Monthly Archives: January 2017Blog

Making Your Website Intuitive

People don’t want to think, they want to buy. Making a website intuitive makes it a delight to use, which gives users a great experience and increases the likelihood of conversion.

In an intuitively designed webpage, the constituent elements are built and organized in such a way that the user can access information, navigate, and transact naturally and effortlessly. Intuitive design is inconspicuous, but not necessarily unremarkable.

To make sites aesthetically pleasing, designers often sacrifice usability. This is a crime, considering that if the user does not find a clear value proposition within the first 10 seconds, they are very likely going to bail out. The site needs to make its purpose obvious through its design.

This article offers ideas to make your website more intuitive, create better calls to action, and delight visitors by making it easier for them to find what they’re looking for and complete a transaction.

Read full article: http://bit.ly/2k4tcYT

Robo-voices Not So Popular

It turns out that people aren’t so enamored with talking tech. Surprised? Using automated answering systems as an example, how hard is it to figure out that callers hate when a bot that is incapable of offering the right option picks up the phone? System designers can’t cover every possible need that a caller might have, and the unnatural voice inflections and mannerisms of phone bots just scream “we don’t care” to customers, partners, and constituents — the very people we need for our businesses to prosper. The more “human-like” they try to make these things, the more frustrating they become to use. Tech is not always the answer. When will companies learn to distinguish between solutions that should be high-tech versus those that must be high-touch? If your business involves serving people, the best interface is another person.

Read full article: http://bit.ly/2j5Qj1h

Amazon’s New Bookstores

Amazon is building physical bookstores. But why?

The big trend in retailing today is toward “omnichannel” strategies, which blend physical stores, Web stores, and mobile apps in a way that makes the most of the convenience of smartphones and overcomes their limitations. … What Amazon lacks is experience in the touchy-feely world of traditional retailing. The company’s proficiency in software and data crunching is unquestioned. Its people skills are another matter.

This article speculates some reasons for Amazon’s move into the brick-and-mortar world. But it also shows why existing local bookstores that offer coffee bars, comfy reading spaces, and an eclectic selection, should have nothing to fear: http://bit.ly/2eRQbQ9