You only really notice the usability of a product when it’s not there. It’s very easy to come up with examples of poor usability, but for the most part, people don’t usually know the reasons for why one product is easy to use, and one is difficult and frustrating to use. Well, it doesn’t happen by accident! Most of the great products out there that we enjoy using have been through intensive user experience design and usability testing.

Here’s our ten most common reasons for why a product has poor usability:

1) Too much focus on features and technology

Many projects start off with project leaders and stakeholders having a strong desire to use latest technology or to develop a product with endless features. Feature development and testing are given a high priority and will often have a dedicated technical team responsible for them. The projects which go wrong are the ones that fail to balance these features against what users really need. Instead user requirements are an afterthought thrown in towards the end of development when much of the interface has already been developed.

2) Designers and developers ’scratch their own itch’

In absence of any contact with real end users, designers and developers have no option than to use their own experiences as a guide.  They end up designing the system according to their own capabilities, understanding and beliefs. Often they will be so deep into the project that they rarely question their decisions. If it works for the way they would use it, then that is good enough.

3) No-one has considered what people really need to use the interface for

It’s easy to get caught up in the detail of a project and immerse yourself in the complexities of how to make a product work well. Sometimes, a project team can be so focused on the inner workings of the system that they fail to step back and question their design decisions from a user perspective. Understanding what users really need, and what situations they are likely to be in when they use the product can completely change the direction of the design.

4) The person with the final say has little or no interface design experience

Often, we will come across a competent and well meaning project leader responsible for the end product who has to make the call on how the product looks and operates. More often than not, this person has little or no experience of user interface design and unwittingly makes decisions without fully considering the impact on the users.

5) Too much focus on quantitative measurement

When a website is doing well, you’ll hear the project team talking about numbers. The number of unique visits, the number of conversions, the number of page views and so on. Unfortunately, the usability of a product or website is not so easily measured. Whilst project teams may know they have a problem with basket abandonment, or low page views on key pages of the site, they rarely understand why users behave the way they do which is key to understanding how to improve usability to fix the issue.

Part 2 of the 10 most common reasons for poor usability will be coming soon. In the meantime, consider this question:

Do your products or services suffer from any of the most common reasons for poor usability?

Related Services: Customer requirements capture, Usability testing, and Customer experience research

Let us introduce you to some of the top customer experience blogs we’ve been reading lately.

We’ve found some inspiring stuff here in the past couple of months so we thought it was only fair to share with you. Here’s what we’ve been enjoying in no particular order:

Work. Play. Experience.
What theatre, film and stand-up comedy can teach us about Impressing Customers
http://workplayexperience.blogspot.com/

Church of the customer
A blog all about the power of creating customer evangelists
http://www.churchofthecustomer.com/blog/

Buzz Canuck
What’s on and under the radar of word of mouth marketing
http://buzzcanuck.typepad.com/

The Perfect Customer Experience
Customer experience marketing, marketplace conversations, social media and demand generation
http://contextrules.typepad.com/transformer/

Experience Matters
Unraveling The Mystery Of Customer Loyalty
http://experiencematters.wordpress.com/

Experienceology
How to turn businesses into great customer experiences
http://experienceology.blogspot.com/

We’ve been trying not to talk too much about the ‘credit crunch’ on our blog because quite frankly we’re sick of hearing about it in the headlines every day. But, if it’s something our clients are worried about, we felt we should provide some ideas on what to do during these uncertain times.

So we’ve created a list of reasons why you should improve your website customer experience:

1)  Rising fuel costs and household bills could mean more people turn online to save money

Instead of driving to the store to shop around, customers are more likely to research and purchase online in an attempt to save costs.  Research suggests that retailers are seeing an increase in online sales at a time when  there is a widespread decline in the high street, making the web a good channel to focus upon during a time when customers are more frugal.

Low cost customer research can yield small changes to a website which can have a big difference in improving customer experience.

2)  Lower numbers of customers with money to spend means finding better ways to improve conversion

With a predicted economic downturn all over the headlines, consumers are likely to restrict their spending and become more considered when making purchase decisions.

Through usability testing you can understand your customers’ newly formed needs and provide an online experience to meet their expectations. This will give you the advatange over yout competitors during this period.

3)  Getting your website in order now means you can have confidence in your site if your budget is reduced

If you have budget now, but you feel it could be sparse in the near future, it’s a wise investment to  ensure the site is delivering what your customers need, and what your board demands.

Understanding the barriers to online conversion now, and knowing how to remove these barriers, will allow you to make strategic changes to stabilise the customer experience.

4)  During periods of restricted budget it is even more important to get your prioritisation right

When budgets are tight, prioritisation becomes a critical decision making tool. All too often, website owners make prioritisation decisions based on business goals and available resource. It is critical to understand your customers’ goals and ensure that you include customer priorities in your thinking.

Having a site which focuses only upon your business goals in our experience is the best way to provide a poor customer experience because you can easily lose sight of customer needs.

5)  When times are tough, people seek experiences which make them feel good

During an economic downturn, marketers have noticed an increase in lipstick sales. The term ‘lipstick factor’ refers to phenomenon where women turn away from the more expensive shoes and clothes towards the less expensive items that make them feel better about themselves. During troubled times people have a greater need to feel better about themselves, so making customers feel good by providing small ‘pick me ups’ during their experience with your site is a way to thrive during the ‘credit crunch’.

Is your website catering to current customer needs?

Related services: Customer Experience Research, Expert Evaluation, and Usability Testing

My girlfriend and I always seem to have real trouble finding a holiday, mainly because the brochures never seem to tell us what we actually want to know, like is the resort likely to be full of Brits abroad, Irish Pubs and McDonalds or can we find a bit of traditional food and culture here.

This time we decided to go for the easier route. So we decided on a budget, we picked a couple of dates we could both do and we set off to our local travel agent. Excited, we sat down in front of a friendly travel consultant and announced that we wanted a holiday in a quiet resort, self-catering, with a pool, around the first two weeks in September. We looked at the travel agent expectantly, she responded with a tired look and asked which resort and apartments we wanted to go to. Right here is where my experience breaks down, and I’m sure so does the experience for many other customers.

Improving travel agent customer experience is key to survival

I don’t want to have to paw through several brochures reading the same old marketing speak which makes every resort sound the same. I want to go to a ‘consultant’ for inspiration and advice. How hard can it be to recommend a quiet resort with self catering? I appreciate there are hundreds, but that’s what you get paid for isn’t it? Otherwise I can do all this independently on the internet and cut you guys out of the picture. Oh wait, that’s what consumers are doing.

For some time now industry experts have predicted the death of the high street travel agent. The stats seem to agree, with one report suggestion that only 7% of us are using the high street to book holidays abroad. If they are to survive, particularly in an uncertain economic climate, travel agents must provide an experience to really compete with the online channel.

The current in-store customer experience only works when customers know exactly what they want

Many of the high-street retail staff are called ‘travel consultants’. A dictionary definition of a consultant is “one who gives expert or professional advice” which is not the experience customers are offered when they are unsure where to go. Instead, they’re handed brochures, told to choose a resort and a couple of hotels and then come back. This places the travel consultant more in the role of a glorified booking agent.

High street travel agents need to adopt a more active role in recommending and inspiring

To improve customer experience travel agents need to be trained to recognise the customers need and provide a service that matches. When customers have vague ideas of what they want, travel agents should recognise the need to play a more inspirational role to match the customer needs to a few different choices and guide them through the process to make a final decision. It’s no surprise that they are losing potential customers to online agents when customers are forced to research the holidays themselves.

Are you responding to your customers needs?

Related services: Customer requirements capture, and Customer experience research

According to a recent article I read, there are over 5,000 people employed in the UK online gambling sector today. Judging by my recent experiences, few of them have ‘user experience’ in their job title. What amazed me was how most of the sites I looked at were clearly not focused upon the novice gambler experience. Maybe they work seamlessly for a seasoned gambler, but for a ‘newbie’ like me, it was so painful that I gave up in the end.

Betting on the next Chelsea manager

Before this weekend there’s been a lot of debate among fellow Chelsea fans over whether Avram Grant will still be Chelsea manager next season. So much so, that I began to feel pretty strongly about the whole thing and in a debate I was challenged to put my money where my mouth was. So that’s what I decided to do. The idea of going online to place a bet felt a lot less daunting than walking into a betting shop, so I started working my way through a few of the more well known gambling sites. Before long I found myself very confused.

Most, if not all the websites I looked at have no ability to search, which I found distressing as they assumed that I knew exactly what I was looking for and where to find it. Finding the Football or Soccer sections seemed to be a struggle and, even when I did, I found nothing that would allow me to bet on the next Chelsea manager. Overwhelmed by the bombardment of ads, promotions and betting options, I struggled to find a betting site that would guide a new user to make clear decisions. I found that I could bet on almost any competition I liked that was happening now or in the immediate future. I could even bet on who would win the Premiership next season, but there was absolutely nothing on future manager predictions. Since this weekend where Grant was sacked, many of the sites now have clear promotions to the various betting options leaving me frustrated that these weren’t clearly available only a week ago.

Little support for gambling ‘newbies’

Intrigued by the online betting user experience, I decided to continue my investigation by looking at the betting for Euro 2008. Although most of the sites listed the betting options in order, from the favourites to the least favourites, I still managed to get myself confused when trying to work out odds like 13/8. Like most other betting ‘newbies’ I just want to know how much I can win if I bet a certain amount, but very few sites let me work this out without forcing me to take the bold step of actually placing a bet.

Many of the sites listing Euro 2008 betting options required a certain level of understanding of gambling terminology with terms like ‘Antepost Betting’ and ‘Double Chance’. These sites made me feel like I didn’t belong, but even worse, they made me feel stupid. As a new user, I required: good navigation allowing me to quickly find what I wanted to bet on, some tools to help me decide which bets might be sound than others (e.g. links to football statistics), a clear way to understand the different betting options, and a method of clearly working out what I would win on each bet.

Poor online user experience

It’s predicted that in 2 years time, the UK gambling market will increase to £1.6bn with 2.1m active gamblers. This growth can be achieved much quicker if these sites paid more attention to improving their user experience.

Customer acquisition and retention are key in the online betting market with the number of sites competing for business. The sites which take the biggest market share over the coming years are likely to be those investing in customer experience for people new to online betting. I found it surprising the barriers customers have to overcome before converting.

Understanding customer requirements and improving usability is not an expensive endeavour, but all too often we see websites that fail to meet the needs of large groups of their audience, and on the face of it, the online betting market appears to be no different.

Are you meeting the needs of your customers online?

Related services: Customer requirements capture, Usability testing, and Customer experience research

It’s easy to see why retailers are turning to more and more self-service kiosks. They put the customer in control, they can reduce operational costs and they save on staff costs. When they are designed well they can improve customer experience because customers grab their goods and leave the store with minimal fuss. When they are designed poorly, they can be time consuming and frustrating having a negative impact on customer experience.

What we’ve noticed in our research is that many of the problems are due to designers and engineers not paying enough attention to customer needs. What the kiosk developers appear to do is take the service tills used by trained retail staff and then redesign the interface for customer use. Trained staff use equipment hundreds of times a day and learn ‘work arounds’ to their frustrations. Customers on the other hand use the equipment infrequently and have much less tolerance for frustration.

To help you make sure your kiosk provides a smooth customer experience rather than a frustrating one, we’ve put together a list of the most common frustrations customers experience when using self-service kiosks/checkouts:

• Poor product or service categorisation - Most kiosks require customers to identify the item before they scan it. Many kiosks haven’t spent enough time researching which categorisation systems are most logical to their customers, leaving customers struggling to locate the best match for their item. When they have a number of items to process, and the queues are building behind them, this can be a real source of stress for customers.

• Kiosks can’t support the speed of input - When customers gain confidence with the checkout and speed their rate of scanning items and placing them on the conveyer or into their ‘bag area’, the system tends to ‘get confused’ and appears to lag behind, issuing confusing error commands to customers asking them to perform actions they have already completed.

• Physical layout and ergonomics don’t support common tasks - Some of the popular self-service checkouts tend to force customers to shuffle between the main screen, and the payment mechanism placed beyond stretching distance away. Before completing their transaction they need to return to the main screen again. This often leads to customers over stretching or shuffling their bags while they struggle to complete their purchase.

• Touchscreens can be unclear - Many checkouts use touchscreen input and a common source of frustration with these are the readability of the screen due to glare from overhead lighting or from the size of the text on the screen. We have observed customers also struggling to know which areas are ‘clickable’ and which are not.

Whilst self-service kiosks become more popular, we feel it is important that they don’t fall into the trap that many websites did in the early days of web development: to assume that customers will adapt to the technology, rather than adapting the technology to the customers. In order for retailers to gain the benefits from self-service, they must ensure that the technology provides a smooth customer experience by focusing upon usability and customer needs very early in the product development lifecycle.

Does your self-service kiosk frustrate your customers?

Related services: Usability testing, Customer-centred design, & Customer experience research

As a regular user of the BBC website and an ex-BBC employee, I find the new Beta of the customisable homepage an exciting concept. I love the idea of opening up my browser and seeing all the news and content I’m interested in, in one place. So, from my perspective it’s a big thumbs up.However, I am a little worried for the less frequent web user. The new web 2.0 style design with the customisable features on every item seems to add visual clutter and makes the simple task of scanning the page more of a struggle. The design is a little ‘in your face’ with the entire page changing colour when users click particular sections (see below), and the sheer size of the content makes me need to move away from the screen slightly to take it all in.

Being the BBC I’m sure there have been numerous usability tests to validate the concept, and allowing people to explore the Beta version before the change is made final is the best way to avoid the shock and horror usually associated with a major change to user expectations. So, I’m sure the BBC have it all under control, but I can’t help feeling slightly worried that the design of the new homepage has had a little too much focus upon the technology and not enough upon how to help users achieve their goals easier.

Whilst the new homepage can’t be described as offering a poor user experience, I would be fascinated to be a fly on the wall in the usability tests of the slightly older, less frequent audience as I’m not sure they will react quite as positively as I did.

What do you think?

It’s that time of year again when many of us are stuck for ideas for Christmas gifts to buy our friends and family. Many people this Christmas will give and receive ‘experience gifts’ in the form of concert tickets, theatre tickets, short breaks, spa days and so on. It seems that we’re no longer content to have the material possessions we once were, instead we now crave new and exciting experiences.

In fact, this is the premise behind the term ‘experience economy’ which many commentators feel is a phase we have now entered. Its thought to be an age where our material needs are more commonly satisfied and instead of upgrading our gadgets we’re increasingly seeking to spend our money on the experiences offered by hotels, coffee shops and so on. Retailers are increasingly coming to terms with the notion that the experience of shopping is slightly more important than the items we buy and take home with us.

The experience economy brings with it a strong need for companies to truly understand their customers wider goals. It’s no longer enough for a company to anticipate and deliver the products people want, instead they must understand the wider goals customers have such as the need to belong to a group, the need for status, and the need for personal growth to name just a few. Those companies who truly understand their customer’s needs and offer experiences which generate an emotional connection between the customer and the brand are going to be the leaders of this new age. Apple, Starbucks, Innocent, Abel and Cole are just a few of the stand out companies who seem to be doing this and they are leaving their competition standing.

In the experience economy, where many customers appear to be seeking meaning and self actualisation in their lives, does your company really understand how to offer an emotional connection with your customers?

A good customer experience is one which integrates business goals with customer goals. So the first thing a company should do is clearly identify their business goals and then talk to their customers to build an understating of their customers’ goals. Then they need to look at ways to integrate them in a seamless experience. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Well it is a simple principle, but in reality it can be hard for companies to let go of some of their business goals to even up the balance. A great example of this is with the Post Office.

If you ask most British people (or indeed non-brits) about their experience in their local Post Office, I’d lay a hefty wager that at least 70% of customers would complain about the queues. In my experience, the total time spent in the post office is about 90% waiting in a line and about 10% actually being served. This situation was no different for me the other day when I spent 10 minutes in a queue to send a parcel abroad which took less than a minute once I was at the counter. Half way through my wait I was frustrated to find that reason for the delay was not because of the usual lack of staff, instead it was due to Post Office staff trying to sell broadband to pensioners who needed every detail to be explained to them. For some reason, management at the Post Office felt that it was more important to push their own broadband service than it was to help customers achieve their goals as quickly as possible. So, not only are they increasing an already annoying waiting time for customers, but they are also encouraging their staff to sell broadband to people in a context which doesn’t support their goal. Why the Post Office want to offer broadband to their already strange set of services is a topic for another day, but this example shows a clear imbalance between Post Office business goals and customer goals.

More often than not, we find that poor customer experience is the direct result of too much emphasis placed on business goals and not enough on customer goals. Quite often it is simply due to a disconnect between the board room and their customers. We try to help senior management gain a better understanding and empathy with their customers to ensure that every business decision has a balance between what the business needs and what the customer needs.

How do you ensure your business goals aren’t overpowering your customer’s goals?

Adverts are everywhere. Everyday we are bombarded by efforts to persuade us to buy this or use that. They raise our expectations by making promises about a product or service. When those promises aren’t kept, customers have a poor experience.

Recently we talked about how customers’ expectations are key to a good experience. Following similar thinking, we believe that when advertising raises customer expectations the customer experience must go beyond expectations in order to deliver a great customer experience.

Good Experience offer a brilliantly simple summary of the relationship between advertising and customer experience:

“Advertising is a promise of something.
Customer experience is the something.”

If companies are pouring money into advertising and raising their customer’s expectations, but they don’t match their investment in customer experience, it would follow that they risk investing in delivering a poor customer experience. As ICE suggest:

“If you were throwing a party, wouldn’t you clean up your house before you invited people over?”

Shouldn’t the people responsible for customer experience be driving the advertising? Only when they are confident the customer experience is consistently excellent should they start advertising. I suspect this is idealistic, but I wonder how much involvement or warning the departments contributing to customer experience have before an advertising campaign goes out.

What do you think? Is your advertising creating unfulfilled customer expectations? Are you spending too much on advertising and not enough on customer experience?