http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Design/Web-Design/Usability/E-Commerce A listing of the most recently indexed works about Design and Web Design and Usability and E Commerce in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Design/Web-Design/Usability/E-Commerce http://tc.eserver.org/35454.html http://tc.eserver.org/35454.html When designing an online store, you have to consider many different types of customers: repeat customers, first-timers, people in a rush, etc. One thing that would help all of them is optimum usability. You can achieve this in a variety of ways, starting with eliminating the most common usability problems from your website. Fixing any one of the following eight common usability problems will get you started on the path to usability and user-experience heaven and, ultimately, more sales. http://tc.eserver.org/34870.html http://tc.eserver.org/34870.html The job of a retail site is to attract the consumer, sell the product, and deliver it. In the case of a manufacturer site, the only difference when encountering a retail customer is that, instead of delivering the product, the site may deliver the customer—to an authorized retailer. http://tc.eserver.org/33012.html http://tc.eserver.org/33012.html Usability consultant Paul Englefield takes you on a journey to demonstrate that listening to your customers is the only way to provide the ultimate usability when designing an e-commerce site or Web-based applications. Through examples, the article weaves user-centered design techniques into the steps of designing an effective business site, focusing on gathering data about your customers' (and their customers') usage behaviors, offers two design models, and demonstrates how to integrate customers' input into the testing and evaluation process. http://tc.eserver.org/31800.html http://tc.eserver.org/31800.html Persuading people to do what you want them to do on your website isn't as hard as you think. Read through these top tips and so your online conversion rates can soar! http://tc.eserver.org/31193.html http://tc.eserver.org/31193.html A list of common mistakes with e-commerce shopping cart design were identified in a previous issue of Usability News. This article revisits that list and reviews how 500 of the top Internet retail sites of today implemented their shopping cart design. http://tc.eserver.org/30218.html http://tc.eserver.org/30218.html Converting visitors to buyers can be easily achieved by following some basic rules of conversion. http://tc.eserver.org/30221.html http://tc.eserver.org/30221.html The use of effective images to sell online is crucial. Read through these essential guidelines and find out how to use images to increase conversion rates. http://tc.eserver.org/28299.html http://tc.eserver.org/28299.html Filtering and sorting are essential for helping users find the products they're looking for. Find out how to make best use of this essential functionality. http://tc.eserver.org/28025.html http://tc.eserver.org/28025.html A usability study was conducted to identify usability problems as well as recommendations for improvement for three travel sales websites. The study performed testing on twenty participants, between the ages of 19 and 65, recruited from the university campus consisting of students, faculty, and staff. The three websites tested were Expedia.com, Orbitz.com, and Travelocity.com. Each participant was given general instructions and a pre-survey to determine their demographics and level of Internet experience. The usability study tested participants on the task of finding the same itinerary on each travel website. The participant during testing was under observation of the experimenter that maintained an observation log. A post-survey along with a debriefing session was conducted to gather additional feedback. The average testing time for participants was 30 minutes. The results of this study are presented as well as a future research discussion consisting of the development of usability guidelines for designers of travel websites. http://tc.eserver.org/27961.html http://tc.eserver.org/27961.html The homepages of three leading Chinese retail banks are assessed for their usability. http://tc.eserver.org/27694.html http://tc.eserver.org/27694.html User testing shows that business-to-business websites have substantially lower usability than mainstream consumer sites. If they want to convert more prospects into leads, B2B sites should follow more guidelines and make it easier for prospects to research their offerings. http://tc.eserver.org/27535.html http://tc.eserver.org/27535.html This study investigated the effect of the type (banner ad, pop-up ad and floating ad) and state (animated and non-animated) of online advertisements on recall and recognition of the advertisements. It was hypothesized that floating ads, pop-up ads, and animated ads would be easier to recall due to their intrusive nature. Results showed that participants in the pop-up ad and floating ad condition had better recall of the presence of the ad as well as better recognition. Animation did not significantly influence any of these measures. http://tc.eserver.org/27391.html http://tc.eserver.org/27391.html Discuss their initiative to make user-centered design a central part of RBC Royal Bank's Online Banking. http://tc.eserver.org/27168.html http://tc.eserver.org/27168.html B2B sites often have overly complex pricing structures or can't show prices at all. To help prospects with early research, list representative cases and their prices. http://tc.eserver.org/26640.html http://tc.eserver.org/26640.html Many design elements work for Amazon.com mainly because of its status as the world's largest and most established e-commerce site. Normal sites should not copy Amazon's design. http://tc.eserver.org/26636.html http://tc.eserver.org/26636.html Users often convert to buyers long after their initial visit to a website. A full 5% of orders occur more than four weeks after users click on search engine ads. http://tc.eserver.org/26391.html http://tc.eserver.org/26391.html The lessons for FreshDirect's usability success can be applied to many e-commerce businesses. http://tc.eserver.org/26031.html http://tc.eserver.org/26031.html Some organisations still take a function-centric approach to their online transactions with customers. Functionality is king, and interactions with the customer are seen as secondary. http://tc.eserver.org/26035.html http://tc.eserver.org/26035.html UK e-commerce businesses could be losing as much as half their local business, if they opt for a 'dot com' web address. http://tc.eserver.org/24467.html http://tc.eserver.org/24467.html Users will often overlook the actual location of information or products if another website area seems like the perfect place to look. Cross-references and clear labels alleviate this problem. http://tc.eserver.org/24463.html http://tc.eserver.org/24463.html Reduce the bounce rate for organic landing pages, collect data to manage PPC for maximum ROI, and take five other steps to maximize your site's holiday sales potential before it's too late. http://tc.eserver.org/23997.html http://tc.eserver.org/23997.html Depending on which research report you read, roughly 25% to 75% of online shoppers abandon their shopping carts before consummating the deal. Despite the disparity in numbers, all the research firms agree on one thing: that's way too many. http://tc.eserver.org/23906.html http://tc.eserver.org/23906.html The best way for e-commerce sites to increase subsequent orders is to treat customers well after they place their initial order. http://tc.eserver.org/23833.html http://tc.eserver.org/23833.html How do you lead your business-to-business clients down the right path without sacrificing every design, usability, and information design principle you’ve ever learned? And how do you make these websites engaging for users? Nancy Carl offers advice for creating successful B2B websites. http://tc.eserver.org/23302.html http://tc.eserver.org/23302.html This study reports on the usability test of three weight loss websites. In addition, eye tracking patterns were observed for initial exposure to each site home page. Results indicate that participants were able to search the Atkins diet site more efficiently than the Jenny Craig website or Weight Watchers website and preferred this site overall. Analysis of eye-tracking data suggests users first fixate on graphics and large text even when looking for specific information. Interface issues contributing to overall satisfaction and preference are discussed. http://tc.eserver.org/23062.html http://tc.eserver.org/23062.html You can increase sales on your site as much as 225% by offering sufficient product information to your customers at the time they need it. One way to do this is to develop product lists that don't require shoppers to bounce back-and-forth between the list and individual product pages. http://tc.eserver.org/22383.html http://tc.eserver.org/22383.html Suggested tasks for testing of ecommerce sites such as compare product features for products A and B. http://tc.eserver.org/21160.html http://tc.eserver.org/21160.html If you are a Web site developer and you want to create a safe, warm, and comfortable e-commerce environment for your users, then you will want to consider several issues. Start first by thinking about your own online shopping and purchasing concerns. What do you like? What don't you like? What do think are the indicators of online security and personal and financial privacy? http://tc.eserver.org/21106.html http://tc.eserver.org/21106.html The purpose of this article is to openly display my disgust with Amazon and to discuss the implications. On Monday, 11-June-2000, I ordered a gift certificate from Amazon.com. I was going to use the certificate for Father's Day, however Amazon failed to send the certificate in time. So, I drove to Barnes and Noble, bought some books, and bought a gift certificate. Amazon just lost $82.62. http://tc.eserver.org/21086.html http://tc.eserver.org/21086.html In light of recent terrorist attacks on the United States, Amazon.com set up a page to collect donations for the Red Cross. Over the course of about two and half days, I recorded the donation activity on that page. An analysis of the data revealed that the average amount of money donated by each person steadily increased (i.e., donation gravity). This manifestation of donation gravity is discussed, along with several usability ideas that can help you design a better online donation web page. http://tc.eserver.org/21081.html http://tc.eserver.org/21081.html The article briefly highlights some frustrations sellers have with eBay's Checkout feature. http://tc.eserver.org/21018.html http://tc.eserver.org/21018.html User success rates on e-commerce sites are only 56%, and most sites comply with only a third of documented usability guidelines. Given this, improving a site's usability can substantially increase both sales and a site's odds of survival. http://tc.eserver.org/19607.html http://tc.eserver.org/19607.html This website is for people who want to improve the usability of their e-commerce site. http://tc.eserver.org/19292.html http://tc.eserver.org/19292.html In CRM, user acceptance is a huge issue. End users, who are rarely the same people who choose applications in the first place, can be extraordinarily resourceful when it comes to undermining or working around new products or implementations introduced by manager. All this means that creating applications that are efficient and enjoyable to use is imperative for both ISVs and CRM implementers. http://tc.eserver.org/19054.html http://tc.eserver.org/19054.html In the e-business chain, the last link that needs to be convinced of the security of an online transaction is the end-user. That is why this article puts forward a user-centred perspective of the problem of trust in online payments, derived from the discipline of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). We will first offer a general account of e-commerce system design, showing that there is more to trust than only security. The last part gives some recommendations on what can be done to increase consumers' trust. http://tc.eserver.org/19053.html http://tc.eserver.org/19053.html A validated model of trust was used as a framework for an empirical study to identify on- and offline factors that influence gamblers’ perception of an online casino’s trustworthiness. The results suggest that the quality with which casinos address gamblers’ trust concerns by providing appropriate content is the prime factor. However, designing for trust must be part of a consistent strategy that also involves customer service and usability. http://tc.eserver.org/18571.html http://tc.eserver.org/18571.html E-tailers grapple with everything from out-of-sight marketing costs to troubles with shipping. But another problem is close to home: Sites are hard to use, and that's turning off customers. Thirty leading e-commerce Web sites are riddled with flaws, concludes a soon-to-be-released site usability report. The study by Forrester Research and User Interface Engineering, a Bradford, Mass., usability testing company, is based on the experiences of 18 customers who were given $50 to buy things online. Amazon.com, L.L. Bean's site and REI.com were among the 30 sites surveyed. Forrester will issue the full report card later this month, but all sites had flaws. Shoppers in the test ran into dozens of problems that ranged from locating products to finding enough information to make a purchase decision to checking out.