Description: People expect more from a website than a handy set of tools and a pretty interface—they want an experience. As soon as somebody starts using your site they’ll be judging you on everything from the way it looks to the tone of your error messages. Learn nine key factors that go into designing the perfect customer experience. See how to turn utilitarian experiences into something wonderful.
How do real life experiences relate to the user experiences we create on the web?
All experiences are not made equal. If you only have limited time focus on the start and end experiences.
Hierarchy of needs: Needs start functional and move up to meaningful.
First impressions count. 45% of women have decided if a man is suitable within 30 seconds.
Hotels are a good example of first impressions. They greet you with a friendly smile, hold the door for you. It sets your expectations for the rest of the stay. Even if the room is tiny you feel special in a fancy hotel.
Department stores try to greet you but over 50% of people go out of their way to avoid them because they aren't genuine, they're trying to sell.
Looks matter. Better looking criminals get lower sentences in jail.
Apple understands first impressions. Like unwrapping an iPod.
Some computer games greet you with manuals you have to read to understand the game. Call of Duty has training that is interesting, step by step.
Make sure the designs you make have immediate impact. A good first impression.
Make the first experience good as well, for beginners, not just advanced users.
Interactive tours can help if something is complicated.
Notes showing you want to do that go away as you do what they say.
Real life places have secret shoppers to check that the process is smooth. On the web we have usability experts.
Apple store is organized by task, not by department.
People like personalization and customization, like the characters on the Wii. Like a bartender remembering your favourite drink.
Starbucks does it with drinks, you can customize it and they get the charge extra for each level of customization.
World of Warcraft characters and Second Life. If you're so proud of your customization you won't leave. It shows you're a member of the tribe, you're cool.
Flickr: Hi Matt!
People like seeing their name on the screen, they like that they were remembered.
Customization keep customers on your site.
Last.fm knows you and recommends music for you.
Attentions to detail: Hotels are great at it. Mints on pillows etc. but everyone does that now. One leaves you a card with the weather, that's better!
Car manufacturers obsess over the sound of a car door closing, that's how you decide if a car is good or not.
Create delightful experiences: Quirky saying in bottle caps or on the bottom of juice containers.
On the web Threadless lets you know if something in your shopping cart is running out of stock.
Personality is important: An auto response written as though it knows it's a machine.
Feedback: Slot machines are designed to suck you in. Sounds give you feedback, press beep press beep, locks you in feedback, you put coins in for the sound. They even use amplified coin trays.
Feedback lets you know something has happened. If an elevator button doesn't light up you think it's broken. It stops you from wasting time. A flag on a mail box lets you know if you should walk down to get the mail or not.
Help people solve problems, make them more efficient.
Look outside of your industry for ideas you can draw on to make web experiences better.
Buttons give positive feedback, you "pressed" it. LinkedIn has a progress bar for your profile so you strive to make it 100%.
Kayak shows you content coming up on the screen as the search happens instead of a loading page.
Facebook news feed let's you now things are happening. Google maps are like a game, scroll around. Helpful error messages can really help, it's very important copy.
The most important spot in user experience is when people have a problem. Get them back on track, turn a negative into a really big positive.
Make it fun: People love collecting (cards, loyalty stamps). People love points and leaderboards (top 10 users). We love exploring (run around in a computer game and see what they can do). Fake fly in a toilet to improve aim and make peeing fun - reduced spillage by up to 80 percent.
People like collecting and sharing: Photos, friends, music, movies, badges, points.
Points makes things competitive and the quality of content goes down. Digg became a game until they removed their top 100 leaderboard.
Make buying fun.
Learn from hotels, restaurants, etc. and apply it to the web.
Starbucks sells an experience. You pay more for the experience.
End
Matt
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