Action Briefing: The Top 10 Mistakes in Creating Online Customer Experiences: 1. No clear value proposition for the customer. Online experiences need to be focused on the goals, tasks and needs of the customer, one in which they can see the value upon "first use" and perform tasks efficiently. What designers think is the "next coolest thing" may not be what your customers value. Don't bury mission-critical functionality and task flow. In the words of Nancy Evans of iVillage.com: "Let the customer make the path - then and only then lay down the cement." 2. Leaving the customer on his own. Don't expect customers to be expert computer users. Help customers to become efficient quickly by creating prompting mechanisms and error messages that make it easy for customers to know "what to do next" and complete their tasks or transactions. Otherwise, they'll get frustrated and you'll miss opportunities to lead them where you want them to go in order to create the best customer relationship. 3. Dissin' the connection. Be mindful of the connection speed your customers will use, and create the best experience for the bandwidth. Keep in mind that it is changing rapidly. Be sure to test your site at the same dialup connection speeds that they will use to access it - do not rely on testing over an internal corporate network. 4. Designing for the wrong target platform. Fully understand your customer's target technical environment. Don't assume that all users will be viewing the site at 1024 x 768 or even 800 x 600. Wireless technology is presenting a huge customer experience design challenge - be aware that your customers may start to access your site via their cell phones. Using the same "above the fold" technique employed by newspaper designers: place critical information near the top of the page so that scrolling is kept to a minimum. 5. Difficult and inappropriate searching. Create a searching mechanism that is effective, appropriate and allows customers to search for information in the language that they understand. Present clear, accurate results that are easy to navigate. Ask customers for feedback, so you know whether or not they are able to search effectively. 6. Inconsistent navigation. If any of the aspects of navigation are incorrectly designed or developed, the poor customer experience can affect customer retention. Help customers who need assistance on the path towards transacting or purchasing. Customers can get "lost" on their way to the cash register, and will go elsewhere to purchase. 7. Brand confusion. Maintain "equivalence" of your brand experience in the online channel. If your brand position includes a high level of customer care or a "blue chip" experience, then be sure that the brand is respected and reinforced in the design of the site. 8. Gratuitous graphics. Use every transmitted "bit" judiciosly, and keep unnecessary graphics to a minimum. If the customer will see value in downloading a large image (for example, to zoom in to see the detail on an item) then it is acceptable to use it, but give an indication if it will take a while to download. 9. Bad error handling. Make "graceful degredation" a goal for error conditions, using clear and non-technical language as standard. Help customers who have moved away from the path towards transacting get back on track easily. 10. Lack of disclosure about privacy and information tracking. Define a privacy policy for your company and clearly disclose it to customers, explaining what information is being collected and how it is being used. Maintain privacy standards vigilantly - nobody wants to be caught with a "hand in the cookie jar," as was the case with RealNetworks recently. Allow customer to have a choice as to how and if you can contact them via e-mail, so they won't feel that they are being "spammed" or inundated with unwanted e-mail. To see what we can do for your company, contact us at (781)646-6972 or via email at info@humanlogic.com