We're all customers - so why don't we always think like one?
When building a website, it's important to always put yourself in your customers shoes. You need to understand why people are coming to your website and then build your site around those needs. Don't, and you will frustrate potential customers before you've even had a chance to talk to them.
I was buying tyres for my car the other day and thought I would share my online experience. This isn't an analysis using strict usability principles, but aimed at the average user.
My objectives were pretty simple...
1 - Get a price
2 - Find a tyre store with the best price that is close to me
Here is a rundown of 3 sites I visited...
Bob Jane :: Rating 4/10 - www.bobjane.com.au
Positives
- Reasonably simple layout
- They provide a basic map for each outlet
Negatives
- 15 Field contact form for a quote.
- No "Locations" option in main menu.
- To find your closest outlet you need to read through a list of around 30+ outlets for your state.
- No way to find out what what tyre I need for my car.
- No way to find out what brand options I have for the tyre size I need.
All up - the site visually looks ok, but doesn't focus on what's important.
Beaurepaires :: Rating 7/10 - www.beaurepaires.com.au
Positives
- Nice easy to read layout (the quick finder concept is very good).
Tyre search, store locator and online enquiries - exactly what I want.
- Store locator works great too!
Enter a postcode and you get back a short list of the closest stores.
- Online enquiry form is pretty straight forward and only asks for essential information.e.g. they don't need my fax number...
Negatives
- The quick finder concept execution is let down by model selection.
If you are going to let people type anything, be ready to pick up the pieces. My car (Holden Vectra) returned 9 results, even though there is in actual fact only 1 tyre option. They don't take in to account model year. Put in the actual tyre specs (if you know them) and it works a treat.
- Store locations returned don't give you even a basic map.
GoodYear :: Rating 6/10 - www.goodyear.com.au
Positives
- Good location finder
- Good tyre finder by model
- Contact form remembers my vehicle type from search
(only thing lacking is that it should remember my tyre size)
- Contact form doesn't ask me to confirm my email address or other unnecessary stuff.
Negatives
- The essential elements I need are cluttered on the side
- Layout of contact form could be better
Now you may think, all this doesn't matter because you will just go with the cheapest anyway - crappy website or not. That's true to some extent, more so when you are comparing apples with apples but there are some benefits in making a good first impression on the web.
A well designed and thought through website will help ...
- your business come across as being professional
- show a great understanding of customers needs
- prevent your customer from being frustrated by you business
- save you money on handling basic calls
- allow customers to get what they want when they want it
Just a few thoughts...
David
Posted on Thursday, February 22, 2007