It is fair to say that the Web has changed shopping in some major ways over the years. From the initial rush to provide bricks and mortar stores with a wider profile and client base, to the monsters of Amazon and eBay, shopping has changed forever, and will continue to evolve.

The current problem is the static nature of e-commerce where most online stores use pictures and some descriptive text. That can be fine for books and boxed product, but there are many product types where a more immersive, higher fidelity experience is required.

Despite some high-profile attempts to change that (Boo.com, anyone?), it has taken longer for the hardware and the marketeers to catch up. But now shopping is ready to move to the next level, changing the user experience forever.

iPad Shopping Mock Up from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Who says the pictures in your catalog  have to stand still?

New technology can make a big difference to user experience

As you can see, when selling clothes, having the ability to see how a dress hangs, how it floats or flows or how the cut of jeans looks can really help make up a buyer’s mind. Our usability research shows that online shoppers really want to see the product in the same way they can in a physical store. While this is only a mock-up, it won’t be too long before online retailers catch on to providing the kind of experience shoppers are hoping for.

It will also only be another couple of development steps to reach the point where an avatar of the buyer’s proportions can be used to show how the clothes will fit you and the exact size you would need to order.

Stores like Gap are already preparing tightly integrated apps for Apple’s iPad and the portable, instant-on nature of tablets and smartphones means that shoppers will be able to buy on a whim, just as they do when perusing the high street.

Retailers must remain focused on user needs and not just cool new features

User experience designers will need to work very closely with media creators to make their store look just as good as the top apps. Just as shoppers wouldn’t buy from a tatty, grubby store, they won’t buy from a poor-looking website.

Navigation will play a key part in designing a successful site where buyers will want to go freely from the dress, to the belt, to accessories (appropriate to the main item) without meandering through menus or hordes of unsuitable items. Retailers will need to remain focused on usability and information architecture and be careful not to get too carried away with exciting new technology.

Improving the user experience without overcomplicating things will take great effort. Portable devices like the iPad will provide experiences better suited to natural browsing but retailers will need to be careful not to get carried away with the technical capabilities and ‘whats cool’ and keep focusing on what users really need from the experience.

Have you seen any good examples of what online retail will look like?

Related service: e-commerce usability

In 2006, the face of video gaming changed when Nintendo introduced its Wii console. This allowed the machine to sense the player’s input as they moved the controller around. Suddenly, players could jump, wave, bat, swordfight and perform many other actions through motion sensing technology. More importantly, it helped the public get used to the idea of a computer sensing their actions.

Now, Sony has unveiled a higher-fidelity equivalent called Move, while Microsoft unveiled its Kinect gadget for the Xbox 360. Kinect is of particular interest as it has a camera and infra-red sensor that monitors the user’s actions. Without any kind of controller, users can interact with games via gestures and motion.

Beyond games and novelties, this technology, with software developed by PrimeSense, an Israeli company,  will soon be flooding into television sets, computers and public kiosks. At its simplest, end users can interact with systems via hand and arm movements. But, with a little effort and further refinement in fidelity, developers can use the cameras and clever software to focus on where the user is looking, or it could be trained to focus on the face, looking for emotional cues.

This information can be fed back to system designers (be it interactive menus, websites, kiosks or banking ATMs) to help them design better systems, interfaces and improve user experience. Mixing the two ideas, if users are observed to ignore one part of a website, then designers will learn this through feedback and can work on enhancing that area through visual design. If sensors detect confusion in people reading part of a site or document, then what they are looking at can be highlighted and checked for clarity. This has some fascinating implications for the future of user centred design.

In the not too distant future, banking systems can check for honesty in customers withdrawing money (think having Tom Roth’s character from Lie To Me in every ATM) to detect card fraud. At a more practical level, interface designers can have a field day building systems with all sorts of practical feedback loops, as David Leggett’s UX Booth article demonstrates.

So, without getting all 1984 on us, what do you expect from advances in this technology that could assist user experience development, interface and site design?

We’re often asked about how to get a website ‘right’, or what is the ‘right’ way to display a product page for example. Our clients want to know what the best practice is, what guidelines and standards to conform to, what other sites are doing and so on. Understandably, everyone is very anxious about getting it right, but looking good for investors or designers is not the same as looking good in the eyes of an end user or customer.

In our opinion, guidelines and best practices can be useful to help make quick decisions during design but ultimately a guideline or statement of best practice is only a generic principle that worked for someone else at some time in the past. It may not be right for your users, on your website, at this moment in time.

Most of us are worried about getting it wrong. Ultimately though, getting it right is about what works for your website users. The only way to really get it right is to test the site with real users to understand what works and what does not. Getting it right for your users is far more important than adhering to a guideline.

Do you test your site with users or rely on guidelines instead?

Related service: Usability Testing

Nothing will turn a visitor away from your website faster then coming across a problem or issue that they cannot see an instant way around. Even a pet peeve can see a potential customer going elsewhere at the speed of a mouse click. Common issues with websites can often be solved in short order and radically increase the overall friendliness to keep people coming back.

 
1. Why must I sign up for something you say is free?
Many visitors are led to a website with the promise of some free content, information or other goody, only to run away when they see the dreaded sign-up screen. Trading their personal details makes the deal not free in the eyes of many users.

Solution: Remove the sign-up screen entirely, or limit it to an optional request for a name and email address. When the visitor sees the value of your content they are more likely to come back.

 
2. Why enter my e-mail address twice?
Endless duplication is a bane in many lives. But, this step, seen over and over on sites throughout the ages with no attempt to fix the issue, can stop some users in their tracks.

Solution: Instead of asking them to enter an address twice, let them enter it once. Then, show it to them on the final confirmation page in a larger than normal font size with a tick box to confirm the address.

 
3. Why is there so much text on a page?
Most users are goal orientated, so they scan the page to find the next step on their path. When there is too much text on a page, particularly during the first pages on a site, when they need the most guidance, visitors get frustrated and tend to leave because the site is too much effort.

Solution: Employ a copywriter (either get a freelancer or use an agency), or be ruthless in editing and remove everything that isn’t needed. Use bullet points where possible to condense text and get your points across.

 
4. Your site is confusing, why are there so many icons and too much information?
If a site has too many options, buttons and icons – users get overwhelmed with the choice and leave. Some homepages can be so crammed full of links, text buttons and banners that users really struggle to find what they are looking for. The irony is that site owners/designers often put all these options there to help users. But, how is a typical user expected to know what all those icons mean or trawl through vast amounts of text on the first page?

Solution: Prioritise key users (who is most likely to visit your site) and prioritise their core information needs, the reason they are visiting your site. Offer the high priority options and allow users to drill down to more detailed information rather than offer everything up front.

 
5. Why is your site full of strange words and acronyms?
Just because you and your web-designer friends can have an entire conversation in TLAs, doesn’t mean the rest of the world does. Nothing will put a visitor off a page faster than a wall full of jargon, industry terms and buzzwords.

Solution: Ask a non-technical person to read through a print out of a site and highlight anything they do not understand. Replace any highlighted terms with plain English, if some terms or acronyms are necessary, ensure the site has a highly visible panel defining any acronyms or terms.

 
Trouble behind the scenes
One or more of these problems can appear on almost any website. It may be that the designer is simply following a previous design, or that the site owner has seen them elsewhere and considered them “de rigueur” or good looking. Either way, they put up additional barriers to a good user experience but, fortunately, can be effectively pruned to improve the site.

Are there any other common issues you can think of and how would you address them?

Related services: Usability testing & user experience audit

Asking people what they think about your website can be a big mistake. Initially the opinions from the people you respect or from your customers appear to be really useful until you start to see that few people agree and most opinions contradict each other.

It is important to remember that getting people’s opinions do not reflect reality. Ultimately what people say they do, what they say they like or dislike, or what they say will influence them may not be true when they’re actually sat in front of a website using it to solve a problem. In our research with users, we’ve seen many people tell us they only use websites in a certain way, only to see them completely contradict themselves when they come to use a websites to complete a task. Often what influences us is not processed at a conscious level, so as humans we can be quite unreliable when predicting future behaviour or explaining our previous behaviour.

If you want to know how to improve your website there is no substitute for seeing real customers using your site. And when it comes to improving your website, focus on the logical factors rather than the emotive opinions.

There are of course times when you don’t ask for opinions but you receive feedback from friends, colleagues, customers, and peers. When you receive an opinion or comment about your site try not to engage with it emotionally, instead look at whether it is positive or negative and whether the opinion has valid reasons or justifications.

To help, use our categories below to determine what to do with any feedback you receive about your website:

Positive comment with no justification – This is the type of opinion you get from your Mum. They are saying nice things but it’s not anything meaningful to help you improve your website

Positive comment with good justification – This is useful. Think of what actions you have taken on the site to lead to this opinion and consider how you can maintain and transfer it to other areas of the site

Negative comment with good justification – This is useful. Think of what the likely causes are for this comment and investigate it further. If you receive similar comments over time start looking at your site analytics for possible trends and tell the person responsible for user experience to include this in the next usability test.

Negative comment with no justification – This is the type of comment you might get from someone who wants a reaction out of you. Typically this comes from a negative frame of mind and is unhelpful.

Opinions about your website are rarely helpful in helping you make improvements. When you do receive comments take time to strip them of their emotion and consider if they have real validity. Only when you have a number of comments highlighting a theme should you consider investigating further.

How do you deal with opinions about your website?