Page 184 - Electronic Commerce

Selling on the Web

meet the specific needs of customers, as opposed to all Web site visitors. These guidelines
include the following:
• Design the site around how customers will navigate the links, not around the
company’s organizational structure. 159
• Help customers access information quickly.
• Use concise descriptive language rather than inflated marketing statements in
product or service descriptions.
• Avoid using industry jargon and specialized terms that visitors might not
understand.
• Build the site to work for visitors who are using older and slower devices
connected through the lowest bandwidth connection, even if this means
creating multiple versions of Web pages.
• Be consistent in use of design features and colors throughout the site.
• Avoid Web page design elements that look like banner ads (customers have
learned to ignore anything that looks like an ad).
• Make sure that navigation controls are clearly labeled or otherwise distin-
guishable from other Web page design elements.
• Test text visibility on a range of monitor sizes; text can become too small to
read on a small monitor (or mobile device) and so large it shows jagged edges
on a large monitor.
• Check to make sure that color combinations do not impair viewing clarity for
color-blind visitors.
Web sites that are designed for mobile device users should follow a few additional
guidelines. These rules help accommodate the use of devices with very small screens
(compared to laptop or desktop computer users) and the tendency of mobile device users
to be even less patient than other Web users.

• Text should be extremely concise; there is no space for excess verbiage on a
mobile device screen.
• Navigation must be clear, intuitive, and easy to see.
• The set of available functions should be limited to those likely to be used by
site visitors in a mobile setting (the page can include links to the more com-
plete, nonmobile version of the site).
• Creating a dedicated Web site for mobile users is almost always essential
because the needs of mobile users are so different from those of other users.
• Conduct usability tests by having potential site users navigate several mobile
device versions of the site.
• Provide an option for mobile device users to switch easily to the full Web site.
Web marketing consultant Kristin Zhivago of Zhivago Management Partners has a
number of recommendations for Web sites that are designed specifically to meet the
needs of online customers. She encourages Web designers to create sites focused on the
customer’s buying process rather than the company’s perspective and organization. For
example, she suggests that companies examine how much information their Web sites
provide and how useful that information is for customers. If the site does not provide
substantial “content for your click” to visitors, they will not become customers.

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