E-Retailers Themselves Unsatisfied with Online Experience, and How to Plan it

When e-retailers shop online themselves, they find the experience barely warrants a passing grade, according to a US study. The report suggests that insiders are very hard on themselves and have extremely high expectations for improvement.

But while they know they should be doing a better job, they believe they do not have the information they need to do so. A side question in the study that asked respondents to evaluate various widely-used web metrics suggested their current tools are not at all equal to the task of telling them whether customers are satisfied and how to build customer satisfaction.

Ninety-one percent said customer satisfaction was highly important to them, however, only 25% were highly satisfied with their current web analytics ability to gauge customer satisfaction and 44% gave their current analytics a failing grade. Usability and the business of making websites user-centred was not raised by the survey and this is a sad reflection on an otherwise worthy endeavour to raise awareness of shortcomings.

The second annual survey and analysis of industry insiders' satisfaction by ForeSee Results, with Internet Retailer, reveals that some of the things web developers worry about the most do not impact upon user satisfaction, and there are other things that insiders feel need attention.

This year's low passing score of 63 (on a scale of 0-100) is up from last year's failing grade of 58, says the researchers. The survey and analysis were conducted using the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) technology, which allows comparisons to the University of Michigan's ACSI reports on customer satisfaction among American consumers.

'This is a snapshot of the mindset of people who really know what the web can and should be,' said ForeSee Results CEO Larry Freed. 'Investors and customers should be happy that these insiders are so hard on themselves. It means they're not taking their success for granted, and aren't just sitting back and enjoying their accomplishments. As long as insiders remain dissatisfied with their performance, they will work hard to make things better.'

The ACSI methodology is claimed to offer the capability of calculating which things have the most impact on overall satisfaction, and in this year's survey, image and account setup emerged as the elements of the web experience that would make the biggest difference to website users. "Image" encompasses things like whether sites demonstrate that they value customers, certain aspects of trust, and overall brand.

At the same time, the insiders are not much moved by some things that tend to get a lot of attention. Content, look and feel, and product information all ranked as the lowest priorities and have the least impact on improving overall satisfaction.

Privacy, another issue that gets lots of attention, is rated poorly by the insiders but has little impact on their satisfaction, revealing attitudes that mirror those of general consumers. Ordering, browsing, and general functionality are all good but could be better.

Clearly, the usability message needs to be shouted louder. All these categories could be planned for, tested and improved by some of our knowhow...

All change at the top for System Concepts
Source: System Concepts Ltd, 3 July 2009
 
Leslie Fountain has been promoted to joint Managing Director of leading usability consultancy System Concepts.

Life in UCD immortalised in fiction: you couldn't make it up
Source: UN, 2 July 2009
 
Sarah Herman's fictitious book on life in a user-centred design company has hit the shelves and The Guardian's book pages...

Interfaces Magazine - Issue 79: The Education Issue
Source: Interaction Group, 1 July 2009
 
The latest issue of Interfaces is now available as a free download from the Interaction Website.

Two new Behavioural research Tools from Noldus
Source: UN, 30 June 2009
 
Tool updates make on-site behavioural data collection easier.

Cell Phones that Listen and Learn
Source: MIT Technology Review, 29 June 2009
 
New software tracks a user's behavior by monitoring everyday sounds.

Top Six Don’ts for Usability Testing
Source: FutureNow Inc., 27 June 2009
 
Six tips for creating quality usability tests to ensure useful feedback from testers.

Usability: ‘Lovely software. But I can’t work it’
Source: FT.com, 26 June 2009
 
In a recent survey by Global Graphics, 77 per cent of office workers estimate they lose up to one hour a week because business software is difficult to use.

And what do you do?
Source: Dexo Design, 25 June 2009
 
How do you describe your job role? Here are the results of a recent 'Preferred UX/UI Title' Poll.

Most Doctors cite Usability as critical to Electronic Health Record Adoption
Source: TMCNet, 24 June 2009
 
It's all about 'meaningful use'.

Glossy monitors look good but can hurt
Source: QUT, 23 June 2009
 
A new advisory cites research which suggests high gloss monitors make users sit awkwardly.