Web shopping test at (withheld name).com

General Notes

(withheld name).com was tested in a variety of ways:

• User compared (withheld name).com side by side with competitive online retailers
• User browsed (withheld name).com alone
• User was left to find the product using whichever method they chose

When users were asked to compare (withheld name).com with other online product retailers, users were given a ranking system of 1 – 5 (1 = very likely to buy from that site, 5=very unlikely to buy from that site).  After exploring each site, they ranked them on the 1 -5 scale.  (withheld name).com had an average score of 4.5. 

Most users did not use the “narrow search” feature, opting to browse through galleries which some uses found redundant, because “everything looked the same.”

Suggestion: Some kind of grouping mechanism to combine product that are the same (but have different colors).  An animated GIF or other image could scroll through each style of product quickly too.

Frequently, a user would pick a product and that size was out of stock or not available.  Their next step was to go to another site that did have the product available. 

User Testing Evaluation Summary

(withheld name) appears near the top of search engine results for nearly all product-related keywords. One user used MSN to search, and (withheld name) does NOT get ranked on that search engine.  The reason why a “6” was given for Ability to Find Site is because:

• Most users who hadn’t heard of (withheld name).com chose not to click on the link.  The name “(withheld name)” didn’t resonate with them.  Instead users clicked on product.com, productbuy.com and larger department stores like Nordstrom and Sears.
• Natural and paid search links were not targeted as well as other sites.  For example, one user searched for men’s product.  Other sites took the user to a targeted men’s product gallery, while (withheld name).com did not.

Site speed, after initial page load, was very good. Unfortunately, the initial page load was often confusing for customers.  In our test environment, the menu loaded first and the rest of the page waited (as if images were loading in the background).  Two separate users almost left the site, thinking that (withheld name).com was just a menu bar with no content.

Continued next column...

...Continuation from previous column

Perhaps the weakest area of (withheld name).com, according to users, is the site layout and navigation.  Unanimously, users thought there was too much content on the page and was confusing.  Here are verbatim comments from users:

• “too busy” – This was the default response for most users when they first arrive at (withheld name).com“cheap and unappealing”“I automatically don’t like it”
• “too much stuff to go through”
• “not a site I’d use for browsing”
• “I’m here a lot but it’s not my favorite”

Unfortunately, it was hard to get a valid assessment of the rest of the site after the home page because users were so resistant to browsing the site that they wanted to leave and go somewhere else to buy product. 

Most users didn’t know where to start.  Product pages got similar feedback, although several users commented that they loved the product reviews.  The search engine could also use some improvements.  One user wanted to buy product for her husband.  She searched for “Keen” and didn’t see anywhere to narrow her search down into different categories.  Took several attempts before she searched for “keen mens product.”  There appears to be a big layout testing and product testing opportunity for (witheld name). 

The buying process was fairly easy for user testers.  Everyone was able to check out as a “new customer” and the checkout process was easy for user testers to follow.  Many users missed the checkbox that said “enter the drawing for the free product”, so this test might be giving away something for “free” without the benefit of the customer acknowledging their opt-in.  The (witheld name) Rewards Visa Card was ignored by all user testers. 

Overall, users thought (witheld name).com was far too busy.  Most people gave up on the site at the home page.  Users preferred the simple layouts of http://www*********.com and http://www.*************buy.com/**********.htm.  

Note: there were more women user testers than men, so this test provides mostly feedback from women shoppers.