Looking for some ideas for using imagery to communicate complicated subject matter, I stumbled across this site that curates or creates infographics from around the Web. This post from Smarter.org shows that infographics are so great, they can even be used to compare apples and oranges.
Bon apetít!
- Cam Beck
Lately I've been toying around with an iPad provided to my team at work in order to explore and study its slim design and touch screen interface.
So far (and this assessment is subject to modification as time goes on), I've found that the interface lends itself to certain kinds of uses. But in spite of the fact that in can literally be used thousands of different ways (depending on the app it's being used with), a single owner will probably use it for a few things.
Here's one common usage I've observed.
- Cam BeckIn my latest article for Insights from the Click Here Blog, I was happy to reference one of my favorite movies from childhood, Young Frankenstein, starring one of my favorite actors, former Marine Gene Hackman. As a little afternoon diversion, here is his scene from the movie.
When you get a chance, stop by to learn the 3 ways to make your undead website sing and dance. - Cam Beck
About three weeks ago, the inestimable Jay Ehret, AKA "The Marketing Guy" invited me to participate in a webinar about remarkable customer experiences. Jay's always been great to work with, and this project was no exception.
His Customer Experience Map Pack is an impressive piece of work. Very handy.
The funny thing was that I hadn't seen his part, so I had no idea what he was going to talk about specifically. I just know his work overall pretty well, and I was confident that our ideas would align. As it turned out, besides introducing and explaining how to use the Customer Experience Map, his other major theme was "How to break away from industry norms and create a remarkable experience by framing your business with a metaphor."
My part could be summed up thusly: "Your brand is either the parachute or the pavement; your website is the ripcord."
Enjoy! - Cam Beck
Many have already voiced glowing praise or strong disapproval of Apple's recently announced iPad. Some proponents, such as Leo Laporte, call it a "Kindle Killer." Skeptics and haters call it "The next Apple Cube."
These judgments are premature, however. Whatever "magic" Apple has in store for the future, there's nothing in the first generation iPad that changes the market dynamics so completely that it will disrupt Amazon's economics with the Kindle solely as an eReader.
People who buy eReaders are typically going to take reading seriously. The advantages that they bring are best realized by certain types of people:
With these audiences, the iPad falls short for a number of reasons:
1. Nearly twice the cost of entry
The starting price for the iPad is $499. For the Kindle, it's $259. By way of example, assume the average eBook price is $10, with its hard-copy counterparts costing twice that. A Kindle owner must purchase 26 books before breaking even. An iPad owner would need to purchase 50.
So for the heavy reader, the economics are hard to justify. For the casual or occasional reader, they are nearly impossible -- if they're going to use the iPad over the Kindle simply as an eReader.
2. Back-lit display
The e-Ink technology that drives most eReaders today has some limitations, but it minimizes eye strain compared to back-lit displays, such as what the iPad has. For heavy readers, this is a significant drawback. It means they can't read as much without their eyes getting tired. It may still be viable for those who are not heavy readers, but in that case, the economics make even less sense solely as an eReader, and except by virtue of wide market distribution, Apple's bookstore cannot promise much revenue to publishers, making the marketplace less attractive (especially as a closed system, as it likely will be).
At least the format is open-source anyway, so they don't have to reformat their books specifically for the iPad.
3. Shorter battery LifeMarketing Differences
Because the iPad does a lot of things, it's hard to describe it using terms that are clear and understandable by a lot of people. The tagline for the iPad is "A magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price."
What's the frame of reference? It's a "product?" So is a refrigerator. And oatmeal. And manure.
It's almost as if Apple believes an entire category can be created by adding abstract and glowing adjectives.
Plus, because the iPad does a lot of things, making promises about how many books it holds would undermine its uses as something other than just an eReader. And it is much more than just an eReader. It's a "product" that CAN be used as an eReader. Among other things.
The Kindle, by contrast, says it's a "reading device" and promises simply that it will hold 1,500 books. In other words, more than you'll read over the next five years.
That's much more concrete than "16GB," which is how much storage the entry-level iPad promises.
So, as an eReader, Amazon's Kindle enjoys the advantage of being able to be explicitly sold as an eReader.
Apple Raises the Bar for User ExperienceApple has done some things well. Even as an eReader iPad works in some important respects. The prevailing question is whether it works sufficiently for the consumer at their prices.
1. Intimacy2. Usability
The touch-screen interface allows Apple to dispense with the metaphors that drag down the Kindle. That makes interactions more direct and gives publishers and app developers more flexibility on how they choose to deliver their content. As such, students can hope that Apple's platform makes it easier to consume nonlinear books than the Kindle does. And since anyone with an iPod or iPhone is already familiar with the iTunes interface, assuming the experience of purchasing a book rises at least to that level of usability, there's very little reason to believe the experience would be any more difficult on the iPad than the Kindle.
3. Flexibility
The iPad does a lot of little things well, and it looks like it can be used to specialize or converge however its owner intends. It can be a personal assistant. It can be a gaming device. It can be used to stream music or movies (with the right app and know-how) from a media server. It can be used as a netbook computer (especially with the optional keyboard). It can be used as a home automation control pad. Or it can be used as all of these things.
The beauty and the curse is that the consumer controls what it will be used for.
The problem is that convincing the masses that something that CAN be used in such ways SHOULD be used in such ways relies on heavy, repetitive marketing, positive word-of-mouth, or consumers themselves having the imagination for its divergent possible uses. Oh, plus they must be willing to risk at least $500 on the prospects -- with no guarantee of success.
Here's where it gets exciting
I don't know how the mass marketplace will respond, or how much Apple is willing to reduce its margin to gain a wide penetration for the iPad if at first it does not take off.
But even if it doesn't, if Amazon is smart, they won't take this lying down. Nor will Sony or any other manufacturers of either popular eReaders or tablets. If it's successful, the iPad may either drive down the costs of pure eReaders and/or inspire the development of better interactions.
If that happens, people will be more willing to adopt the platform, the cost of reading will decrease, and publishers will be forced to participate in this space and -- hopefully -- embrace the efficiencies it represents for their entire industry.
Whether the iPad brings Apple financial success or not, Amazon will need to improve its interface (which is already very good for linear reading) and technology. The iPad (and -- perhaps more importantly -- the responses it will engender from rival tablet makers) will likely change users' expectation about how they should interact with books.
Even if Apple doesn't sell as many as they hope, I would still count the iPad a success if it resulted in widespread adoption and use of electronic readers in general. - Cam Beck
Little details matter. Ask Rogers Communications, Inc.
In 2006, this Canadian company witnessed firsthand how a single comma in a contract could cost them over $2 million.
What they thought they signed:
The agreement “shall continue in force for a period of five years from
the date it is made, and thereafter for successive five year terms
unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by
either party.”
What they actually signed
The agreement “shall continue in force for a period of five years from
the date it is made, and thereafter for successive five year terms,
unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by
either party.”
The second comma changed the meaning completely. Whereas Rogers Communications thought only the subsequent extensions could be terminated on one year's notice, the clause created by the comma meant that the initial 5-year agreement could be canceled by either party. Consequently, the rates they were obligated to pay shot up immensely within the 5 year period they thought they'd have the prices locked in. (Read the story)
Details can make or break your website
Hopefully you have good lawyers who will, among other things, indemnify you in case someone maliciously uses your software or website to build weapons of mass destruction. Like Apple's lawyers did with iTunes. (Read iWMD: Why No One Reads License Agreements)
But even with that important detail taken care of, the little details matter in user interfaces, as well. And failing to pay attention to them can be the difference between success or failure.
How you answer those questions depend on what it is you're trying to accomplish and what people are expecting to find. But on a high-volume or high-stakes site, if minding the details can improve your conversion metrics by just 5-10%, it could be the difference between profitability and a money-leaking ego booster.
The Web is your petri dish
If at all possible, don't rely on experts to tell you that something has to be one way or the other. Test early and often. Don't be afraid to try new things.
Work diligently on the details. In bits.
Let the data speak for themselves. You may want experts to design the page and the test, but you don't need an expert to know that a 15% conversion rate is better than a 10% conversion rate.
There are plenty of cost-effective experiments you can run to help you get the most bang for your buck, including A/B split testing and informal low-cost usability tests.
However, the characteristic you must first have is a willingness to fail. Because only through failure can you foster a willingness to search for the problem and design experiments to help you improve. - Cam Beck
I am a skeptic.
To an outside observer, my skepticism may look a lot like cynicism. I don't just believe people and companies are motivated by self-interest, I've seen it with my own eyes.
A person doesn't simply buy a book from Amazon because they believe it will help Amazon make money or employ more people. They buy it because they want or need the book for themselves -- either to inform, improve, or entertain. This is most often true when people realize that they're spending their own resources - they tend to spend it in a way that benefits them, not others.
If they're spending other people's money, they tend to be less careful with it.
This doesn't make everyone manifestly selfish, necessarily, because self-interest can indeed be naturally reconciled with service to others, without requiring one person to pick another's pocket to do so.
For instance, recently I bought and read A Project Guide to UX Design because I believed it would make me better at my job. Continuous personal improvement improves my marketability (self-interest), but only if my improvement leads me to help others get what they want (service to others).
I also get a lot of joy (self-interest) by making a tangible and substantial contribution to the financial success of other companies (service to others), their employees (service to others) and the satisfaction of their customers (service to others).
It's remarkable how often those things go hand-in-hand, when you work in a service industry, when regulations do not unnecessarily restrict your abillity to operate freely.
Once you realize that no one is more important to individuals than themselves, you tend to require stronger evidence that supports others' claims of all the great things you'll get if you just follow their lead.
A personality or "brand" may persuade you to be either less or more stringent with your requirements for evidence, which is just another way of saying that you trust those people and companies who have previously delivered on their promises, to the best of your knowledge.
However, healthy sketpicism, in light of moral self-interest, will allow the evidence to lead you wherever it may, even if it contradicts what you previously believed.
As a skeptic, I'll be the first to admit that the process is sometimes uncomfortable, but it also allows you to be less judgmental of other people's errors in thought and deed (which are intertwined), because you will realize that, in pursuit of your self-interest, you've managed a few whoppers yourself.
However, if there is a self-interest that should transcend all others, it should be the pursuit of the truth, which requires being capable of contradicting yourself when you find your thoughts and deeds to be erroneous. Do not let love or hate of either personalities or brands to stand in the way of your dedication to think critically. - Cam Beck
Findability is one of the most overlooked tools of marketing. There's just no glitz in making things easy to find. Yet, in nearly every case your customers and potential customers come to you, they aren't seeking out a "brand experience." They're looking for a solution to a problem or an answer to a question. If they can't find it on your website, often they will simply look elsewhere.
Making sure they can find what they're looking for is the first step in making yourself approachable -- a trusted resource.
In this week's column at the Click Here blog, I wrote about 5 Ways to Ensure Your Online Customers Never Get Lost.
It's not likely to happen by accident. First you have to plan for it. - Cam Beck
"Friction" in physics refers to resistance between two or more things. In interface design, it refers to the resistance a user experiences when trying to accomplish a task. Companies often ask that a process or flow's friction be reduced -- what they call making the experience "seamless." However, seams have their uses, and reducing it too much in the interface can actually cause cognitive friction that makes the experience more confusing and less enjoyable. Though we typically interruption marketing on this blog, introducing interruption at key intervals in a user's experience can actually increase customer satisfaction and delight.
Why We Hate Interruptions
In the course of their day, American's are supposedly exposed to over 3,000 marketing messages, and most of them are irrelevant to their actual needs. Even with demographics research and the various things marketers do to "target" a customer, successfully communicating with large numbers of people requires a wide reach and heavy repetition.
John Wanamaker famously said, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half." I think he was being optimistic.
We hate interruptions because they stop us from doing what we intended to do. Interruptions stop us from watching our favorite show. They stop us from reading the article we wanted to read (See ad below for an example of an interruption ad on USA Today's website -- I wanted to see the weather).
Advertising is not the only troublemaker. So is clever for clever's sake -- such as that 30 second Flash animation the user must sit through just to access the otherwise awesome site you built. Is it worth the wait (or the effort it takes to find the "skip intro" button, if you included one)?
You'd better hope so, but one way or the other, they'll make up their mind in just a few seconds, and they could be wrong.
Why not just build the site for people instead of for clever?
Why We Need Interruptions
It's often good to let people know when something has ended and when something else begins.
For instance, say you want to buy a pair of shoes from Zappos. You click on shoes, Oxfords (under Mens Shoes), and then finally the pair of shoes you want. You select a size and add it to your cart. What happens?
The system has to somehow inform you that what you wanted to do (add the item to your cart) actually occurred, so it takes you to your shopping cart and lets you decide what to do next.
(This isn't the only way to accomplish this, but it serves the example's purpose).
A system should always provide clear, concise, visual feedback about where the user is -- even if necessity demands interruption.
But Hey, Nobody's Perfect
Although I used Zappos as an example of how to correctly interrupt someone, I could have just as easily used them as an example of how not to do it. I'm not a big fan of their checkout process.
(It isn't terrible. It just could be better.)
If you wanted to purchase the shoes at Zappos, the system would give you a pretty strong example of what not to do: It forces you to either call or to create an account.
Except for a password, all of the information Zappos needs to create an account they also collect when they get your billing and contact information.
It makes good sense to give the user a very easy option to create an account, store the personal data and therefore reduce buying friction for future purchases. However, they ought not require the user create an account, since it is not as necessary to complete a purchase as it would be required for, say, a Netflix purchase (which is membership-based anyway).
Still, Zappos has been pretty successful. They scored higher in satisfaction and purchase intent (78) than the average for top 100 online apparel & accessories retailers (74), and their revenues from web sales ($850,000,000) placed them at #27 in the 2008 Edition Top 500 Guide for Internet Retailers.
This tells us two things:
Bear in mind, though, that everyone is watching, and it's a copycat Web. If you're successful, it won't be long before other retailers follow suit.
As the Amazon experience clearly shows, the more quickly you're able to reduce the buying friction for repeat customers and get them used to your system, the more difficult (and costly) it will be for competitors to break your customers from the systems to which they've become accustomed. Changing would just cause too much of the wrong kinds of friction.
So How is This Marketing, Exactly?
Whether you actually sell anything online or not, your website may be the first and only interaction your audience has with your company. You need to make a good impression by delivering something of value that makes sense according to your business strategy.
While there are many ways you can and should reduce friction in this process, there are going to be times that you will want to reintroduce it. Be courteous. Interrupt only when doing so will aid in the user's understanding of where they are. Those seams caused by judicious interruptions are useful. Don't neglect them. - Cam Beck
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