you can’t buy it if you can’t find...

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You Can’t Buy it if You Can’t Find it

#ConvCon @BentleyUXC @UXMetrics

Bill Albert Executive Director Bentley University User Experience Center www.bentley.edu/uxc [email protected]

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About Me


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A Short Story


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UX and ROI


• Lee.com increased traffic by 20% and revenue by 98% in 12 months (Usability Sciences).

• La Quinta (LQ.com) increased online revenue by 83% through usability testing (Usability Sciences).

• Staples.com saw 67% more repeat customers and a 31% reduction in drop off rates (Human Factors International).

• American Eagle saw a 53% increase in sales in one month following usability improvements (Interneweek.com).

• A change in one button resulted in $300M for an ecommerce company (User Interface Engineering).

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Lessons Learned


• > 1,000 participants

• Search and navigation is nearly universal

• Usability issues are common and pervasive

• Details matter A LOT!

• Significant impact on UX and ROI

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Caveats


• Other aspects of ecommerce are equally as important

• My recommendations are not set in stone

• Principles cut across platforms

• No offense to anyone!

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Top 10 UX Recommendations: Search


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1. Search Box The search box must be easy to find and persistent


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2. Search Flexibility


Search must be flexible – allowing the user different forms of input

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3. Search Forgiveness Search must be forgiving – allow for misspellings, partial phrases –use auto complete


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4. No Results Never show “no results found” – always present alternatives, clarifications – use “did you mean”?.


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5. Search Filters Search filters are an excellent way to narrow the results in a meaningful way


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6. Sorting Results Allow the user a simple way to sort by relevant criteria


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7. Displaying Results Only display the most relevant information for each search result


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8. Clean Design Simplify the design – make the results page scannable – keep information density low


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9. Remove Distractions Keep the focus on the search results – everything else is distraction


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10. Revisit Results Allow the user an easy way to revisit the search results – pogo-sticking

#ConvCon @BentleyUXC @UXMetrics 17

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Top 10 UX Recommendations: Navigation

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1. Obvious Navigation Navigation must be easy to find and persistent – kill the hamburger menu


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2. Top-Level Categories Top level categories must be intuitive, distinctive, and at the same level


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3. Clickable Categories Top-level and secondary categories must be clickable


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4. Right Number of Categories It’s important not to have too few/many categories (first and second level) – use expandable categories


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5. Intuitive Labels Navigation terms must be immediately intuitive and non-overlapping – no more mystery meat!


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6. Smart Filters Use filters to quickly narrow down the options in a navigation menu


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7. Cross-Referencing Cross-reference specific products which are likely to be looked for in different categories


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8. Breadcrumbs Include breadcrumbs or topic paths to show current position and options for moving up the hierarchy


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9. Navigation Ease of Use Navigation functionality needs to be easy to use and not interfere with content or other functionality


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10. Single Navigation Avoid competing navigation structures so users intuitively understand the site hierarchy


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Solutions


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Research Methods • Personas and field research • Information architecture • Usability testing • Surveys • Web analytics • Voice of customer


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Open Card Sorting Use open card sorting to generate alternative IA’s


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Closed Card Sorting Compare competing IA’s by analyzing the difference between Max% and 2nd place


% Agreement: Difference Between Winning

Category and Next Nearest Category

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

55%

Framework

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Framework

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Framework

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Framework

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Framework

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Framework

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# of

groups 4 4 3 3 9 4

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Tree-Tests Evaluate proposed IA including all sub-levels – success, directness, and time metrics


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First Click Tests Evaluate intuitiveness of top-level categories based on visual treatments of design prototype


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Top Mistakes to Avoid


• Assuming you know how your customer thinks

• “Let’s make the navigation fun”

• Assuming customers like to read/scan

• Selling too early

• Details don’t matter that much

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Questions?


Bill Albert Executive Director Bentley University User Experience Center www.bentley.edu/uxc [email protected]

you can’t buy it if you can’t find...

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