WhatUsersDo & Practicology-Mobile-Usability-Report-2014

Mobile Usability Report 2014Findings from user testing on 15 UK retailers’ mobile websites

2Mobile Usability Report 2014

A few words from Practicology 3A few words from WhatUsersDo 4Methodology 5Introduction 6Overview of fi ndings 8Homepage layout 9Search and search results 10Navigation 11Refi ning results 12Product information & imagery 13Add to bag 14Delivery selection 15Checkout 16Contact details 17Store locator 18Returns information 19Recommendations 20About Practicology 22About WhatUsersDo 23

Contents


A few words from Practicology

Retailers selling online who still question whether they need a mobile strategy are, thankfully, now very few and far between. The conversation has moved on.

Much of the recent discussion about mobile websites has been focused on whether to employ responsive or adaptive design.

Undertaking this research study alongside WhatUsersDo has highlighted that this is not a question that much troubles consumers. They just want a mobile website to be easy to use and provide a joined-up experience with the other channels a retailer has. They want to use it to fi nd stores, to research products and also to complete purchases at the end of a journey that may or may not have begun online.

It’s too early in the development of mobile as a sales and communication channel for there to be clearly identifi able “best practice” against which we could create a scoring framework to rank sites. Instead, we decided to let real users tell us what they think, and highlight the best and worst of what their experiences demonstrated.

As mobile/responsive design has become a growing part of our business, we wanted to nail a mast in the sand with a piece of fl agship research to educate all in this exciting industry about how they can improve the mobile experience.

We hope that you fi nd the report valuable as your mobile commerce journey continues.

Martin Newman, CEO, Practicology

For more information on how Practicology could help with your mobile strategy, marketing or site design please contact me at [email protected] or on +44 (0)20 7323 0539.


A few words from WhatUsersDo

The debate as to whether “this year will be the year of mobile” is now well and truly over as many retailers start the year with nearly 50% of combined traffi c from smartphone and tablet devices.

The key question in 2014 for retailers who are serious about optimising mobile commerce is not “When?” or even “How many?”, but “Why?” Why are mobile users behaving in the way they do?

I believe those retailers that really understand “Why” will be the ones delivering the most successful user-centred mobile experiences. The rest will continue to be “user-scented” where, in the absence of understanding “Why”, internal guesses or hunches drive much of their digital design decisions.

Therefore, when designing this research with Practicology, our joint aim was to reveal the why of mobile user behaviour through robust user insight, rather than the typical “guesswork” that tends to drive too much best practice in the emerging mobile space.

I hope this research provides you with both practical insight you can apply in the short term as well as an increased appetite for understanding the “Why” of your own users’ behaviour.

Lee Duddell, Founder, WhatUsersDo

For more information on how WhatUsersDo improves your understanding of your customers’ digital experiences please contact me at [email protected] or call +44 (0)20 7036 1950.


Methodology

WhatUsersDo ran user testing on 15 popular mobile-optimised retail websites, with eight users testing each site. We gave users a variety of everyday scenarios and tasks to run through, to see how intuitive the sites were to use, both to select product and purchase and also to support multichannel shopping behaviour.

Users were asked to locate their nearest store, use the search function and the menus to locate products they would expect to be able to buy from the site and fi nd contact information and returns information among other things.

The tests were conducted by WhatUsersDo’s panel of smartphone users on a range of devices – they used their own devices in their own homes in January and early February 2014. The sites tested were: Amazon, Argos, ASOS, Currys, Debenhams, Fat Face, Goldsmiths, House of Fraser, Ikea, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, New Look, Ted Baker, Topshop and Very.

Practicology then analysed the results, looking for common behaviour, positive and negative experiences. As there is yet to be clear best practice in mobile usability we did not feel that it was appropriate to directly rank the sites against each other. Instead, we have produced narrative fi ndings and highlighted some of the positive and negative experiences that our testers came across while using the sites.

Acknowledgements

Practicology and WhatUsersDo would like to thank all their staff who were involved in the production of this report, including Joanna Perry, Nupur Manchanda, Nicola Hollow, Lee Howard and Lee Duddell.


Introduction

Mobile commerce has been a driving force for the wider ecommerce and multichannel industries in the past few years. Tablets and smartphones combined were responsible for 27% of UK online sales in December 2013, and year-on-year sales growth for both kinds of devices is running at more than 100% says IMRG.

Mobile is no longer a side-show to desktop ecommerce. Some 28% of Asda’s online sales were ordered through its smartphone app in December, 36% of White Stuff ’s online orders over Christmas were mobile and so was 52% of Shop Direct Group’s site traffi c.

Tablets accounted for 80% of all mobile sales in December 2013; but off a smaller base higher smartphone sales growth is slowly redressing the balance. This combined with the clear importance of mobile-optimised websites as part of multichannel shopping journeys that may convert offl ine, convinced us that it was time to closely examine what makes a mobile site usable.

What do real users do?

For the past two years we have produced a benchmarking report on the usability of desktop ecommerce sites. There is clear best practice to benchmark against in that case. But for mobile websites – whether they are designed independently from the desktop version, or use adaptive or responsive design principles - best practice has yet to emerge.

With this in mind, we joined forces with WhatUsersDo to examine real user journeys on mobile-optimised websites. We examined 15 sites – as the methodology explains – using consumers to complete some of the tasks that we know they use mobile sites for.


Introduction (cont.)

This means product discovery and purchasing, but they also want to research products and prices, fi nd stores, understand returns policies and fi nd contact details so they can speak to a human. Mobile sites are not just an online sales channel, but a tool to help retailers convert sales in their stores too.

The benefi t of having consumers test the sites in their own homes - with their own devices - is that we got to witness how these sites work outside of sterile lab testing conditions. Plus, hearing washing machines going and children playing in the background only serves as a reminder that real mobile users rarely have the luxury of giving your site their full attention.

Full attention

Mobile users often have one eye on something else, and when you are making decisions about how simple you need to make your user experience you should have this in mind. Whether they are at home in front of the TV, commuting or stood in a competitor’s store, an excellent mobile experience will only enhance their view of your overall multichannel proposition.

Mobile has been described as the glue that holds the other retail channels together in a multichannel world. Where a mobile website is easy and intuitive to use, this is true.

The following analysis of our fi ndings from watching real users interacting with mobile websites should provide insight and inspiration for some of the design and interaction experiences you can create to ensure your mobile site does just this.


Overview of fi ndingsMobile website area Positive experience Negative Experience

Homepage layout VeryAmazon

TopshopGoldsmith

Search & search results Ted BakerCurrys

John LewisNew Look

Fat FaceTopshop

Navigation CurrysHouse of Fraser*

AmazonGoldsmiths

Refi ning results CurrysArgos

TopshopNew Look

Product info & imagery CurrysVery

TopshopJohn Lewis

GoldsmithsDebenhams

Fat Face

Add to bag CurrysVery

Marks & Spencer*Goldsmiths

AmazonFat Face

Ikea

Delivery selection CurrysGoldsmiths

Fat FaceIkea

Checkout Fat FaceGoldsmiths

CurrysIkea

Very

Contact details Fat Face IkeaMarks & Spencer*

Topshop

Store locator DebenhamsGoldsmiths

Currys Fat FaceIkea

Returns information Fat FaceGoldsmiths

Argos IkeaVery

*House of Fraser’s and Marks & Spencer’s mobile websites have both relaunched since the research was conducted.


Positive experiences

Very – All users liked the icons and big search box in the top navigation, plus the categories also listed further down the homepage with editorial images which makes it simple to understand the range that Very sells.

Amazon – The homepage is easy to navigate with prominence given to search over browsing products using menus. Links to download Amazon’s mobile apps are included on the homepage. Users prefer this to a pop-up about apps when they are already on the site trying to complete a task.

Negative experiences

Topshop – Users struggled to make sense of the homepage layout a little as they expected Contact and Returns info to be in the footer, not accessible from the “burger” menu in the top navigation. There is also no search box visible on the homepage. It’s at the top of the burger menu that slides out, and sometimesdisplayed without text to say users can type there.

Goldsmiths – Several users commented that there was too much going on, on the homepage and it made it diffi cult to scroll to the bottom and the footer links. The large amount of homepage merchandising actually distracted most users from looking for the categories menu and browsing from the full range (also highlighting that the top navigation icon to drop down the menu is not clear).

Homepage layout

Consumers are happy to use icons in the top navigation on a mobile site and mostly intuitively understand what the icons stand for. However, they do show a slight preference for icons where there is also a word to clarify what it is for, and for the search box to be displayed rather than having to click an icon to make it appear.

Users also like the basket or trolley item to be in the top right corner as it is for most desktop sites, and for it to display a number when there are items in the basket. They are pleased when there is a store locator link or icon at the top of the page so they don’t need to search around for it.

Most are happy to see products or off ers merchandised on the homepage, particularly on carousels, so they can see a few things without needing to scroll down. In general, they expect customer services info and contact de-tails to be accessible from the footer.

They tend to scroll down the whole of the homepage to look at everything before accessing dropdown or slide across menus from the top navigation bar. Keep this in mind when thinking about how long you want your homepage to become.


While users are not yet pre-programmed to accept only one standardised homepage layout, they do have expectations based on a combination of desktop ecommerce sites and also other mobile optimised sites that they may use, such as Facebook.


Search and search results

Where search works well it makes a mobile site feel much more user-friendly. Search on mobile needs to work even harder, and be more intuitive, than on a desktop site; particularly for retailers with a large range.

Type-ahead search results are very useful, as users like to type as little as possible on their phone keyboards, and also don’t always know the exact name or how to spell the product they want. This type of interaction comes naturally on a mobile phone where most people will use predictive text.

In addition, a signifi cant proportion of users expected the search box to help them fi nd information (contact details or returns info) when they couldn’t fi nd direct links from the homepage, and were annoyed when it only served up product results.

When it comes to search results pages few users bother to change the way results display – even where there are prominent icons allowing them to. Users like reasonable-sized pictures, and for accompanying information to add value. For example, they are generally positive about reviews ratings for product being displayed, price cuts and key product features to be shown.

It is crucial that retailers highlight when a product is out of stock on the search results page, rather than just the actual product page. Users are much more sensitive about being led down blind alleys and clicking the back button on mobile than on desktop.

While search has tended to be secondary to the main navigation on a desktop site, on mobile it is extremely important to get it right.


Ted Baker – Users like the size of the images in search results and that images change when you touch them, so users can see two views before deciding which products to explore. Search results also include a Save for Later button.

Amazon – Users really liked that suggested search terms display as they begin typing in the box. The pictures in search results are an adequate size, and a tab for each search results allows users to view further product info while still on the results page. The search results helpfully also show which products can be collected from stores (in half an hour).

John Lewis – Like several sites, search results display swatches when a product is available in more than one colour which users like to see.

New Look – When a user types “shoes” into search the results bring up a menu of choices to narrow the selection to mens, womens, kids etc before the results are served. Users liked sites that helped them to refi ne their results in this way.


Fat Face – Users must use exact terms that match the retailer’s for search results to be returned properly – so t-shirt and not tshirt.

Topshop – Several users struggled to fi nd the search box at all – as you have to click on the hamburger menu and the search box slides out.



Navigation

Several sites give users the option to navigate through product departments or categories from drop down/slide across “burger” menus at the top of the page, or from text/picture options on the homepage itself. Users tend to click straight on categories they see on the front of the site - which is fi ne if they are all listed there, but can lead to confusion where the homepage is being used to showcase only some categories or sub-categories.

However they drill into the navigation, users like to see relevant, easy to understand options at every stage; and for the number of products to display at every step to help them make their choice about where to go next and whether to use the refi nement options.

There was a slight preference for menu options to be in alphabetical order, but users weren’t too bothered as long as the links or buttons were large enough that they didn’t accidently press the wrong thing.


Currys – Navigation worked very well and users were able to refi ne their choice right down before they were served up a list of products.

House of Fraser – Once users drill down into the navigation menus they are shown a small product picture alongside the sub-category and it states how many items will be displayed for any choice they make.


Amazon – Several users were pushed onto pages that were not mobile-optimised and then had to pinch and zoom to look at further navigation options. It was not clear why this happened.

Goldsmiths – Most users started to browse product categories from the categories that were merchandised with pictures on the homepage. However, this led to them not being able to view the whole range – which is accessible only from the top right navigation menu and accessed via a small arrow icon which many users didn’t notice.


Easy to use navigation is crucial to a good mobile experience, and was one of the areas that left users most frustrated by certain sites and impressed with others.


Refi ning results

It is benefi cial if fi lters are appropriate to the products in question – such as leg length for trousers or collar size for shirts. Where they are not specifi c to the products displayed then they can easily waste users’ time (and data allowances) and this does not go down well.

The refi nement buttons/menus need to be of a reasonable size at the top of the page in order for them to catch users’ eyes and to make them easy to use. For instance, a small fi lter link or button will often be overlooked if the sort button or menu is much larger.

Users like it if they can add multiple fi lters at once without having to reload the results for each additional refi nement. For instance, on Goldsmiths’ site you can only refi ne by one price bracket at a time, meaning you have to keep reloading the results in order to see products in two or more of the price brackets. This is a slow endeavour on a 3G connection.

Ideally it should also be clear which fi lters have been applied.


Currys – Allows users to refi ne by price, brand and a large number of relevant product features. For example, one user navigates to TVs and then is able to quickly refi ne to a certain type of 3D TVs.

Argos – Refi nement options were relevant to the products displayed and also give users the option to refi ne by brand and customer rating. The number of items that will be displayed for each refi nement is also displayed.


Topshop – Refi ne options are not always relevant to products – for a shoe search it off ered to refi ne by Size and Shoe Size, for instance. Once users click the refi ne button and pick an option they have to hit the refi ne button again to apply it and display their results, which is not obvious.

New Look – Refi ne options are very limited for some categories. For example, in the Socks, Boxer Shorts and Pyjamas category you can only refi ne to reduce to one of those sub categories, not by price or colour.


Tools to refi ne results are particularly important on mobile sites as users tend to be sensitive about being served up too many products on a search results or category page.


Product information & imagery

Some retailers do this with a short message that pops-up and others with icons – either way works. Where the picture functionality is not signposted not all users will realise that the functionality is there or intuitively pinch and zoom, for example.

Most retailers prefer to put the Buy button above their product description, despite consumers saying they would like product descriptions higher. Currys puts a link to product information below the pictures which takes users directly to the bottom of the page and full information.

Others make it easy to navigate the entire page quickly by putting information into a concertina or on tabs, so it can be easily located but is not all immediately visible. This is important as users often scroll pages quickly on a touch screen if the page is long, and they often miss things.


Currys – The product info link is below the pictures on product pages, and drops users further down to where product information is shown in full.

Very – Arrows at the side of the product pictures make it clear how to scroll. Product info is below the Add to Bag button and includes an icon to expand. Alternatives are merchandised below product info and also use arrows to scroll easily.

Topshop – Arrows show you can scroll through pictures and a pop-up says double tap to zoom on pictures. Product info was described as concise and relevant to the site, and Topshop also shows product reviews at the bottom of the page.


Goldsmiths - Several users commented that there was only one picture for expensive products.

Debenhams – Limited product information on some items (such as no materials information on a soft furnishing item).

Fat Face – Users reported that they couldn’t work out how to zoom on images, and some items only had one image.


Users expect multiple product images even on a mobile device. They fi nd it easiest to access multiple images and use zoom functionality when it is clear what they have to do.


Add to bag

On mobile, users always want it to be very clear if they have done something, as page load times can be slow and they often can’t see the whole of a page at once.

For Add to bag, they strongly favour an experience where it clearly states that they have added to bag. Where there is no message or indication and they stay on the product page, users sometimes ended up adding products twice, as they didn’t realise it had worked the fi rst time.

In addition, once a product has been added to the bag, displaying buttons to go to their bag or continue shopping make it clear that something has happened and give customers a clear direction about where to go next.

Users also like the basket or trolley icon in the top menu bar to show the number of items in the bag.


Currys - Shows the number of items in bag, that an item has been added and invites you to view accessories/complementary items.

Very – Clear option to Go To Basket and Checkout Securely once added to bag, plus number on basket icon and social proof (e.g. ‘X others looked at this’).

M&S – Makes clear what must be selected before can Add to Bag, then shows what’s been added and gives the option to edit. Also shows buttons to Checkout or Con-tinue Shopping. Shows number next to basket icon.

Goldsmiths – Once in the bag, it provides a phone number and a bag reference in case customers want to ring to discuss further before checkout.


Amazon – Doesn’t display a number on its trolley icon once products are added.

Fat Face – Users have to select a colour swatch - even when there is only one choice - before can add to bag. This is not obvious. Six out of eight testers struggled with this.

Ikea – Users were confused about which products they could and couldn’t add to their basket, as you can add non-transactional items to a Shopping List to use in store.


When designing the interactions for the Add to bag process it’s worth remembering the limitations of mobile screen sizes and 3G connection speeds.


Delivery selection

Users appreciate seeing delivery options in the bag before checkout,particularly if they have to register to checkout as there are no nasty surprises once they have committed to inputting their details.

Once in the checkout process users commented on liking the option to click and collect. Currys off ers click and collect from stores within half an hour of ordering (where the product is in stock). This makes ordering a product for collection while the consumer is already shopping on the high street or commuting a real possibility, and shows the power of mobile as part of a multichannel shopping journey.

If the order is for home delivery, it helps if users only have to input their address once where delivery and payment details are the same. For click and collect, users appreciate being able to locate the store easily – either via geolocation or a simple postcode lookup.

Where multiple delivery services are off ered, users like when it defaults to standard delivery; so they only need to change the selection if they want a diff erent delivery service. With checkout processes a pain point on mobile, every unnecessary touch or form fi eld is seen as an inconvenience by users.


Currys - Remembers which is the users’ closest store and uses this as a default in the checkout. When the item can’t be located in a nearby store for click and collect (its service uses store stock rather than deliver to store) it defaults back to delivery.

Goldsmiths - Delivery selection during checkout was easy to use and users liked that everything was on the one page, so no reloading is required once a choice is made.


Fat Face – The website says it off ers deliver to store. But when a user gets to the checkout this is not off ered and they cannot work out how to do it

Ikea – A couple of users were confused as they added items to their shopping list rather than their bag (as these items were not actually sold online) and then couldn’t understand why they had disappeared at checkout and they could not have them delivered.


Smooth delivery selection processes and concise delivery information in the bag and at checkout both improve the user experience.


Checkout

Postcode lookup that works smoothly is a must. If they are not registered they mostly like the idea of guest checkout, or being told they have the choice to fi nish registration after checking out.

Providing an indication of how far along they are in the checkout process is particularly helpful on mobile as users grow frustrated quickly by pages of forms to fi ll in. They also like to fi ll in as much as possible on a single page, as load times on pages in checkout can be slow.

They don’t like having to input the same details more than once, and don’t like being asked for information that is not strictly necessary - date of birth, for example. Having to check or uncheck small boxes on a touch screen to avoid being signed up to receive emails – particularly those from third parties – was particularly unappreciated.

Users expect the whole of the checkout to be mobile-optimised including the payment page and any third-party pages the site links to (such as white-label sites for certain product categories).


Fat Face - Provides a smooth checkout experience if you overlook the fact that several users couldn’t fi nd a deliver to store option. Users are invited to login, register or checkout as a guest. A numerical keypad pops up as standard to enter phonenumber, and address details only need to be entered once. It gives prompts for information required as well as off ering postcode lookup.

Goldsmiths - Gives customers the option to create an account once they have checked out, rather than asking for extra information before conversion.


Currys – The site caused problems for several users, as the form fi elds were a little small to click on and the payment details page was not mobile-optimised. The tick box to not receive marketing emails was also small. Users also didn’t like having to enter a password at the start of the process and ‘Create Account’ before they can fi nish checking out.

Ikea – Did not provide a postcode lookup for entering address details, which users did not like.

Very – Users were not happy about the amount of information that was compulsory – such as date of birth – and having to uncheck a very small box in order to not receive third-party marketing.


In general, users like to minimise the amount of text they have to input in order to checkout on a mobile device. They like form fi elds to be large and for it to be obvious if a fi eld is compulsory.


Contact details

There were lots of bad experiences as users expected fi nding contact details for a retailer to be easy, and particularly that it should be simple to call them bearing in mind they were on a mobile-optimised site.

Making phone numbers a diff erent colour or underlined highlights to users that they can click to input the number into their phone’s dialler, and where this wasn’t done users often didn’t realise they can click to call.

Users tend to expect contact details to be accessible from a link on the footer of every page in the same way as on a desktop site. They like it if there is a direct link there or an obvious path to fi nd contact info.

Contact info and/or links to it must be signposted very clearly on long pages, as users miss things when they scroll up and down quickly. Convoluted web forms are not appreciated as users like to input as little text as possible on a mobile.


Fat Face - All users found it easy to fi nd contact details from a link on the footer. It provides phone, email, Twitter and mail details. Phone numbers are in a diff erent colour to other text to make it obvious you can click to call.


Ikea and Marks & Spencer - Users on both sites had to go to the desktop version for contact details.

Topshop - Got negative feedback as did not provide an email address, only a long contact form with lots of fi elds which users said they wouldn’t want to fi ll in on a smartphone.


Users think that fi nding and contacting a retailer from their mobile website should be a very straightforward task.


Store locator

When the store locator automatically defaults to try and use a phone’sgeolocation functionality, users are happy to let this happen. Similarly if the geolocation option is prominent then they will use it over inputting a postcode or town. However, users tend to use the method that is most prominent on the store locator page, so where there is a large search box and small link to use geolocation, users don’t notice and input text fi rst.

They were not impressed with sites that made users pick a store from a list – even when there weren’t a huge number of stores to choose from such as on Ikea’s site. This might be acceptable on a desktop site with a large screen, but is not a good experience on mobile, and seems counterintuitive when geolocation is so easy to use on a mobile device.

Once results are served, users were impressed where stores were listed by how close they were, and the information was detailed.They particularly liked to see a map as well as address and opening hours, click to call and store managers’ names. Debenhams was highlighted for outlining where its click and collect desks are located in store, and Goldsmiths for providing a picture of what each store looks like.


Debenhams – The site asks user whether it can auto-detect their location which they fi nd very convenient. Users also particularly liked that information on where the click & collect desk is located was displayed.

Goldsmiths - Has a button to request an appointment and a picture of the store, as well as the more normal address and opening times information, which users liked.Currys - Location search box predicts results as soon as the user starts typing, which they liked as didn’t have to type in whole postcodes or town names.


Fat Face - Only allows users to choose a region from a dropdown menu, not search by postcode or use geolocation.

Ikea - Just provides a list of stores and it is up to the user to work out which is their closest store. Once on a store page users can input their postcode to get directions to a store, which makes it more odd consumers can’t search by postcode.


The location-based services that are possible with smartphones should make locating stores a seamless process.


Returns information

Users gravitate towards the footer to fi nd a link for returns information. If there is not a direct link from the homepage then they expect to see an obvious link – such as Customer Services or Help – and then there to be an immediately viewable returns link at the next level down.

It seems that many mobile site designers try to minimise the number of links on the footer or top navigation “burger” menu, and so don’t give a direct returns link but wrap it up in Help or Customer Services. In comparison, far more sites have it as a direct footer link on their desktop sites and users often expect to see it in the same place on a mobile site too.

Users really don’t appreciate being made to hunt for the returns info, and were particularly negative about the sites where they had to go to the desktop version to fi nd returns info.

Ikea provided the worst experience by far in this respect; not only did it not provide returns info on its mobile site that could be found, it did not even prompt users that they would need to click on the desktop site link in order to fi nd what they were looking for.


Fat Face - Off ers a Delivery & Returns link in the footer to every page which users found quickly and easily.

Goldsmiths – The site provides users with an easy link direct from the footer which was appreciated.

Argos - Chooses to put a Returns link one level down from the homepage, but it is accessed easily via the Customer Services link in the footer, and is immediately visible once click on Customer Services so no further scrolling was required.


Ikea - Users have to click through to the desktop version of the site to fi nd returns info. There is not even a message to say they need to do this.

Very - There is no direct link to returns info from the homepage and users have to go to a Help section and then scroll a long way or use the Help search box to fi nd returns information.


Just because a sale is made on a mobile site it doesn’t mean purchases are less considered. So easy access to returns information is a must.


RecommendationsTop navigation icons and the search box must be clear. Are your top navigati on icons easy to understand, and if your search box isn’t always dis-played do users know where to click to fi nd it? These seem obvious points, yet we watched lots of videos of users struggling with icons and how to search not being clear. So it’s worth testi ng with users who are unfamiliar with your site.

Test how much merchandising your homepage can take before it con-fuses customers. Could less be more on your mobile homepage? Too much merchandising on the homepage confuses users about where to go to view product. It’s worth testi ng what’s opti mal given your product range and customer base.

Make sure your menus pass the “fat fi ngers” test. There is no strong prefer-ence for either a burger-style slide across menu or dropdown menu in the top navigati on of sites. What matt ers more is that each menu opti on is of a size that users don’t accidently press the wrong thing – “fat fi ngering” as one user called it.

Users expect to fi nd quick links in the footers of mobile sites. Users tend to gravitate to the footer of the website ahead of top navigati on menus for links to certain informati on such as delivery, returns and contact details. Putti ng these links in both the menu and at the footer makes sense if you want all customers to fi nd what they are looking for quickly.

Predictive text on mobile phones means that users particularly appreci-ate type-ahead search results. Type-ahead search results are parti cularly appreciated on mobile. They are used to predicti ve text in other interacti ons with their phone and serving up likely search terms gives them confi dence that they are getti ng the best results from search.

Though space is at a premium on search results pages, clearly indicate out of stocks. If a product is out of stock, don’t wait unti l the user is on the product page to tell them. Although space is ti ght on mobile search results and category pages, not indicati ng out of stocks annoys customers.

Decent-sized menus prevent “fat fi ngering”

Search boxes should be easy to spot

Users like quick links in site footers


RecommendationsBe aware that most users don’t bother to change the layout of search results pages, even when the buttons to do so are right in front of them. Images in search results need to be large enough to show product detail. Most users don’t click to see alternati ve layouts for search results, so test which is your strongest layout and make it the default view.

Examine how much it costs you in lost conversion from pushing users to pages that are not mobile-optimised. Are all of your product categories and pages mobile-opti mised, including the payment pages? Users really aren’t impressed when they are pushed off to desktop pages at any stage in their user journey.

Image view functions are not as intuitive to use as you might expect, so make clear to users where there are multiple images and how to zoom. Users expect multi ple product images on mobile product pages. Make sure it is clear how to scroll between images and zoom, if you provide that functi onality.

Consider streamlining the checkout process beyond the experience on your desktop site. Postcode look-up and allowing users to provide their address once for both delivery and payment purchases is criti cal. Think about whether users really need to provide dates of birth or inputti ng email addresses and passwords twice. Inputti ng informati on at checkout was a real pain point for our users and oft en spoilt an otherwise positi ve experience on sites.

Ensure phone numbers are obviously clickable. If users can click to call a phone number then make it a diff erent colour or underline it, so it’s obvious to them. Also note that users fi nd it very frustrati ng when they can’t click to call a number when they are clearly on a mobile device.

Users are happy to use geolocation if you make it seamless. Users are happy to use geolocati on for store locati on or to fi nd the nearest stores for click-and-collect services. They will use it ahead of typing into a search box if geolocati on is presented to them fi rst. Consider making geolocati on automati c for users who agree to use it.

Make it clear when a user has added to bag

Make geolocation as easy as possible to use

Explain how to use the image functions


About PracticologyPracticology is a strategic multichannel consultancy with offi ces in London and Sydney. Founded in 2009 by experienced retailers Martin Newman and Mark Lewis, we have more than 100 years of experience in ecommerce between the members of our 25-strong team.

We off er an end-to-end portfolio of services including strategic consulting, platform selection, site design and content, analytics and insight, conversion rate optimisation, trading and digital marketing. Clients include Hobbycraft, House of Fraser, Thomas Pink, Ted Baker, Hotel Chocolat, Kathmandu, National Geographic and Mamas & Papas.

For mobile, we can help you develop and prioritise your strategy and support you in implementing it successfully. From identifying new customer journeys to building a strategic roadmap, we can assist in mobile platform selection and development, usability and conversion rate optimisation and mobile marketing (email, PPC and SEO).

Practicology’s primary goal is to help clients deliver outstanding results. All of our consultants have held senior client-side ecommerce positions, giving them a unique understanding of clients’ challenges. Practicology doesn’t just provide clever theory – we work with each client from strategy to execution, with a focus on practical and profi table outcomes.

If you found this report useful you can also download our annual Website Usability Report ranking the top 25 desktop ecommerce sites in the UK from www.practicology.com/publications.

Call us on +44 (0)20 7323 0539 or email us at [email protected]


About WhatUsersDoFounded in 2009 by Lee Duddell, WhatUsersDo is an online UX testing and user research service for ecommerce, marketing, customer insight and digital people who want to improve how they make digital decisions.

Our clients include large enterprises like Virgin Atlantic, Tesco, Schuh, Sage and O2 as well as thousands of SMEs.

Our international testing platform makes it possible to watch videos of real people completing tasks on mobile, tablet or fi xed websites thereby gaining actionable insights. Brands and agencies use our platform to capture “in the moment” user feedback from our international panel of “real people” or even their own customers (private panels).

Insight from the resulting online videos reveals the why of user behaviour so that our clients can make informed decisions on how to improve their digital channels.

We provide two levels of service: Pay As You Go and a Managed Service. Our Pay as You Go service is for SME clients who need occasional user insight. The Managed Service is for companies who are serious about making user insight ‘business as usual’.

Call us on +44 (0)20 7036 1950 or see www.whatusersdo.com

WhatUsersDo & Practicology-Mobile-Usability-Report-2014

Documents

Transcript of WhatUsersDo & Practicology-Mobile-Usability-Report-2014