Category Archives: Bridge Experience

Bridge Experience, Design, Random, Usability, User Experience, Website Design

Does Your Homepage Leave a Lasting Impression

1 Comment

Find out what kind of impression your homepage is leaving. Evaluate your homepage now.

First impressions count and online they count for a lot. The homepage is what is seen by many visitors when first arriving at a website. This initial impression will lead to either a lasting positive or negative impression that will affect their decision to continue using your site.

The most important aspect to be aware of is the goals of the site, and in this case the homepage. Having a grasp of what the visitor is trying to accomplish is key to getting the design right.

Designing a homepage is as much a science as it is an art form. It requires attention to detail, putting focus in the site’s purpose and goals, and taking into account the tasks the visitor wants to complete.

How does your current homepage rate?

You can get a better understanding of what is and what isn’t working on your current homepage in about 5 minutes. By taking the evaluation you should also gain insight into some best practice homepage design principles and ideas on how to improve your current homepage.

Get Started

Take the 5 minute homepage evaluation and see the kind of impression your homepage is leaving.

 

Bridge Experience, News

The Diluted Thanksgiving Experience

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I wonder if anyone really noticed?

Halloween generates a fair amount of buzz as does Christmas but sandwiched in between those two is a holiday that anymore seems to be just a pass-through day to the “real” holiday, Black Friday. Thanksgiving, the day before Black Friday, Black Friday Eve.

The most recent sales figures seem to emphasize this thought:

  • Online spending was up 29% ($272 million) Thanksgiving Day and up 22% ($531 million) on Black Friday
  • comScore expects Cyber Monday sales be even stronger than Black Friday’s and to exceed $700 million
  • ShopperTrak RCT Corp., stated total sales rose 8.3% to about $10.3 billion on Friday

Headlines in the media are all about Black Friday:

  • Midnight shopping lures Black Friday hordes CNN
  • Stores Lure Shoppers Before Black Friday Forbes
  • Black Friday carries retailers’ hopes for profitable holidays San Fransisco Chronicle

What happened to the experience of gathering together on Thanksgiving, eating turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie, watching football and giving thanks for what is truly meaningful?

Bridge Experience, ecommerce, User Experience

A Gift, an E-commerce Site and Bad Navigation

A recent online experience got me thinking more about how e-commerce sites really should focus in on what a usable site consists of.

A quick story.

Our middle son is having a birthday in a couple of weeks and my wife went online to order a gift he wanted (The Mystery Rock – an archeologist’s excavation kit). She knew what he wanted since he marked the item in the catalog. She had a couple of questions about whether he really wants, and if he’ll enjoy it, etc. so called me to get my opinion.

Mystery Rock View larger image

I proceed to go to the website and try to find the gift in question. Here is where it falls apart.

Upon arriving at the homepage I begin my hunt for a link that will take me to where I think I need to go. But in looking at the options I pause and begin to wonder where to go.

I’m presented with “Gifts by Age,” pretty straightforward but I skipped right over these, I had an idea what I was looking for. Instead, I went to “Toys by Category.”

Now, my mind begins running through the scenarios listed below:

  • Science Activities – archeology is science, but maybe this toy requires some more cognitive thought
  • Cognitive Play – hmm, pounding a rock, OK probably not here
  • Creative Activities – it definitely is a creative idea, but how much creativity is involved finding bones?
  • Outdoor Activities – I guess it could be messy, kids + dirt = mess

Image of the navigation that caused my confusionView larger image

Meanwhile, as I try to figure out what to click, my wife, who has already read me the entire description from the catalog is wondering what the heck I’m doing and wants an answer.

I decided to just search for the product number, which got me there quickly and I was able to answer my wife’s question (I believe she had already made the decision while I was having navigation woes).

Needless to say the navigation failed me. Had we not had the catalog the site may have failed me, in turn the site would have lost a sale.

As I’ve mentioned in another post e-commerce sites need to focus on usability.

Bridge Experience

Zappos Understands Experience Matters

I came across this postI Heart Zappos (via 37 Signals) that stood out as a company that gets user experience.

A customer ordered a few pairs of shoes for her mother from Zappos and for one reason or another needed to return them. Various issues cropped up, lost packaging slip, illness, out of town, caused the shoes to sit around an not be returned within the 15 day window. In the meantime, sadly, the customer’s mother passes away.

Zappos emailed the customer to inquire about the shoes since they had not yet been returned (customer service plus #1). The customer replied and informed Zappos that her mother has just died that the shoes would be sent back as soon as possible. Zappos then emailed back to say they have arranged for a UPS pick up of the shoes so the customer wouldn’t have to take the time to do it herself (customer service plus #2).

A few days later the customer receives a large bouquet of flowers with a card that read from Zappos (customer service plus #3).

Not only did Zappos ignore company policy by excepting the shoes after the return window expired, they made a personal connection with a customer. Zappos understands why experience matters.

Bridge Experience, Random

The T-Shirt That Texts Back

Text SmallFarm to 41411

It’s always interesting to see creative thinking people bridge online and offline experiences.

For example I have created a t-shirt that has a question printed on the front along with a number that you can text message to. Which after doing so the person will receive an answer. In this case the user is prompted to go back online to Small Farm Design — making a complete bridge experience from shirt to phone to website