Is your website UUD or UUDon’t

Recent research shows that in order to be really effective Websites must be three things:
• Useful – the site must offer the customer value, tell the customer what they want to know
• Usable – the site must be easy to use, simple to read and navigate through
• Desirable – the site must appeal to the emotions of the customer

Many companies have seen significant improvements in their website KPI’s (e.g. conversion rate from visitors to sales, effectiveness of key content and number of repeat visits) following re-design improving the site usability. However there is a steadily growing body of research that shows companies are losing out by not addressing “desirability”.

We all make instant decisions based on lots of small stimuli. Colours, fonts, layouts, pictures all combine to give us an immediate impression – not only of the site but of the company it represents. A website which gives a good impression can raise a customer’s opinion of a brand as a whole.

A recent small study we carried out on e-commerce websites revealed that one site was leader in evoking positive feelings of trust and desirability. The site contained elements (colours, images etc.) that have been shown in research to evoke feelings like trust. However there were still areas in which it could be improved, a different website was better at evoking a sense of excitement and the feeling of ‘getting a good deal’. What was surprising to us was the spread of the websites across the range of emotions – although all were good websites, there were clear winners.

So check what your site is saying to both the conscious and the subconscious. Don’t throw away the advantage of a useful and usable site by having undesirability which makes your customers feel uncomfortable and unwelcome (whilst your back is turned?).

Negatives to Positives ...

I had to take some clothes to the dry cleaners the other day. To set the scene, I had a busy day ahead and needed to drop my cleaning off before going to work so that I could pick it up later that day. At opening time I was outside the dry cleaners, ready and waiting – but it didn’t open. I waited, but still no sign of anything happening. After ten minutes I’m getting a bit annoyed - time is getting on.

Just as I was getting really irritated a member of staff from the dry cleaners, sitting on a nearby bench came over. It turned out that her supervisor, with the key to the premises, had yet to arrive. After discovering that I was waiting she went off to phone the missing person. On her return she very kindly took my cleaning from me, took my name and address and promised that it would be ready for me to pick up later that day. I was able to leave my cleaning even though the shop wasn't open. My cleaning was ready when I returned ... I was a very happy customer.

So even though initially the service went completely wrong – the shop wasn’t open for business and a key member of staff may even have forgotten to go to work that day – the actual service I received was excellent. I was so pleased I actually went away with a more positive impression than I would have done if everything had gone to plan! I felt that the staff had really gone out of their way to help. My point is - that whilst “right first time” is definitely the best policy, a really good customer experience in the face of service problems can still be a winning strategy.