Telegraph Garden Shop - UX Review

Garden Shop UX review Feb 2016

Sophia Akrofi

Summary Report

Design Research, Telegraph Media Group

Feb 2016

1

Contents — Objectives — Approach — Findings and recommendations

Summary Report

March 2015

2

Objectives Research objectives — Conduct an evaluation of the user experience (UX) of the Garden Shop website — Provide recommendations to improve the UX on the website in the short and longer term.

— Provide more design context in terms of personas and experience maps

Summary Report

Feb 2016

3

Approach Cognitive walkthrough •

We evaluated the site in the mind set of potential users, considering the diverse needs that your audience may have

•

The following tasks and scenarios were considered in the evaluation of the site: – First impressions and site structure: User arrives on the home page to evaluate the Garden Shop site as an option for them to buy gardening products.

– Just browsing: User has a vague idea of what they want to buy and is browsing the site to narrow down their search. They are open to inspiration and an aspect of randomness to their journey.

– Targeted search for a specific product: User has specific requirements in mind. They are less open to other ideas and wish to quickly find the perfect gardening product.

– Purchase product: User has selected some items and wants to purchase them.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

4

Approach Heuristic review •

Best practice usability heuristics were used to guide the review and as a checklist against which to assess the user experience

•

These included considerations relating to: – – – – – – – – – – – –

Summary Report

Value proposition Comprehension Navigation Links and calls to action Scrolling and paging Content Information architecture Visual design Interaction design Design for touch Mobile experience Accessibility (physical, sensory, motor) Feb 2016

5

Findings and recommendations

Summary Report

Feb 2016

6

Findings and recommendations

UX Issues explanation Severity

Critical

Usability issues

Persuasion issues

Most visitors will be unable to use this aspect of the experience

Acts as a strong negative. Convinces visitors that they should not use the product or service

Most visitors will have difficulty, but some will find a way around the problem

Acts as a negative influence on product or service usage, or fails to take advantage of a major opportunity to persuade users to do so

Most visitors will easily work around this problem

Slightly weakens willingness to use the product or service, or fails to take advantage of a minor opportunity to persuade users to do so

Aspects of the design that will contribute towards a positive user experience

Acts as a strong positive. Convinces visitors that they should use the product or service

(Must be fixed)

Serious

(Should be fixed)

Minor

(Could be fixed)

Good point Summary Report

Feb 2016

7

/ Value to our clients Brief exploration our overall oer to the customer and how we dierentiate ourselves from other online garden shops

Summary Report

Feb 2016

8

Findings and recommendations

Quick competitor analysis against ‘our promises’ Garden shop promises

100% satisfaction

Plants for Every season and setting

Excellent customer service

Horticultural knowhow

Delivery to your door

Actual service provided according to the rest of the site: Garden Shop

Replace damaged goods (faq)

278 plants

Email and phone, unknown service level

2 articles

Standard delivery service UK

Crocus.co.uk (largest online shop)

1 year plant guarantee

3346 plants

Email help with choosing, sourcing, the ‘Plant doctors’ Per product q&a on web 9-5 weekday phoneline

Inspiration section to website.

Videos by ‘Plant doctors’ Troubleshooting section

Standard delivery service UK

Hayloft (Telegraph’s Garden Shop partner)

21 days ‘no quibble’ guarantee

1574 plants

Email & phone, Unknown service level.

‘Ask a question’ on the product page

5 years worth of blog posts

Standard delivery service UK

Otter farm (small unusual fruit/veg plant shop)

No quibble for seeds 1 year guarantee for fruit trees, bushes, perennial plants

405 fruit & veg plants of exotic varieties

Email, unknown service level

Blog and accompanying website about Otter farm & it’s owner who’s written books on gardening

Standard delivery service UK

Summary Report

Feb 2016

9

Findings and recommendations

The site lacks a compelling value proposition Observation It’s not entirely obvious, what our value proposition is. Although we state some benefits on the homepage, competitors significantly outweigh us in most of these areas.

Recommendation Determine the site’s value proposition and ensure that the site and service reflects this.

If it isn’t clear what the site’s value proposition is, consider running a Value Proposition Workshop with the research team.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

10

Findings and recommendations

The site design is not congruent with our promises Serious It’s vital that we follow through with our promises and that they are congruent with the design of the site. For example - The help page does not re-iterate our ‘100% satisfaction guarantee’ - There’s no way to filter for plants by season - Our contact us page does not convey excellent customer service - We don’t provide much know-how compared to our competitors

Recommendation Ensure that we can really live up to the promises we make and we pull these values into our site design.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

11

/ First impressions, home page and site structure User arrives on the home page to evaluate the Garden Shop site as an option for them to buy gardening products

Summary Report

Feb 2016

12

Findings and recommendations

The homepage is a good space to communicate our best selling points Positive Clear and benefits have been communicated on the homepage

Serious It’s not entirely obvious, what our value proposition is, however.

These benefits are fairly common amongst our competitors. How is our site unique, relevant and beneficial?

Recommendation Clarify the site’s value proposition and ensure that the site and service reflects this.

If it isn’t clear what the site’s value proposition is, consider running a Value Proposition Workshop with the research team.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

13

Findings and recommendations

Scrolling hero banner is cluttered and lacks contrast Serious Although it is important for us to describe how our site is unique compared to others, we use a lot of text here to describe the new shop.

This makes the hero image diďŹƒcult to parse particularly on the scrolling banner, which is only seen for a brief amount of time.

Recommendation Ensure that this ďŹ rst hero image is eye catching and critical information is pulled out visually. Try to reduce information density at this top level, and consider pushing less important information to a dierent part of the page/site e.g. the footer/about page.

Serious Colour contrast for the main title is pretty low, making it hard to read.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

Increase the contrast ratio between the foreground and background colour. This will make this top level title easier to read and give it more visual prominence.

14

Findings and recommendations

Inconsistent visual treatment for the newsletter signup page Serious The visual treatment of the newsletter page is completely dierent to the Garden Shop. This is very jarring and could confuse users.

Recommendation If possible, re-skin this page so it looks like it is part of the Garden Shop site.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

15

Findings and recommendations

No way to access Articles on the main navigation Serious Curated product articles bring a human element to the relatively automated site and are heavy investment to create. These should therefore be accessible on the main menu.

Recommendation Provide a link to Articles on the main menu.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

16

Findings and recommendations

No way to get to Sundries category from the main navigation Serious The Sundries category that is available at the bottom of the homepage is not listed on the main navigation.

Recommendation Ensure that users can access all key categories using the main navigation menu

Summary Report

Feb 2016

17

Findings and recommendations

Cannot click on the ‘Recent offers’ text Serious You cannot click on the ‘Recent offers’ text. This is inconsistent with the rest of the page.

Recommendation Link the text for ‘Recent offers’ to the appropriate product page.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

18

Findings and recommendations

What makes certain listings ‘Offers’ is unclear Serious We don’t make it clear what is special about ‘Recent offers’ or ‘Readers offers’.

Recommendation If offers are special in some way, it’s worth highlighting this on item listing and on the product page e.g. ‘free p&p’ ‘save £25’

Summary Report

Feb 2016

19

Findings and recommendations

Lack of clarity about what the newsletter will contain Minor It’s not clear what exactly will be in the newsletter. Furthermore, do we mean ‘Telegraph Garden’ (which could be referring to the Gardening section in the Telegraph) or ‘Telegraph Garden Shop’ emails?

Recommendation If possible, re-skin this page so it looks like it is part of the Garden Shop site.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

20

Findings and recommendations

The featured section has a unhelpful title on the homepage Minor The title, ‘Garden Shop, by …’ doesn’t really convey the purpose of this featured section on the homepage.

Recommendation Consider changing this title so that the purpose of this section is conveyed. For example, something like ‘Spring Inspiration’ communicates the fact that this section is updated and provides timely inspiration.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

21

Findings and recommendations

Weak connection to the Telegraph newspaper reader offers Minor More could be done to make it easy for readers to recognise and remember offers from the Telegraph paper.

Recommendation Consistently use the same wording and visuals on the online offer e.g. ‘Save £25’, ‘Free p&p’ Consider including information about which edition each offer was available.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

22

Findings and recommendations

No about us page Minor Include an about us page that explains the advantages of buying products from the site.

Recommendation Include information on an about us page to provide further information about what is unique about this site and why it is an ideal place to purchase plants.

E.g. Perhaps we have exceptionally well cared for plants and we could explain the process, or the Telegraph has handpicked every item, or this could be an opportunity to provide bios of the experts that are ready to give advice. crocus.co.uk Summary Report

Feb 2016

23

/ Mobile site User utilises Garden Shop on their smartphone

Summary Report

Feb 2016

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Findings and recommendations

Inconsistent mobile menu styling Critical Using ‘Less/More’ for the main menu is inconsistent with most mobile websites, including the Telegraph.

Recommendation Restyle the menu so it is consistent with other websites – on the main Telegraph mobile site, a burger menu is displayed on the left hand side.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

25

Findings and recommendations

Visual treatment of the mobile menu is very difficult to parse Critical Generally the menu is difficult to parse. A few things contribute to this: - The menu is not visually distinguished from the rest of the page - The main items are centre aligned where as the sub-items are left aligned, making items harder to scan.

- The styling of the main-items (apart from alignment) is very similar to the sub-items, making the title hierarchy hard to distinguish.

Recommendation Restyle the menu so it is easy to scan and the hierarchy is clear.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

26

Findings and recommendations

Touch targets can be too small Serious Touch targets e.g. items in the menu and the ďŹ lter option are too small.

Recommendation A generally touch targets should be large enough so that users can accurately tap on it.

The Android guidelines suggest around 7-9 mm.

Ensure that all targets on mobile are large enough.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

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Findings and recommendations

Filter layout is not intuitive when you scroll down Serious

When you open the filter panel, you can scroll down to view the filtered items. However, you can only see a half the item card (you cannot scroll horizontally). To see the full card, you need to scroll back up to the top of the page and tap the ‘filter’ link to close this view.

This is particularly an issue when you have a large list of items.

Recommendation Consider rethinking the interaction between the item list and the filter view so its more intuitive. e.g. the filter section could be a drawer that sweeps out over the item list, tapping on any item automatically closes that draw and takes you back to the item page.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

28

Findings and recommendations

Imbalanced layout for search cards on mobile site Minor Search result cards on mobile site are left aligned leaving a large gap on the right. This looks visually imbalanced and lacks polish.

Recommendation Restyle cards so they neatly ďŹ t the mobile screen size.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

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/ Just browsing User has a vague idea of what they want and is browsing the site for ideas. They are open to inspiration and an aspect of randomness to their journey.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

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Findings and recommendations

A number of ‘no photo’ results Serious Plants without pictures often feature on searches. Sometimes it’s a top hit.

Not only does this lack visual appeal, but having no visual reference, makes it difficult for users to choose between plants.

Recommendation Strive to provide photos for all products, particularly popular ones that come out as top hits in searches.

Consider using more neutral colours for the no-photo image, as the purple is really pops on the page, drawing attention away from genuine photos.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

31

Findings and recommendations

No explanation why some products are £0.00 Serious There are supposedly free products available, but it’s not always clear why.

Recommendation Presumably this is some sort of bug or a special offer.

It’s important that special offers such as this (if this is the case) are highlighted as such, as a free product looks like a mistake.

Consider including a special offer tag on search results too.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

32

Findings and recommendations

Confusing text ‘Search results’ is displayed when you click on a category.

Serious To the user, browsing categories is a different experience to search (although browse uses the same mechanism to search). It is confusing, therefore, that categories in the menu take you to a page titled ‘Search results’

Recommendation Replace ‘Search results for’ with ‘Results for’. This will cover both the search and browse usecase.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

33

Findings and recommendations

Do we have the right product attributes on our product pages?

Garden shop Flower colour

✓

Crocus

✓

Jackson Nurseries

✓

Foliage colour

Rhs plant lookup

✓ ✓

Hardiness

✓

✓

✓

✓

Flowering Time

✓

✓

✓

✓

Aspect

✓

✓

✓

✓

Height

✓

✓

✓

✓

Spread

✓

✓

✓

✓

Type of garden

✓

Soil

✓

✓

✓

Rate of growth

✓

✓

Foliage

✓

Fragrance

✓

Summary Report

Observation: Do we have the right product attributes on our pages?

Recommendation By providing the right information required to make a product purchase decision, users may be encouraged to say on the page and complete purchases.

Consider doing user testing / AB testing to determine what attributes are necessary for purchase.

✓ ✓

Feb 2016

34

Findings and recommendations

e.g. Missing harvest time and taste for fruit products Serious Harvest Time is missing from the fruit product stats list.

Furthermore, information about the taste/usage of the fruit will help customers choose between dierent varieties.

Recommendation Provide further information about the fruit e.g. Harvest Time, Taste, usage etc.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

35

Findings and recommendations

Duplicate-looking product listings Serious On the search page it looks like the same product is being offered more than once. This occurs throughout the site.

Recommendation If possible, try to display distinguishing features on the search result level. For example, show plant pictures that highlight the differences or explain the difference in the name.

In the case of the Begonias, the cheaper offer is for less bulbs. Here we could collapse these offers into one listing, with the different bulb numbers as options on the product page.

The holly trees have slightly different specifications e.g. fully hardy vs hardy.

Perhaps more could be done to highlight and explain these differences in the product description.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

36

Findings and recommendations

It is not immediately clear what colour refers to Minor It is not clear which colour the filter ‘colour’ is referring to. Presumably it’s the flower colour.

Recommendation Consider adding an extra word to make it clear what colour is referring e.g. ‘Flower Colour’

Summary Report

Feb 2016

37

Findings and recommendations

Photos can be of poor quality and are generally from one angle Minor Generally, the photos on the site aren’t of the highest quality and are of a single angle, making it diďŹƒcult for users to see what a plant would look like in their garden.

Serious Some photos are particularly poor e.g. Rosa New Year is stretched, Geranium Versicolor is very grainy.

Recommendation Good photos increase online retail conversion rates and help users understand what their product will look like in the garden.

Replace bad quality photos with better ones and consider replacing all the photos with high quality images.

Allow users to expand and zoom into images

Summary Report

Feb 2016

Provide various angles to inform/inspire users e.g. a close up of the ower, a shot with the full plant and a shot of the plant in the garden/pot.

38

Findings and recommendations

Visual design makes it hard to scan through products Minor

In general the results page is hard to scan.

Various elements of the visual design contribute to this: E.g. search result tiles are of varying sizes so it is diďŹƒcult for users to scan and compare results .

Scanning left to right is hard since your eye has to move up and down to compare the images, and scanning downwards is hard because the dierent types of metadata aren’t lined up side by side.

Recommendation In general, minimize visual clutter.

Ensure that result cards are of a uniform size so users can scan through the products quickly.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

39

Findings and recommendations

Visual design makes it hard to scan through products Minor Furthermore, the Info link is redundant and introduces unnecessary visual clutter distracting the user from more important information.

Recommendation Remove the ‘Info’ button and ensure that the product name links to more information. Use an on-hover change to hint to users that they can click through to more info Minor Heavy shading of the tiles also contributes to unnecessary visual noise.

Recommendation Make the shading more subtle.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

40

Findings and recommendations

Cannot click on plant names Minor Plant names on search results are not clickable.

Recommendation Make the plant name clickable as this would be expected behaviour.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

41

Findings and recommendations

Inconsistent and unnecessary search display transition Minor Sometimes immediately after displaying search results, the items shue around on the screen. This transition is unnecessary and inconsistent and might confuse users.

Recommendation Remove this transition and display items in the intended order.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

42

Findings and recommendations

No links to other related products in the details page Minor

There are no links to other products, on the details page.

Users who are browsing the shop may be interested in seeing other related items.

Recommendation Provide related items on the details page and encourage further browsing. For example we could list items commonly bought together or similar items.

Another option is to allow users to click on the product attributes to bring up related items e.g. ‘sunny’ links to a search for all items that are tagged with ‘sunny’.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

43

Findings and recommendations

Minimal content to inspire browsing users Minor

Apart from the ‘Garden Shop Articles’, there’s a lack of content to inspire users, which assumes that the user already has a good idea of what they want to buy.

Recommendation Not all users will have a specific product in mind when they come to the site.

By providing more content that can inspire users, we help users clarify their needs and encourage sales.

For example, there’s a big opportunity here to link the site to relevant Telegraph articles and videos, inspiring users with quality editorial and strengthening brand association.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

44

Findings and recommendations

Inconsistent use of category name: ‘Bedding plants’ vs ‘Annuals’ Minor Plant_category is displaying as ‘Annuals’ when the menu name is ‘Bedding plants’. This introduces cognitive dissonance and could confuse users.

Furthermore, technically, not all bedding plants are annuals.

Recommendation Determine what this category actually refers to and consider using it consistently throughout the site.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

45

Findings and recommendations

Relevant articles help inspire gardeners and promote products Login

Register

Subscribe

Positive

Garden Shop

Including relevant and timely editorial can help inspire browsing users. It also reinforces our key promise to deliver ‘Horticultural know-how’

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Three Sumptuous Dahlias

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Previous GardenShop Articles

By plant buyer, Lark Hanham.

With giant sumptuous blooms from mid-summer to late autumn, these tuberrooted perennials are great for adding late seasonal interest and are large enough to stand-alone plant in a pot but equally perfect for plugging gaps.

06 Feb - Three Fabulous fragrant Begonias

Originating from the mountainous areas of Central America, they require full-sun and deep fertile soil. They’re considered hardy but will need help to overwinter.

Preparation is key to success. The perfect time to plant Dahlias is when there is no risk of frost. Dead-heading, pinching-out, and ample feeding is also required.

Topped off with some essential winter protection.

Whether lifting and storing tubers in a frost-free ventilated place or risking the weather with the doublemulch method, anyone can grow Dahlias and they’re defiantly worth it. The cleverest of designers will use a mixture of different classes and colours to give the impression of there being many different types of plants.

However, in reality, they all require similar care. Height 60cm and spread 40cm.

Buy our Dahlia mix of all three products below.

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Varieties Boom Boom Red - Ball Group

Summary Report Dahlia Boom Boom Red

Effortlessly mastering breathtakingly-large pom-pom shaped flowers, this variety starts off orange-red and matures to a cerise with a purpleblushed centre. With a strong multi-branching structure, it produces long, stiff clean stems, perfect for cutting and shows ample healthy Feb 2016 vegetation which is less susceptible to Botrytis.

Info

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46

Findings and recommendations

Missing space between Garden and Shop on the Articles page

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Missing space between Garden and Shop

Search

Contact |

Minor

uous Dahlias Previous GardenShop Articles

m.

ith giant sumptuous blooms from mid-summer to late autumn, these tuberoted perennials are great for adding late seasonal interest and are large enough stand-alone plant in a pot but equally perfect for plugging gaps.

06 Feb - Three Fabulous fragrant Begonias

Recommendation Correct this typo

iginating from the mountainous areas of Central America, they require full-sun d deep fertile soil. They’re considered hardy but will need help to overwinter. eparation is key to success. The perfect time to plant Dahlias is when there is no k of frost. Dead-heading, pinching-out, and ample feeding is also required. pped off with some essential winter protection.

tubers in a frost-free ventilated place or risking the weather with the doublerow Dahlias and they’re defiantly worth it. The cleverest of designers will use a nd colours to give the impression of there being many different types of plants. equire similar care. Height 60cm and spread 40cm.

e products below.

Info

Buy Now

Boom Boom Red - Ball Group Effortlessly mastering breathtakingly-large pom-pom shaped flowers, this variety starts off orange-red and matures to a cerise with a purpleblushed centre. With a strong multi-branching structure, it produces long, stiff clean stems, perfect for cutting and shows ample healthy vegetation which is less susceptible to Botrytis.

Info

Buy Now

Summary Report

Feb 2016

47

Findings and recommendations

Product descriptions are evocative and inspiring Positive Appealing to all senses, the general product descriptions do a good job of describing what the plant will offer.

“Graced with lustrous dark-green leaves which provide the perfect backdrop to its delicate dangling flowers, come November, masses of tight buds housing gorgeouslyscented flowers begin to open.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

48

Findings and recommendations

Sometimes it is unclear what product is being offered Critical

It’s not at all clear what ‘Cornus Hardy winter mix’ is. Is it a trio of plants? If so, what’s Cornus Cornus Collection?

Recommendation Ensure that product descriptions are clear. If completely different products are on offer on the page, include descriptions of them all.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

49

Findings and recommendations

Inconsistent treatment for Latin vs common names Minor Sometimes the product name is just the Latin name, sometimes it’s the common name and sometimes it’s both. This inconsistent usage makes it diďŹƒcult for users to know what to look for.

Furthermore, not all product listings contain both the common & Latin name, which means users may miss products in searches.

Recommendation Try to be consistent with product names.

Ensure that all product listings contain both the Latin & common names.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

50

Findings and recommendations

Redundant and irrelevant information in cultural notes Minor Cultural notes sometimes contain redundant information that is already available on the page.

Furthermore it also contains, information that perhaps should be in the ‘description’ e.g. ‘Award winning’

Recommendation Decide what Cultural Notes should contain and make sure it’s used consistently throughout the site.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

51

Findings and recommendations

No user reviews for social validation Minor Shopping sites normally include user reviews, helping customers validate the products and reassure users before purchase.

Recommendation Allow users to submit and view user reviews for each product.

(This is already available in the Telegraph Shop)

Summary Report

Feb 2016

52

/ Product search User has speciďŹ c requirements in mind. They are less open to other ideas and wish to quickly ďŹ nd the perfect gardening product.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

53

Findings and recommendations

Lose filtered results when you go back Critical Filtered results are lost when you click on a product and then go back to this page or when you hit back after applying several filters

Recommendation Reduce cognitive load and user effort by ensuring that filtered results are retained between pages.

Furthermore, allow users to go back to previous filtering operations as research shows this is generally the expected behavior. E.g. if the user applies a colour filter and then a species filter, when they hit back they should see results with the colour filter applied.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

54

Findings and recommendations

You cannot filter across all plants Serious Users who want to filter across all plants are unable to do so as they are forced to first select a category.

Recommendation Allow users to filter across all plants.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

55

Findings and recommendations

Limited and unoptimised filter Serious In general our product filter could be significantly improved.

Various issues affect the filter.

- Limited number of filter types - Long list of options that are hard to compare and scan - Not immediately clear what filters have been applied.

Recommendations on the next page

Summary Report

Feb 2016

56

Findings and recommendations

Limited and unoptimised filter Recommendations Filters allow users to progressively hone into their ideal product particularly when they don’t have a clear idea of what they want. Meaningful filters can be powerful.

- Do research to see if we are missing any categories e.g. special offers, featured in the newspaper - Improve the Interaction Design of the filter so it’s easier to use e.g. Display a summary list of applied filters that users can easily edit - Generally all attributes that are presented as product specs e.g. amount of light should be available as a filter.

- Improve the visual design of the filter so it’s easier to scan & read e.g. limit each attribute to one line without wrapping.

- For more info http://baymard.com/ blog/macys-filtering-experience http://www.crocus.co.uk Summary Report

Feb 2016

57

Findings and recommendations

Search suggests are only sensitive to exact matches Minor Search suggestions (the dropdown when you search) are only returned if the term is an exact match and does not account for names where the search term comes later e.g. the term ‘Lingholm’ should display the suggest ‘Meconopis Lingholm Blue’ Not all users will remember the full name and will enter partial search terms.

Recommendation Reduce cognitive load and user effort by ensuring that names that include the search term are also shown as suggestions.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

58

Findings and recommendations

Search results do not accommodate for spelling mistakes Minor Our results do not accommodate for typos, which means users are less likely to ďŹ nd what they are looking for.

Recommendation Show alternative results that best match the search term when nothing is found.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

59

Findings and recommendations

No suggested alternatives when a search returns nothing Minor When no search results are available the site returns a blank screen. This is a missed opportunity to suggest other alternatives.

Recommendation Use the blank space to suggest relevant alternatives or interesting oers.

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Feb 2016

60

/ Product purchase User has viewed the site and now wishes to purchase some products

Summary Report

Feb 2016

61

Findings and recommendations

A different price is displayed on the cart when you add an item Critical A different price is shown on the cart compared to the product price.

Although this is later explained when you click through (20% discount), at this point, the user has no idea that a discount is applied. The flow feels disconnected and broken and could be interpreted as untrustworthy.

Recommendation Highlight that a discount is being applied e.g. include info next to the cart or show the discount on all the product listings

Summary Report

Feb 2016

62

Findings and recommendations

Missing an FAQ Critical No FAQ is included for answers to common questions e.g. delivery questions, returns etc Users are therefore forced to email support for basic questions, which may reduce purchases and increase support requests.

Recommendation Include an FAQ that answers common support questions.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

63

Findings and recommendations

Not immediately clear how you can purchase offers Serious It’s not clear how exactly you can purchase the Buy 2 Get 1 Free offer.

Some users may not notice that the second price offering is actually the deal and will feel confused.

Recommendation Make it clear very clear how users can purchase a deal e.g. include text saying ‘Buy 2 get 1 free offer’ against the price.

Preferably auto-apply the offer if users enter the right number of plants (in this case if the user enters the Japanese maple 3 times apply the discount).

Summary Report

Feb 2016

64

Findings and recommendations

The flow is not optimised for checkout

Serious In general the checkout flow could do with more UX thought. This is a critical point in the flow and impacts purchase numbers. Users have already decided that they want to buy something, so it’s particularly frustrating for both the user and us if we lose them at this point.

Recommendation Rethink the flow with proper UX design or a choose a plugin that has had good UX design applied

Summary Report

Feb 2016

65

Findings and recommendations

Timeout error message is unhelpful Critical After a period of time, the following error message is displayed – presumably it’s due to a timeout.

Without clear error messages guiding users through payment issues, potential clients may abandon their purchase.

Recommendation By providing clear feedback about what exactly went wrong, we can help users recover and we can decrease the number of abandoned purchases.

Also consider using a custom error message design, as the generic pop-up may be mistaken for spam.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

66

Findings and recommendations

Login/register screen is not intuitive Serious Do we really need to show this log in/register option now? Research has shown that adding a login feature can signiďŹ cantly impact sales.

There are also too many messages/options going on here and the layout is not intuitive.

For example, the wording is confusing as it requires users to recall two things simultaneously. i.e. if they have been back to the site before and if they have a password.

Recommendation on next page

Summary Report

Feb 2016

67

Findings and recommendations

Login/register screen is not intuitive Recommendation Simplify. Ensure that only the essential steps are given as each one could reduce purchases.

Test different flows to see what works.

Some options are to jump straight into taking address details with an option to login (or register later) Others ask if you’d like to checkout as a guest.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

68

Findings and recommendations

No way to view details of items in cart Serious There’s no way users can check to see the details of what is in their cart.

Not all users will remember what they have bought – providing a link will save them time and prevent abandoned purchases.

Recommendation Provide a link back to the product details (or show them on as a lightbox).

Include small thumbnails of the product, as some users will recognise the product visually.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

69

Findings and recommendations

Provide an explanation of the discount applied

Serious Currently there’s no explanation on the site about a 20% discount.

Without any explanation this checkout experience can feel arbitrary and unprofessional.

Recommendation Add a more descriptive name or explanation of why a discount was applied. E.g. ‘Launch discount’

Summary Report

Feb 2016

70

Findings and recommendations

Only basic validation is available on all the checkout forms Serious Only very basic validation (email & empty ďŹ eld validation) is provided on the payment forms.

Errors at this point could lead to serious complications later e.g. deliveries being sent to the wrong location.

Recommendation Consider including more speciďŹ c validation and appropriate form ďŹ elds.

E.g. addresses can be entered using a postcode lookup. Telephone numbers can be checked for non-numeric characters. If we only deliver to the UK we should remove the option to change the country and validate that all addresses are UK based.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

71

Findings and recommendations

No indication that the card payment system is secure Serious There is no indication that the payment system is secure.

Users may not feel safe when entering in their card details.

Recommendation Users often abandon payment because the site doesn’t look secure enough.

Include security information and visual design to reassure users that their payment will be handled professionally and securely e.g.:

Summary Report

Feb 2016

72

Findings and recommendations

Make it clear what CVV is Serious Not all clients will understand the term CCV and know where to find it on their credit card.

Recommendation Include help information on where to find the CVV code on a card.

Consider renaming CVV to a more user friendly name e.g. ‘Security Code’

Summary Report

Feb 2016

73

Findings and recommendations

Lose your place on the page when you buy an item Minor When you click buy, without warning, you’re taken up to the top of the page to show you that the shopping cart has been updated. Users therefore, have to scroll back down to re-find their original location, increasing cognitive load.

Recommendation Consider rethinking the ‘added to cart’ feedback, so users are not taken away from their current context. e.g. pin the shopping cart to the top of the screen so it’s always accessible or provide inline feedback.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

74

Findings and recommendations

Improve the UX of the contact us page Minor In general, the design of the contact us page could be improved. As users of commerce pages are likely to have questions, providing a seamless contact us service is important to improve customer satisfaction, loyalty and ultimately sales.

Recommendations on the next page

Summary Report

Feb 2016

75

Findings and recommendations

Improve the UX of the contact us page Recommendation Various changes could be made to significantly improve this page: - Link to an FAQ - Perhaps give suggestions of the types of questions that can be answered. If, for example - Order different contact options by likelyhood of use. Email is top, followed by phone then address.

- Visually differentiate between the different contact options. Phone, address, email - Markup the telephone number so it can be tapped on when using a smartphone to call (aka click-to-call) - Provide availability times for the telephone number so users have an expectation of the service.

- Do we really need the ‘Company’ details and ‘phone number’? Research shows more fields reduce the number of completed forms, particularly a telephone number field.

Summary Report

Feb 2016

- Style the contact form in the house style

76

Findings and recommendations

User Experience Research

Summary Report

Feb 2016

77