– 30, July 2007
Colin Walker Discusses Designing for Commercial Success as featured in this months issue of Hi-Tech Scotland
Logically any business wishing to sell goods online and commissioning a new website often bases their choice of web development agency on their design skills and technical ability. Website design is fundamental in establishing a dialogue with the end-user of the website. Often the most successful e-commerce sites are intentionally ‘under-designed’ to appeal to a specific slice of the market to great success.
If we look at priorities we can conclude that any successful e-commerce website has the user experience firmly as the number one goal. This is primarily made up of the following parts;
· Flow (F)
· Ease of use (E)
· Accessibility (A)
· Readability (R)
More often than not it’s a given that the technical aspects of these projects can be ‘ironed out’ and the focus is primarily given to the ‘end user’ experience and appearance of the new website.
Often the most ‘cutting edge’ design does not only equate to commercial success. Take a brand such as ASDA. Strict guidelines exist to ensure that any website design or indeed any marketing material produced follows their stringent brand guidelines. At a glance the design looks fairly low budget, however suitability for market has meant a more difficult process must be undertaken by the designer. Brand usage and strong knowledge of their customer base allows them to use the psychological findings of brand investigations to make sure fire decisions on the constraints that the design team must work within. Commercial implications and a close understanding of the demographics of the end user are absolutely crucial.
Over 10 years experience has allowed us to visually observe significant shifts in sales due to small design changes. Improving visibility and flow, increasing accessibility and ease of use are key to commercial success. Often a commissioning body wants their websites to follow the latest trends, have the latest gadgets and invariably goes over the intended end-users head. Sites often get redesigned completely, when what they really need is ‘finely tuned’. In many cases a complete redesign is possibly the worst thing one can do! This is why you see businesses such as Amazon.com, ebay.com, dabs.com sneaking little functionality enhancements, small design changes constantly.
Tools such as Google Analytics are invaluable to the web site developer; it allows us to monitor the most popular routes through the website from entry to purchase. It allows us to identify bottlenecks and problem areas, respond accordingly, re-evaluate and fine tune. Web site users are fickle, where a wander up the high street allows them to enter many stores for their desired purchase; users tend to have websites they use singularly for that particular type of purchase or service. Take music for example, Amazon.com or play.com? rarely do online shoppers migrate between the pair. Similarly take Social Networking Websites, Do you choose MySpace, Bebo or Facebook? Again rarely do users fully participate in more than one. Search engines are a prime example, which one do you use?
Interestingly this site loyalty is often engineered, for example most amazon.com users only use amazon.com because all their details are pre-stored and ordering is a two click process. Social net workers primarily use one site only as it takes an age to build up your friends list, customisations etc. Therefore design for e-commerce plays a key part in consumer loyalty as does the aforementioned Flow, Ease of use, Accessibility and Readability or FEAR for short!
To coin a well known business term ‘continuous improvement’ is critical to the continuous shifting sands, under which the internet community operate. Constant ‘tie in’ via adding only the functionality and design additions that your customer base actually needs is an ongoing process, all the time gaining online customer loyalty. Often it’s ironic that the choice available online is huge compared to the high street, yet users single out their favourites and stick to them!
Colin Walker is Technical Director of 2FluidCreative Ltd, Specialists in e-commerce and design.
