Web Usability Blog

• Why go mobile?
• Mobile sites
• Why have a mobile site compared with an app?
• Apps
• Why have an app compared with a mobile site?
• Why not have both?
• Combining mobile and traditional channels
• Conclusion
• References

Download this article in PDF format

• Why use a faceted search?
• Pitfalls
• Current trends
• Faceted search across different sectors
• Position of faceted search
• Number of facets
• Type of facets
• Facet selection method
• Displaying results
• Breadcrumbs
• Variations
• Faceted search and usability
• Conclusion
• References

We were delighted to hear recently that one of our private sector clients has achieved a fourfold improvement in purchase conversion rates, which translates into a significant increase in the bottom line, after the implementation of recommendations from usability testing undertaken by Web Usability. This is tangible evidence of the power of usability testing to both improve the user experience and yield considerable return on investment for site owners; it also reinforces the finding in the Econsultancy Conversion Report  that survey respondents whose conversion had improved over the last 12 months carried out on average three times more website tests than those whose conversion had not improved.

Manage expectations. Your app description must clarify what it does and doesn't do. It should be short, bullet pointed and not full of jargon.

Managing expectations when producing an app is vital. Not doing so leaves users disappointed and could potentially damage your brand.
Take the Sainsbury's app for example. Do you expect to be able to buy your food shopping on this app? Most people would answer 'yes' to this question. So the question is, if you can't order shopping on this app, what's it for? It can find your nearest Sainsbury's, tell you about the latest offers and provide you with Sainsbury's news. Whilst these features are nice to have, it is questionable whether this is what users expect. User reviews include Sainsbury's need to launch an iPhone shopping app, I for one have defected to Tesco's. Come on Sainsbury's, keep up with Tesco. This app is useless. We want a Sainsbury's shopping app, not a guided tour to nowhere!. In their defence, however, the app description does outline what it does in reality: a store locator, information about top deals, Sainsbur's news and Nectar points information. Despite this though, this app fails to meet users' expectations.

SEO and usability are specialist areas and often treated as separate web management activities - SEO focusing on improving search engine rankings, and usability focusing on the user experience within a site. But there's no point in having great SEO performance and being high in search rankings and then throwing users into a site they can't use; or in having a great site that can't easily be found. Rather than being separate silos, SEO and usability should really be viewed as a continuum to increase website effectiveness: "Search engine optimizers and usability professionals focus on different aspects of usability. By applying a holistic approach and merging the skills and widening the focus of [both] you can increase traffic, leads, sales and happy customers" (Thurow and Musica 2009)

With over 1 million  apps in the Apps store, it's hard to make your app stand out. Our testers tell us that they sometimes use downtime to browse the app store but most often they are scanning quickly for an app to fulfill a particular need. They are in 'fast flick' mode. So what catches their attention? Names they know and icons which give strong scent about what the app can do for them.

Graham Charlton's interesting article for eConsultancy (How retailers make January sales easier for customers, posted 5th January 2011) made us think how different user behaviour can be during sale times. Users are more inclined to be in browse mode, browsing the sale items with no specific requirements in mind, but keen to hunt down a bargain. Conversely, they may have pre-researched their sales requirements and be very specific in their search - looking for a specific electrical item at a discount or a particular dress for a special occasion for example. They therefore want to be able to be as broad or as specific as they choose when filtering sale products.