The Chatterbox

Usability Part II

Let's now delve a little deeper into the subject of Usability and start to tie it all together with your site design, navigation and copy. While we're at it we will also dispel a few myths, just for fun.

First, it is very important that all of your links tell the user exactly what they lead to. It is also very important that you follow up on that promise when they reach the page. I know this seems quite obvious, however you would be amazed at how many pages/sites out there do not follow this common sense approach.

Put into terms everyone can understand, let's relate the user experience for your web site to that of a customer in a grocery store. It sounds silly, but is a very valid comparison.

When you walk into a grocery store you're already in Buying Mode. Meaning if you can find what you want without having to expend too much effort you're going to buy it. So what is the process and what have the grocery stores done to help you find what you're looking for?

For instance, let's say you were going to the store to pick up some Mocha Java Gourmet Coffee. How do you find it?

Well, you start by looking at the signs that hang over each aisle to find the Coffee section. Then you walk down that aisle looking for the Gourmet coffees. Lastly you narrow it down to the specific kind of coffee you're looking for, Mocha Java, and read the packaging to decide which brand/version we want to purchase.

Notice how none of this process requires deep thought until the very last step? It's a natural progression.

Also notice that when we do start thinking about it and asking ourselves questions it's not a "Do I want to go to another store?" type of situation. More often than not it's a "Do I want this brand or that brand?" type of question. Or maybe "Do I want to try something other than Mocha Java this time?"

Regardless, we're still going to buy from the same store because we didn't have to think the moment we walked into the store. This is something all of us do every day, even though we don't realize it on a conscious level.

I'll give them their props, the grocery stores have done a really good job (for the most part) of removing obstacles from our path to make sure we buy from them. That's why it's a very good model to follow for our web sites. I'm here to tell you that 90% of the process of making a sale to every (legitimate) visitor to your site is nothing more than not making them think until it's time to hand over their money.

Here's something most people never realize... As with grocery stores, the vast majority of people will enter your e-commerce site in Buyer Mode. Your job is to remove as many obstacles as possible from their path, just like the grocery stores have. Doing so keeps them in Buyer Mode, which is where we want to keep them.

So let's transfer now to your web site. Let's say you have an e-commerce store that sells all kinds of coffee, tea, cocoa, etc. How do you accomplish this goal of making the entire process a natural progression that people are already conditioned to accept?

Now this is going to seem quite obvious at this point, but you model your site's navigation after that used in grocery stores! You make it easy for people to find a logical starting point and drill down to find exactly what they're looking for.

So on your home page (and every page for that matter) you have main navigation links near the top of the page that read something like Coffee, Tea and Cocoa.

Once someone reaches your Coffee level, assuming you carry lots of coffee type, some gourmet and some not, you offer them additional navigation links to go to different categories. Such as Normal Coffee (the big brands), and Gourmet Coffee. Depending upon your products you may even break this down further at this level. For instance you may break it down to Espresso, Cappuccino, Fruit Flavored Coffees, etc.

Then once you get to the Gourmet Coffee level, you list the details of (and/or link to if you need another level) all of the types and brands of gourmet coffee you carry so that your customer can make their choice. By this point they're already 90% sold on the concept of buying from you and they've not had to think at all !

If your copywriting is good at describing the various types of gourmet coffees you carry, you can bet that you're going to convert a lot of the people reaching this level into customers. In their mind, just like in the grocery store, it's not an If/Not question anymore. It's an Either/Or choice. They're going to buy something from you. The only question is which brand(s) and how much.

Now, doesn't that make sense? You know it does!

I challenge you however to go look at some of the top ranked gourmet coffee sites out there and study them for usability.

How many of these sites make the mistake of making you Think too early in the process. How many make it plainly obvious from the very first page which link to click on to get to their Coffee section? And how many times do you have to think about (or guess) which link will take you to the Mocha Java Gourmet Coffee that you're intersted in?

I just looked at each of the Top 10 in one search engine. Of those, only 1 was doing it substantially correct, though it had a couple of issues mid-way through the process where I had to think or guess. The rest failed my little usability test horribly.

If I had a Gourmet Coffee site (I don't) and managed to get it into the Top 10 I would hazard to guess that I'd be able to steal a lot of the other guys customers, simply because my site would be a lot easier to use. Once they found my site and realized that they didn't have to put a lot of thought into finding the type of coffee they wanted, those customers would never go back to the other guys. They would be mine forever.

While we're at it, let's dispel a few myths.

Some would say that you should have links directly to the lowest level (the one that displays the actual products) right on the home page. That may work for very small sites, but once you're carrying 15-20 products it just doesn't pan out.

You may think you're doing a good job of giving people exactly what they want on the home page, but in reality all you're doing is cluttering things up, creating a lot of noise to wade through and making people start thinking right from the get go.

Here's the deal...

People surfing the web don't read the entire page first, then make their choice as to which link would be the best to follow. Instead they scan the page and choose the first link they see that might provide what they're looking for!

For this reason you need to take a very simplistic approach to your site. Make the links to the things you offer clear and prominent right at the top of the page. Give people a way to drill down for more specific information.

It is a total myth that people will only click 3 or 4 times within a site to find what they want. That only applies when they have to think every time they make a click. Literally hundreds of usability studies have shown that as long as the progression is a natural one and people don't have to give a lot of thought to the next step they'll gladly drill down many, many levels to find what they're after.

Moral of the story?

As simplistic as it sounds, don't make them think until it's time to choose which item they're going to buy! If you can manage this one thing your conversions are going to skyrocket.