Life Technologies
Enhancing the User Experience of Life Technologies website Recommendations By: Meghann Herron Usability Analyst
2013
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5791 Van Allen Way, Carlsbad, CA 92008
Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………..…………………………………
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Multiple home page formats………………………………………………..
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Distinction of Links………………………………………………………….….
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Headlines………………………………………………………………………………
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“Our Products” location……….……………………………………………….
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Web page on cell phone………………………………………………………..
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Bonus …………………………………………………………………………………… 9- 16
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Introduction This document was created for Life Technologies. I conducted a brief evaluation of the website and provide 5 recommendations to enhance the user experience and techniques to validate. Therefore, this document is only intended to point out a few user experience enhancements that can be made to the website. It is in no way a complete or comprehensive evaluation of the full website. Additionally, I will verbally walk through my research methods that will be used to test and validate any recommendations that I have posed.
*At the end as a bonus I included a section to highlight some of the positive attributes of the website.
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1. Multiple Home Page Formats The figures below are screen shots of the Life Technologies website home page. The home pages are different depending on the browser being used.
Figure 3. Screen shot of the Life Technologies website home page using Safari
Figure 1. Screen shot of the Life Technologies website home page using Google Chrome
Figure 2. Screen shot of the Life Technologies website home page using Android phone
ďƒŒ Possible Problem: Users expect to see the same pages regardless of the web browser that they are using.
ďƒ˜ Recommendation: Have only one version of the Life Technologies website especially, the home page. In order to determine the best version of the website, I suggest conducting some usability studies to see which version of the home page users prefer. Users would visit the different versions of the web pages and complete the same task across the different browsers. The session would ask them about their experience using the different versions and then conclude by asking them which version they preferred and why.
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2. Distinction of links
Figure 4. The “Our Products” navigation bar
Possible Problem: The “Our Products” navigation bar displayed in Figure 4. looks like a graphic/picture of products. It is not clear that these are links to products. Therefore, users may not utilize them because it looks like a picture and not a link. Recommendation: Make the “Our Products” navigation bar beveled to look like buttons to make a clear distinction that it is a link. In Figure 5. I have provided 2 samples. Option 1 has a beveled outline around the entire bar with shading in the background. Option 2 has each product beveled to look like a button.
Figure 5. The “Our Products” navigation bar with design suggestions.
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3. Headlines
Figure 6. Screen shot displaying that the “News Headlines” are located at the bottom of the web page on the home page.
Possible Problem: Announcements such as headlines are typically located at the top of the page. Users will most likely look for items such as News Headlines at the top of the webpage. Headlines are not usually found at the bottom of the page. Recommendation: Move the “News Headlines” section to the top of the webpage.
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4. “Our Products” Location
Figure 7. The “Our Products” navigation bar is located at the bottom of the webpage.
Possible Problem: Users typically do not look at the bottom of a webpage to view a company’s products. Users will most likely look for items such as products at the top, left or right side of the webpage.
Recommendation: Move the “Our Product” navigation bar to a new position on the webpage. A usability test can help determine where the optimal placement is for this information.
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5. Webpage on cell phone
Figure 8. This is a screen shot of Life Technologies website on an Android cell phone.
Figure 9. This is the suggestion for the addition of categories to the mobile platform.
ďƒŒ Possible Problem: When visiting the Life Technologies website on a cell phone, users are redirected to this page and therefore unable to browse the website in a familiar way if they have been to the website before. Thus they cannot experience any of the features that are available in the other platforms. The mobile version only allows a shopping version. ďƒ˜ Recommendation: Upon opening the website on a mobile device, users should be presented with the option to download a mobile app. Add some similar categories that are found on the website. The users should be able to experience the same categories/departments regardless of the platform such as those found in the top navigation bar (products & services, new ideas, communities & social, technical resources, about us). Figure 9.demonstrates a sample of the addition of catagories. 8
Bonus In the following pages I have pointed out some good qualities of the Life Technologies website. Enjoy!
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A.
Good, the top navigation bar is the same and found on every page.
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B.
The link, share, e-mail and print are on almost every webpage (Not found on the home page).
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C. Print mode removes all of the clutter on the page.
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D.
The search menu is good. It provides search suggestions in a drop down menu
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E.
The customer service phone number, quick order, shopping cart & sign in are always available. They are in a fixed location.
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F. The use of breadcrumbs help users identify their location within the website
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G.
Asking for user feedback is fantastic!
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