Basically what is happening is that we have not yet understood the characteristics and differences of the Internet compared to other media, which is leading us to make big mistakes in the development of our websites.
Consider "physical" stores and department stores. It has taken many years to learn to improve the user experience and thus increase their satisfaction and therefore achieve more sales. It would never occur to us to find a shop with crystals on the floor, with a chair crossed in the entrance and the like.
What would happen if when entering a large area, we had a two-meter moat at the entrance instead of the pleasant view that prompts us to enter? Obviously, most people would not attempt to jump the two-meter pit to gain access, and what they would do would be to shop elsewhere.
Well, these problems are the ones that occur exactly on many websites: very high load times, ineffective websites, overly "overloaded" designs, information presented in a confusing way, a low value proposition for the user, etc.
Continuing with the analogy, let's think about what a trade would be like with the characteristics of current websites. The characteristics would be the following:
- There would be a two-meter moat at the entrance. Instead of the real situation, which is a vision of all the interesting things that commerce can offer us. A person would say, "we are dedicated to selling and if you don't want to buy, it's bothering us here" instead of finding a "focused" site. to leisure and user experience »where we can spend pleasant times and buy in a pleasant way. It would take a quarter of an hour to attend to us in the best case (and sometimes no one would attend to us) instead of having proper attention instantly. There would be a very nice and colorful design but very little functional and that would be problematic because we would go through the trade stumbling upon those obstacles.There would be unclear product locations and we would not easily identify what is in each of them with which we would go to buy a tie and find a bottle of cologne.Instead of keeping track of the business, we would simply complain that things they do not work without looking for alternatives or explanations. The behavior of the users would not be observed, appreciating that the users are hitting every day against a box and doing nothing to fix it. Banners of 30 lines of text appear to explain that there is a promotion or the location of a product so that users would not stop to read them due to their length and poor clarity.We would simply complain that things do not work without looking for alternatives or explanations. You would not observe the behavior of the users, appreciating that the users are hitting every day against a box and doing nothing to fix it. Banners of 30 lines of text to explain that there is a promotion or the location of a product with which users would not stop to read them due to their length and poor clarity.We would simply complain that things do not work without looking for alternatives or explanations. You would not observe the behavior of the users, appreciating that the users are hitting every day against a box and doing nothing to fix it. Banners of 30 lines of text to explain that there is a promotion or the location of a product with which users would not stop to read them due to their length and poor clarity.
"Well, this is what we find on websites: big problems for users."
Making a comparison of these hypothetical problems of physical stores and their analogy with the website we find some similarities:
|
Wrong physical trade |
Correct physical trade |
Wrong website |
Correct website |
|
There would be a two-meter moat at the entrance |
A nice entry with an overview of what can be found in commerce |
There are significant accessibility issues because many websites employ technologies and load times that are not always available to users. |
Employ technologies and charging times available to ALL users |
|
A person would come out saying "we are dedicated to selling and if you do not want to buy, it is bothering us here" |
A "leisure place" where you can spend pleasant times and also buy |
We do not seek a positive user experience, but the websites are focused on transmitting corporate information and selling |
Seek a positive user experience offering value to the target audience of our website |
|
It would take them a quarter of an hour to attend to us in the best case (and sometimes no one would attend to us) |
Attention is immediate at the moment we want it |
When we contact by email, the average response time is very high |
Get to reply to emails in less than 24 hours |
|
There would be a very nice and colorful design but very little functional and that would be problematic because we would go through the trade stumbling upon those obstacles. |
A nice and functional design |
The design and the flash animations make very aesthetic but very little functional designs |
ALWAYS put the functionality above the design avoiding the use of flash except in justified cases |
|
There would be unclear product locations and we would not easily identify what is in each of them with which we would go to buy a tie and find a bottle of cologne. |
Get a clear product layout |
The information is not structured in a clear way having great problems finding the information sought. |
Thoroughly work the information architecture so that the user can quickly find what they are looking for |
|
Instead of keeping track of the business, we would simply complain that things don't work without looking for alternatives or explanations |
Define a series of indicators to know the exact status of the business (billing, costs, related ratios, etc.) |
There are no business indicators to assess the success of the Internet presence |
Define a series of indicators that allow us to clearly know the measure of the success of our presence and to be able to take measures accordingly |
|
The behavior of the users is not observed, appreciating that the users are hitting every day with against a box and doing nothing to solve it |
Observe user behavior to improve their experience in the purchase process |
Statistics are not used to analyze user behavior on the website |
Use statistics and their correct exploitation to know more about users, their preferences and their process. |
|
Banners of 30 lines of text appear to explain that there is a promotion or the location of a product so that users would not stop to read them due to their length and poor clarity |
Clear headlines indicating products, promotions, etc. are used. |
Web pages are not written in a clear and concise manner |
Write clearly and concisely |
We see in the previous table how we found that there are very important analogies between solutions in physical stores and websites, which we could summarize in an "obsession" with the user experience. In other words, the objective is to achieve a good user experience, to identify with our website and feel comfortable with it.
With this, achieving this conversion of visits into business results is only a matter of time.
In addition to all this, in most cases the possibilities of interactivity with users are undervalued: not collecting information about them and their preferences, sending information of interest to them, not inviting them enough to contact us, etc.
This is all because user time is the critical element: users don't give a second chance. According to a K&R study, on average, after 5 clicks and not finding the information users were looking for, they are frustrated and in that case, 83% go to another website. This analysis is in line with the following one carried out by Forrester Research:
Looking at this statistic, why do we keep seeing websites that disregard these considerations?
As previously mentioned, it is due to a lack of knowledge of the medium and treating the Internet as an extension of physical supports such as the press or billboards.
In conclusion, the design of websites must be approached from a purely functional point of view since it is what the user values most. In addition, as in the rest of the organization, the customer focus is basic and there must be a clear value proposition for him.
