Improving the bottom line of an e-commerce business requires a two-pronged approach: It's about fixing common problems and making use of typical shopper behavior.
That's the view of Bruce "Tog" Tognazzini, one of the leading gurus on usability -- and how to use it for profitability.
Respected throughout the industry as a human-computer interface designer, Tognazzini is the author of "Tog on Interface," a how-to manual for graphical user interface designers. An original employee at Apple Computer and later a Distinguished Engineer for Strategic Technology at Sun Microsystems, Tognazzini has consulted on interface design projects for clients ranging from Adobe to Microsoft to Symantec.
Many of the problems that hurt e-commerce sites' sales stem from designers who don't understand key concepts of user interface, Tognazzini said. But managers and executives can prevent this by knowing what questions to ask. His bottom line: Armed with the right knowledge, these decision-makers never need to settle for mediocre design.
Easy Credit Card Entry
It's a tiny detail, but it's a cheap way to improve usability: Make it as easy as possible for shoppers to enter credit card and other numbers.
When creating the box for customers to enter their credit cards, make sure the entered number shows up as four separate groups, just like the credit card number itself is displayed. This helps shoppers check their entry.
Those sites that display the number as 16 continuous digits in one lump are using "really slovenly programming," Tognazzini said. That one difference could mean a lost sale.
"If the number's wrong, and they have to re-enter it, some people aren't going to try it again," he said.
The ideal method is to present the shopper with one big box, but as the shopper enters their number, the digits display in groups of four. "Then offer an example that shows spaces," he said.
However, don't require your customers to use the Tab key to enter spaces, he recommends. "That would almost be as bad as forcing them not to put in spaces."
For phone and Social Security numbers, allow users to enter the digits however they wish. If customers try to add a dash between groups of numbers, the interface should allow them.
"You can accept any piece of punctuation -- whatever is not a digit, the programmer is going to suck them all out and you'll be left with the numbers," Tognazzini said.
As for entering dates, the date box should default to the current date. This makes the process one step faster, which means concluding the sale that much sooner.
Shoppers Aren't Spellers
Do you force your shoppers to be good spellers? Tognazzini noted that if your internal search engine doesn't produce results for closely misspelled products, you've lost a mountain of sales. "I should be able to screw it up and they should be able to handle it," he said.
For example, if a shopper is at a site that sells desert plants, but misspells the keyword as "dessert," then the search results shouldn't come up empty.
Tognazzini points to a technology called Soundex, which converts a search term into a phonetic spelling. Soundex "will match [a keyword] up with intermediate spellings of a whole bunch of other words."
Google uses this type of technology, Tognazzini noted, which is why you can enter "philladelpia' and it will answer: "Did you mean Philadelphia?"
This technology is not cost-prohibitive either, he said. "Soundex has long been in the public domain a long time."
He also recommends implementing the Google-style "and" search technology instead of the less effective "or" technology. Under the "and" methodology, the more terms a shopper enters, the more specific the results; a shopper who enters "red" and "sweater" will find that red sweater they're looking for.
But with the "or" technology, the engine looks for "red" or "sweater." So the more keywords a shopper types in, the more numerous and less specific the results -- producing confusion.
In fact, if an e-tailer is working with a design team who wants to implement an "or" search, that merchant should run away quickly, Tognazzini recommends. "It indicates a real lack of design talent. If they're doing that, they're doing a whole bunch of other things wrong."
Continued on Page Two: Forms and Graphics.
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