Customer Interface

Agenda What are the seven design elements of the customer

interface? What determines the look-and-feel of the site? What are the dimensions of content? Why be concerned with community? What are the levers used to customize a site? What types of communication can a firm maintain

with its customer base? How does a firm connect with other businesses? What are the main features of commerce that support

the various aspects of trading transactions?

Seven Design Elements of Customer Interface

Context Site’s layout and design

Content Text, pictures, sound and video that webpages contain

Community The ways sites enable user-to-user communication

Customization Site’s ability to self-tailor to different users or to allow users to personalize the site

Communication The ways sites enable site-to-user communication or two-way communication

Connection Degree site is linked to other sites

Commerce Site’s capabilities to enable commercial transactions

What Determines the Look-and-Feel of Design? Context: look-and-feel of a screen-to-face customer

interface. Dimensions of Context: Function and Aesthetics Function

Factors Critical in Site Layout: Section Breakdown, Linking Structure & Navigation Tools

Performance of Site: Speed, Reliability, Platform Independence, Media

Accessibility and Usability

Aesthetics Color Scheme & Visual Themes

What are the Dimensions of Content?Content refers to any digital information

included on a website, e.g. audio, video, images and text.

Dimensions of Content: Offering Mix Appeal Mix Multimedia Mix Content Type

Why Community?Sense of community can encourage

customers to return to a website primarily because: Community can create attractive content Community can make certain activities

possible or easier, thus satisfying needs not attainable individually.

What are the Levers Used to Customize a Site? Customization: To better address individual

needs, a site can be altered by the user or by the organization.

Dimensions of Customization: Personalization and Tailoring

Personalization: Login registration, cookies, personalized email account, content and layout configurations, storage and agents.

Tailoring: based on past behavior or behavior of other users with similar preferences.

What Types of Communication can a Firm Maintain with its Customer Base

Communication refers to the dialogue that is initiated by the firm.

Dimensions of Communication:1. Broadcast

Mass mailings, FAQs, email newsletters, content update notifications, broadcast events

2. Interactive E-commerce dialogue, customer service, user input

3. Hybrid Combination of broadcast and interactive

How does a Firm Connect With Other Businesses? Connection is the degree to which a given

site is able to “link” to other sites through a hypertext jump, or hyperlink, from one webpage to another.

Dimensions of Connection: Links to Sites Homesite Background Outsourced Content Percentage of Homesite Content Pathway of Connection

What are the Dimensions of Commerce? Commerce capabilities are those features of the customer

interface that support the various aspects of trading transactions.

Dimensions of Commerce: Registration Shopping Cart Security Credit Card Approval; One-click Shopping Orders Through Affiliates Configuration Technology Order Tracking Delivery Options