UCD Concepts

Top 10 Online Retailers by Conversion Rate: July 2009 | FutureNow’s GrokDotCom / Marketing Optimization Blog

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40 Helpful Resources On User Interface Design Patterns | Developer’s Toolbox | Smashing Magazine

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Improvement Starts With (Bad) Habits | FutureNow’s GrokDotCom / Marketing Optimization Blog

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Matt Cronin over at Smashing Magazine posted a great article on 50 beautiful and user-friendly navigation menus. There are 50  designs of CSS based, CSS+JavaScript based and Flash-design menus.

If you are not familiar with the website, there are a lot of great articles and designs in the Design Showcase.  It’s definitely at the top of my list of blogs to keep an eye on.

Cheers.

Peter Morville over at Semantic Studios wrote an excellent article called User Experience Deliverables.

The article is a reminder of the many different deliverables that represent how user experience professionals can bring value.  Along with the twenty deliverables mentioned, you will find many links to additional information which can be quite useful, especially for those who are looking to learn more about user experience.

As I read through the article, I felt a bit of excitement about learning new ideas.  Although I have 10 years of experience, there is always something new to learn from others.  Sometimes it is a new method of thinking or a different process of working or even just a different way of creating a deliverable.  In the end, if I feel that it is something that could help benefit myself or others, I will always find a way to share it.

I encourage you to check out the article and enjoy the UX Treasure Map I have linked to from Peter’s site.

Cheers.

Here is an excerpt from the MSNBC.com article:

Participants in the study were shown an inexpensive coffee mug, and were allowed to hold it either for 10 seconds or 30 seconds. They were then allowed to bid for the mug in either a closed (where bids could not be seen) or open (where they could be seen) auction. The participants were told the retail value of the mug before bidding began ($3.95 in the closed auction; $4.95 in the open auction).

The study, detailed in the August 2008 issue of the journal Judgment and Decision Making, found that on average, people who held the mug for longer bid more for it — $3.91 to $2.44 in the case of the open auction and $3.07 to $2.24 in the closed. In fact, people who held the mug for 30 seconds bid more than the retail price four out of seven times.

Read the whole article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28697866

Some of you who read my posts may see a pattern here when I display another e-mail from Circuit City.  I have to admit that I am quite fond of their marketing techniques.

Today I received an interesting e-mail that actually had me thinking about shopping even when I didn’t have to.  It wasn’t the subject line that caught me, but rather the big red bow.

I was drawn to the writing beneath the picture saying “How to shop big on a budget” and felt compelled to click.  Now if you knew me, you would know that I am clueless to the term budget when standing in any electronics section of any store. 

What I did think about when reading this e-mail is all those affected by the current status of the market/economy and how Circuit City is trying to help those who have been affected.

Let’s take a look and see.

Click image for a larger view

I can see how Circuit City is trying to help the customer feel like it’s ok to think (and buy) small or so I thought until I actually clicked the link.

What I saw next had me wondering what was Circuit City thinking.

Now I don’t know about you, but I was thinking that I would learn a thing or two about budgeting.  I don’t think that is the case here.  I’m reading this as something that is telling me to go spend $400 on a gaming system (PS3) or Blue-Ray dvd player because, and I quote, “one sensational gift will wow the whole family.”

I guess it all depends on who the gift is really for and what the real intent is behind that gift.  I’d like to think that maybe Circuit City is really trying to help the consumer here.  Sure there are links to other products that don’t cost that much, but no matter how you look at this, the bottom line is get one gift worth lots of money because it will be better for the family.

I know that this is business and they’re trying to make money, but I’m just wondering if they are taking advantage of a situation here by relating today’s economic issues with purchasing big ticket items.  I can’t speak for all families, but if the guess is that people will only be spending around $466, why would you advertise a $400 product?

How did you feel the e-mail and corresponding page compliments the consumer?  Is this something you would agree with?

Your thoughts?

Cheers.

In case you haven’t heard, Amazon has done a bit of remodeling.  You won’t know this from just looking at the site, but if you head over to view your account settings things will look a little different.

The reason I am calling this out is not because of the new layout of the account area, but rather the simple callout that Amazon makes to let the user know something has changed.

Here is a screenshot of the main account page.  Notice the red circle in the top right corner.

Click image for a larger view

I like the subtle hint that something has been going on with the page and I like it even more that Amazon invites the user to see what’s new.

Now let’s take a look at the subsequent page.

Click image for a lager view

Here you’ll see that Amazon calls out different features that may be important to the user.  They have also requested feedback and give you a link to “Let us know what you think.”  I feel the feedback form is adequate for most, if not all users, with 5 simple questions.

If you don’t like the new Account section, Amazon even gives you a link so that you can even go back and use the previous version of Your Account.  I wonder how long they will keep the link to the previous version up.

So tell me your thoughts.  Do you like Amazon’s new Account section?  What do you think about their preview of what’s been remodeled?

Cheers.

I recently came across an interesting method of displaying Address Line 2 in address forms.

Here are two screenshots to show the different states of displaying this field.

The first image shows the initial state of the form the user sees.

Notice the link for “add another address line” is displayed just below Address 1 field.

The second image shows the form after clicking the “add another address line” link.

Notice that the Address 2 field now appears.

According the the United States Postal Service, “If you can’t fit the suite or apartment number on the same line as the delivery address, put it on the line ABOVE the delivery address, NOT on the line below.”

- http://www.usps.com/businessmail101/addressing/deliveryAddress.htm

I had no idea about this until a colleague responded.  It seemed there were many others that were unaware of this as well.

Why hide the Address 2 field? 

I asked several people if they use the second address line on address forms and received varying responses with the majority saying they use the Address 2 field all the time to enter their apartment number.

At first I thought it might be a clever way of hiding a field that (from my viewpoint) was hardly used. 

If you think about it though, it’s not helpful at all for those who do use it even if it is not used the way it is supposed to be according to the USPS.  The fact is it takes up the same amount of space that the Address 2 form field would have taken up.

Also, it would have been in plain site so that users who normally do use the field would not have to click the link just to make it display.  The fact that the field label is not bold like the other labels help users quickly determine it is not required.

So again I ask, why hide it?  Will users who normally use Address Line 2 know that they are supposed to click a link to add another address line or will they have some confusion and possibly overlook the link?

Here is another sample of an address form. 

Notice here that the Address Line 2 field is visible right away and is explicitly called out as being optional.  Does this make more sense to the user?

Your thoughts? If you had a preference, which one would you choose?

Cheers.

(currently listening to Coldplay – Talk (Junkie XL Remix) on Fusion Radio Chicago)

Did I get your attention?

Well this e-mail from Peapod sure got mine.  I can’t even begin to tell you how much I want to order from them based off the e-mail they sent me.

Tell me if this is enticing to you.

This has got to be one of the best looking sundaes I have ever seen.  It is seriously making my mouth water it looks so good.

Anyway, what do you think?  Did Peapod hit the nail on the head with this one?  It’s simple, direct and let’s you know when the deal expires so you make no mistake knowing when you need to order by.

Great job Peapod!  I’ll be placing my order now.