THE WEBSITE.

INCLUDE SOCIAL MEDIA AND OTHER RESOURCES & TOOLS TO INCREASE WEBSITE EFFECTIVENESS

Many companies forget to integrate social media into their websites. Social media allows open communication and provides a way to exponentially increase communication channels. Also, blogs open up communication and establish you as an expert in your field. This allows potential customers to get to know you and your business, and build trust within your business. Many free platforms allow the business owner to have a fully functional blog.

For sign companies, many different website features can educate people about signs. A Flash show could depict examples of past work. Also, visual examples could border of the page that explains about signs. Adding a video that educates people about signs could dramatically increase traffic.

Most sign companies and small businesses use their online presence to stake their small claim on the seemingly unlimited Internet. The Internet grows by leaps and bounds daily. Several options can help businesses claim their share of business from Internet marketing; some must be purchased, and others can be accomplished at no charge.

Paid options include targeted advertising and ad placement, through services such as Google. For example, if a small business (say for example, an online hardware store) wants to sell products, it can pay Google to place targeted ads on relevant websites (for example, a webpage on home improvement). Google can help match the small business’s products to the webpage where they’re displayed. This requires well-written content, with appropriate keywords that describe those products or services, and the design of “landing pages,” or the page your website visitors arrive at after having clicked on a link.

For example, if an ad is for hammers, clicks should be directed to a page specifically selling hammers rather than to the website’s homepage. Landing pages make it easier for end-users to find what they’re looking for (which means high relevancy — they require fewer clicks to find what they want), and can be tracked and streamlined with services such as Google Analytics.

On the other hand, many free options can drive traffic to your website. Two free tools, Website Grader and Website Validator, offer suggestions on improving your SEO score and tips on fixing errors on your website. Suggestions include creating a few keywords for your website, which can be embedded in meta tags, and should be unique for each page on the website. These keywords tell search engines what the page is about.

In more technical jargon, a meta tag is a special HTML tag that stores information about a webpage, but isn’t displayed in a web browser. For example, meta tags provide information, such as what program created the page, a description of the page and keywords relevant to the page.

Also, keywords that appear frequently in headings and text on the webpage indicate to search engines page relevance to your readers. Sign-company owners should consider what search queries their clients would enter when looking for them, and make sure those words appear frequently on the website, in headings and verbiage, as well as in meta-tag descriptors (which are hidden from view but embedded in the code of webpages for search engines). For example, a custom electric-sign company would insert such meta-tag descriptors as”channel letters,””LEDs,” “custom,” and “neon.”

A content-management system (CMS) enables companies to edit their content internally, perhaps even without the need for a webmaster. For a small business owner, this might simplify changing the content on their website without having to pay someone to make minor updates.

However, additional systems can add extra complexity. You should carefully choose a CMS system that meets your current and future needs without overwhelming the person that ends up using it. Otherwise, that person will end up either not using it or using it marginally, which is a waste of time and money. In many cases, it’s better to send minor updates to the web developer or website manager, and offload the complexity to somebody that better understands it.

Many companies like to collect a big check to develop a website, but are less eager to help out after it has launched. I advise clients to carefully choose a web-development company for the long-term – and also one that will make quick changes when needed.

FUNCTIONALITY

Particular browsers and users can turn off functionality, such as Flash or JavaScript, to disable the features and content associated with that technology. Some people are annoyed by the “glitz” and disable these technologies to ease their browsing experience. Embedding important content, such as the website’s main navigation system (menu/buttons), in a technology such as Flash can cause these users to miss this content. If end users turn off Flash, and your website uses it to create the menu and buttons, they couldn’t navigate the website.

Good designs should account for all users’ needs, so the most important content is delivered according to standards that are supported (and tested) across various platforms and browsers, including those where particular features, such as Flash, are disabled.

On the daily level, the more frequently you update content, the better. Search engines like to see content updated roughly once a week to maintain frequent crawls. Of course, update frequency can vary, based on the nature of the website’s goals: A news site should change content frequently, while other sites, such as an individual’s personal home page that contains family photos, might not need to update as frequently, because SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is less of a priority.

Also, a page should load instantly. People expect pages to come up within a couple of seconds of loading a website. Of course, this depends on the speed of their Internet connection. However web pages can be programmed to conserve bandwidth and reduce the size of transferred data, such as images. A good web-design company takes special care when compressing images to retain quality, and use dynamic styles that can be drawn by the browser to reduce the number and size of images that need to be transferred.

A simple add-on to a website is a hit counter. Hit counters can be set up to count ‘unique’ visitors, so the same person visiting the site only counts once (based on IP address). This information shows the effectiveness of marketing campaigns to draw new site visitors.

Furthermore, analytics tools measure how long people stay on your site and what pages they visit, and tally visits by geographic location. This can help put the pieces of the puzzle together to see exactly how effectively a campaign or advertisement brings in people, tracking where they go on the site, and for how long.

Michel Ann Sharritt is VP of CueCamp (Naperville, IL), which offers such services as usability-research testing, web design, social-media integration, software usability and analytics analysis. They host monthly webinars that educate the average business owner on websites. For more information, call (630) 962-7043 or visit www.cuecamp.com.

Written by: Michel Ann Sharritt
Posted by: CueCamp

The post What to Know: Hiring a Web Design Company appeared first on CueCamp.