DFWIMA Panel Discussion May 13, 2003

1
DFWIMA Panel Discussion May 13, 2003

• Site Usability How to Maximize Customer
  Interaction and Profits
• How to Make Customers Happy on the Web
• Charlie Burke
• Vividence Corporation

2
How to Make Customers Happy on the Web

• Marketing Doesnt Make Customers Happy
• Specific Suggestions to Increase Customer
  Happiness
• Home Page
• Search
• Browsing and Navigation
• Conclusion

3
How to Make Customers Happy on the Web

• Marketing Doesnt Make Customers Happy
• Collection of Complaints
• Dynamic pricing
• Pop-up surveys that appear at inopportune
  moments
• The use of jargon, hyperbole, and other forms
  of marketese
• Slick images, animations and movies that load
  slowly, cause computers to crash and deliver
  little useful information
• Home pages cluttered with too much information
• Flashy features that look good but only work
  for those with high-speed internet access
• Sites loaded with distracting advertising,
  especially ads disguised as content
• Promotions that are confusing and frustrating
  to redeem
• Registration forms that request unnecessary
  personal information
• Automatic newsletter registration from which it
  is difficult to unsubscribe
• Hiding costs, such as shopping subtotals,
  shipping costs, taxes, site commissions, and
  return information

4
How to Make Customers Happy on the Web

• Specific Suggestions To Increase Customer
  Happiness
• Home Page
• Organize the home page for the users
  perspective
• Clearly state the value proposition
• Reduce clutter
• Direct users to specific use cases
• Personalize to present the most relevant
  information for the users context
• Educate novices

5
How to Make Customers Happy on the Web

• Specific Suggestions To Increase Customer
  Happiness
• Search
• Improve accuracy
• Increase relevancy of results
• Do not assume that users understand Boolean
  logic
• Provide a universal search box
• Automatically detect the users context
• Group and sort results
• Let users further refine results

6
How to Make Customers Happy on the Web

• Specific Suggestions To Increase Customer
  Happiness
• Browsing and Navigating
• Provide breadcrumbs that highlight the users
  path
• Cross-categorize information
• Follow navigation conventions
• Tailor navigation designs to fit the site

7
How to Make Customers Happy on the Web

• Conclusion
• Focus on users when making decisions about Web
  marketing and design
• Obtain user feedback early and often
• Web experience should include behaviors,
  thoughts, and feelings of users
• Design site to anticipate and choreograph all
  the common use cases

8
How to Make Customers Happy on the Web

• Contact Information
• Charlie Burke
• Southwest Region Strategic Account Manager
• Vividence Corporation
• office 972-618-2225
• fax [phone]
• mobile [phone]
• email charlieb_at_vividence.com
• www.vividence.com