In this blog, the first in a long time - I apologize - three examples of User Frustration. Within a week I was dissappointed by 2 big (Dutch) webshops and by Google. Let's take a look at the cases.
I was looking for an iPod Shuffle 4th Generation for my girlfriend. There's a reason I wanted the 4th Generation. Simply because it'll do and the 5th Generation is dubble the price for nothing extra. Just the number 5 makes it twice as expensive. I first take a look on Bol.com, because I have an account there and it'll be easy. As a user I want my search and buy to be easy.
No way. Bol only sells the 5th Generation, so I keep getting pushed to buying the more expensive iPod Shuffle. Could be that they are out of the 4th Generation, but no alternatives are offered - I have to get the expensive 5th Generation. So I go to Google to search for the 4th Generation.
I end up on the Wehkamp.nl website. Wehkamp still offers the 4th Generation at the decent price. I select my iPod Shuffle within a minute and want to proceed to buying the product. Cool, Wehkamp offers me the option to buy without making an account. The best invention ever. I must have got 50 different logins for all the services I use online. I don't need another login. So I select to buy without an account.
No way. Wehkamp has found out that my e-mailaddress is already in use with an account. My girlfriend has already made an account at Wehkamp using our combined e-mailaddress. I don't know the password. I cannot continue to order without login. Now Wehkamp knows my e-mailaddress I continue in some loops to retrieve my password. I give up. And go back to Google to find more suppliers.
I find it at MediaMarkt.nl. Within a minute I am proceeding to checkout with my purchase. MediaMarkt takes a different approach it seems. First a screen with all the details of my purchase. Nice, I am pretty sure I want this product. I hit next step to enter my personal information, such as my address. It starts with asking me my company name.
No way. Are they expecting companies to order through the website very often? They don't have different channels to reach out to companies? The answers appears to be no. I have to fill in a shit load of irrelevant information before I can continue to step 3. Lesson to webshops - only ask for the information you need. I get frustrated by the amount of fields. But I need that iPod Shuffle. In the end I did buy it at MediaMarkt, but it took me 9 minutes to order the product.
The total journey to buy an iPod Shuffle 4th Generation took me half an hour. Not what I had expected when I started my search. I needed 5 websites to get there (Bol, Google, Wehkamp, Google, MediaMarkt) and had to fill in lots of fields that I'd rather not had been bothered with.
Google
Two days after that my mother asked me for a favour. My dad had bought her a Samsung Tablet and it needed to be setup. I don't mind helping out at all, but Google proved to be pretty bad at this too.
I needed to create a Google Account for my mother, but she already had one. It was created when she activated her smartphone. So for her tablet I simply needed to login to synchronize everything. But my mother didn't remember/know the password. So I opted for the easy route: make a new password instead of searching for the old one.
No way. Google came up with various questions before it would send a new link to alter the password. The first question was "What's the license plate on your car?". My mum has no car, so I decide to skip the question. Google points out that if I don't enter information it may conclude to not send a link to alter the password. Google actually makes me feel as if I have made a mistake! There were more questions like this one - none of which could make sense to my mum. And all the time it was as if Google was in control and I made mistakes.
Companies often have different goals than their users. That's fine. But don't get them mixed up. Don't let your quest for more information about your user annoy your user. More webshops should offer the option to buy without an account and they should only ask for relevant information. And in Google's case: never ever make your user feel as if everything is their fault and you control them - even if you do.
The value of great User Experience Design shouldn't be underestimated. It can make or break your webshop, website or product. I didn't place a certain order at Wehkamp because I got locked into that fight about my account. If I could've continued without an account I would've ordered at them and not even look further. I think you would be surprised how often companies miss out on certain sales.
Talk to you later.
iPod Shuffle
I was looking for an iPod Shuffle 4th Generation for my girlfriend. There's a reason I wanted the 4th Generation. Simply because it'll do and the 5th Generation is dubble the price for nothing extra. Just the number 5 makes it twice as expensive. I first take a look on Bol.com, because I have an account there and it'll be easy. As a user I want my search and buy to be easy.
No way. Bol only sells the 5th Generation, so I keep getting pushed to buying the more expensive iPod Shuffle. Could be that they are out of the 4th Generation, but no alternatives are offered - I have to get the expensive 5th Generation. So I go to Google to search for the 4th Generation.
Wehkamp
I end up on the Wehkamp.nl website. Wehkamp still offers the 4th Generation at the decent price. I select my iPod Shuffle within a minute and want to proceed to buying the product. Cool, Wehkamp offers me the option to buy without making an account. The best invention ever. I must have got 50 different logins for all the services I use online. I don't need another login. So I select to buy without an account.
No way. Wehkamp has found out that my e-mailaddress is already in use with an account. My girlfriend has already made an account at Wehkamp using our combined e-mailaddress. I don't know the password. I cannot continue to order without login. Now Wehkamp knows my e-mailaddress I continue in some loops to retrieve my password. I give up. And go back to Google to find more suppliers.
MediaMarkt
I find it at MediaMarkt.nl. Within a minute I am proceeding to checkout with my purchase. MediaMarkt takes a different approach it seems. First a screen with all the details of my purchase. Nice, I am pretty sure I want this product. I hit next step to enter my personal information, such as my address. It starts with asking me my company name.
No way. Are they expecting companies to order through the website very often? They don't have different channels to reach out to companies? The answers appears to be no. I have to fill in a shit load of irrelevant information before I can continue to step 3. Lesson to webshops - only ask for the information you need. I get frustrated by the amount of fields. But I need that iPod Shuffle. In the end I did buy it at MediaMarkt, but it took me 9 minutes to order the product.
The total journey to buy an iPod Shuffle 4th Generation took me half an hour. Not what I had expected when I started my search. I needed 5 websites to get there (Bol, Google, Wehkamp, Google, MediaMarkt) and had to fill in lots of fields that I'd rather not had been bothered with.
Two days after that my mother asked me for a favour. My dad had bought her a Samsung Tablet and it needed to be setup. I don't mind helping out at all, but Google proved to be pretty bad at this too.
I needed to create a Google Account for my mother, but she already had one. It was created when she activated her smartphone. So for her tablet I simply needed to login to synchronize everything. But my mother didn't remember/know the password. So I opted for the easy route: make a new password instead of searching for the old one.
No way. Google came up with various questions before it would send a new link to alter the password. The first question was "What's the license plate on your car?". My mum has no car, so I decide to skip the question. Google points out that if I don't enter information it may conclude to not send a link to alter the password. Google actually makes me feel as if I have made a mistake! There were more questions like this one - none of which could make sense to my mum. And all the time it was as if Google was in control and I made mistakes.
Conclusion
Companies often have different goals than their users. That's fine. But don't get them mixed up. Don't let your quest for more information about your user annoy your user. More webshops should offer the option to buy without an account and they should only ask for relevant information. And in Google's case: never ever make your user feel as if everything is their fault and you control them - even if you do.
The value of great User Experience Design shouldn't be underestimated. It can make or break your webshop, website or product. I didn't place a certain order at Wehkamp because I got locked into that fight about my account. If I could've continued without an account I would've ordered at them and not even look further. I think you would be surprised how often companies miss out on certain sales.
Talk to you later.
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