Amazon Website and Usability Issues - Case Study Example

Web Usability Issues: Amazon.com Contents of the Report Introduction Features of a highly usable Website Most common negative trends Amazon.com: An Analysis Conclusion References Introduction The technological evolution of the internet over the decades has brought in features that embed many facilities into the web applications. The concept of obtaining services and having the products delivered at the door step has been enhanced over the features that are inculcated in the Web site. These features provide numerous opportunities in accessing International market places, that in the past where virtually unreachable by most organizations. As a result businesses across the seas are pursuing a Global Web presence at an accelerating rate in recognition of the huge Global market external to it. Despite this emphasis, many websites seem to ignore issues of usability, content accessibility and universal design. This report aims at analyzing the features that form the fundamental backbone of a good website for the end users. A case study is discussed in further sections that portray the web usability features associated with Amazon.com. Features of a Highly Usable Website Unless a website meets the need of the intended users, it will not meet the needs of the organization providing the website. An efficient website should be user centric and needs to continuously improvise based on the evolving user requirements. It is essential to define business objectives, usability goals and intended context of use well in advance (Macleod, 1994). In this context business objectives of a site include answers to crucial questions such as such, what are the main purposes of the website, who are the websites target audience, success factors, evaluation criteria and budget. The websites contexts of use include information such as important user groups, frequency of visits, user's past experience and expertise, socio-cultural issues, user's needs and client side technical information. Once this Meta information is collected and analyzed a website design should proceed. Usability can be measured in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction (Hix & Hartson, 1993: ISO 9241-11, 1998: Jordon, 1998). Effectiveness: It can be measured by determining if the website users can actually accomplish their requirements at hand. Requirements at this context can range from a simple task such as finding information to complex and sensitive activities such as purchasing a product. According to O'Connor's research, return visits to a site is directionally proportional to is effectiveness (O'Connor, 2001). Efficiency: While effectiveness deals with the accomplishment of a task, efficiency on the other hand looks at the resources expended in order to achieve the task. Although resources can be seen in multiple perspectives, the most critical resource is time. System can be considered to be efficient if it allows the users to execute their tasks in reasonable amount of time. Satisfaction: The essential feature of impressing the customers involves the amount of satisfaction a particular website can provide to the users. The overall experience that involves the color contrast, dynamic features, availability of appropriate information, accuracy of search play crucial role in the satisfaction rate of users. Some of the essential features a web site should consider are enlisted in the following section. Good Website Structure: Website information has to be structured well so that it is meaningful to the user. Taking into consideration that people rarely read web pages word by word, features such as bulleted lists, highlights and annotations should be provided where necessary (UseIt.com, 2007). Easy Navigation: The aim of easy navigation is to show users where they currently are and a set of possible locations as to where they can go. Links must be consistent and the easiest way to allow navigation is by having self explanatory link (UseIt.com, 2006). Telling users what to expect: In order to help users understand the scope of the site, information such as: target page of a link, sizes of files to be downloaded, overview of content and site maps must be provided. Highlights: To retain users on the site important areas of the site such as shopping cart, payment information, and on-site links must be highlighted. Wide Technical Support: A website must be designed by taking into consideration the varying technical details of client systems. An efficient website will be designed to run on most technical configurations. Amazon.com: An Analysis Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com) is one of the most prominent e-commerce websites that sells a wide range of products online. Several research initiatives carried out world-wide in the field of Human-Computer Interaction, interface design and web usability issues have concluded that Amazon.com ranks in the top tier with respect to accessibility and usability. Anyone who has ever visited Amazon.com would agree that it is one of the most efficient websites in use today. The following sections analyze Amazon.com with respect to the essentials of a highly usable website as previously enumerated. The Website Structure: It is evident on every webpage of Amazon.com that the website is customer-requirements oriented. Most websites make the mistake of having large percentage of company oriented information rather than that pertaining to customer requirements. On the contrary in Amazon.com, more than ninety percent of every webpage is focused on selling products rather than describing about the company. The content through out the website is evenly placed. The user is never bombarded with tons of information on any web page. Effective illustration is one of the best features of Amazon.com; the users get a look and feel of the product rather than reading about it. The categorization of various products based on their main features is carried out in a consistent fashion. Navigational Ability: Amazon.com uses a consistent navigation pattern. The users get accustomed to the location of links in a short period of time. An important feature of navigation showcased by Amazon.com is the clear distinction between on-site and off-site links. Target pages for links within the business boundary of Amazon.com never open in new windows. Amazon.com ensure easy navigation but averting the capability of annoying users when they are being transferred from one page to another. Amazon.com has an extremely efficient search facility and the landing pages of a search function can be drilled down across various factors such as relevancy, prices, names and location. What users can expect: All the links in Amazon.com are self explanatory. This enables the users to find the right link for the very first time. The most important information about a product such as its price, availability, author etc can be found along with the link. This helps users to know sufficient information of the product before having to target themselves to a more informative page. Highlights: important information such as deals, packages, variation in pricing and recommendation for users is highlighted so that the users can find important information more easily. Intelligent Features: Amazon.com is a pioneer in combining Business Intelligence and Data Mining Features into e-commerce. Amazon.com analyzes the browsing pattern of its users and provides suggestions and recommendation in every page. It saves important user information so that the users browsing experience can be enriched the next time he/she visits the website.Amazon.com has also implemented advanced dashboard features by mining information such as what percentage of people actually buy the product after viewing its features and pricing on the web page. Analysis and Conclusion Just by a simple Walk through it is evident that Amazon.com not only maintains the important essentials of usability but goes several steps ahead. Because of its sensitivity to the inherent diversity of a Global audience, Amazon.com places itself at a strong strategic advantage relative to its less inclusionary counter parts and competitors. From the research carried out at the University of North Texas, it can be noted that among the high traffic sites on the web today, only one is an Internet-only e-commerce site. That site, Amazon.com ranks in tier one in both content accessibility and usability. It is also interesting to note that Amazon.com reports that the majority of their business (over seventy percent) is from repeat customers (CNNFN.com, nd). As the technology advances in times to come, the customer relationship will be specific to the design and implementation of the websites. This proves that Amazon.com achieves a high success rate in customer satisfaction and retention because it fulfills all three essential aspects of an effective website: Effectiveness, Efficiency and Satisfaction. Reference Macleod M and Bevean N, (1994), "Usability Measurement in Context", Behavior in Information Technology, 13, 132-145. Hix, D & Hartson, H (1993), "Developing user Interfaces", John Wiley & Sons, New York ISO 9241-11, (1998), "International Standards for HCI and Usability", Found at http://www.usabilitynet.org/tools/r_international.htm#9241-1x. [Online source]. Jordon, P, (1998), "An Introduction to Usability", Taylor & Francis Publications, London. O'Connor, R, (2001), "Back to the Drawing Board", Interactive Week Publications. UseIt.com, (2007), Article on: "Website Data and Structure", Found at: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html [Online Source]. CNNFN.com, nd, Article on: "Amazon.com". Found at: http://www.cnnfn.com/2000/02/02/technology/amazon/ [Online Source]. Read More