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Why people abandon websites due to lack of relevant information
- 1. Why people leave web sites
- 2. Mensch:A German-derivedYiddish word originally meaning “Human Being.”A person of integrity and honor; “a stand-up person”; someone who does the right thing.
- 3. I enter the site. My goodwill is a little low, because I’m not happy that their negotiations may seriously inconvenience me. I glance around the Home page. It feels well organized, so I relax a little. I’m confident that the information is here, I’ll be able to find it. Reservoir of goodwill rises slightly. There’s no mention of the strike on the Home page. I don’t like the fact that it feels like business as usual. Reservoir of goodwill takes a downward spiral. There’s a list of 5 links to News stories on the Home page but none are relevant. I click on the Press Releases link at the bottom of the list. Reservoir drops to a very low reserve.
- 4. Latest press release is 5 days old. I go to the About Us page. Drops again. No promising links, but plenty of promotions, which is very annoying. Why are they trying to sell me more tickets when I’m not sure they’re going to fly me tomorrow? He is still ok but reservoir is empty. I search for “strike” and find 2 press releases about a strike a year ago, and pages from the corporate history about a strike in the 1950s. At this point, I would like to leave, but they’re the sole source for this information. Now he is just mad and frustrated I look through their FAQ lists, then leave. Enough already.
- 5. It’s idiosyncratic. Some people have large reservoir, some small. It’s situational. If I am in a huge hurry or already in a bad mood. You can refill it. Even if you’ve made mistakes. Sometimes a single mistake can empty it. If you treat users badly enough and exhaust it, there’s a good chance they’ll leave, will not come back and think less of the organization.A few things about the reservoir:
- 6. Hiding information that I want Punishing me for not doing things your way Asking me for information you don’t really need Shucking & jiving me Putting sizzle in my way Your site looks amateurish
- 7. Is it possible to restore goodwill by doing things that convince me that you do have my interests at heart? Know the main things that people want on your site and make them obvious and easy. Tell me what I want to know upfront such as costs, fees, phone numbers, addresses, etc. Save me steps whenever you can. Put effort into it. Know what questions I am likely to have and answer them.Candor goes a long way to increasing good will. Provide me with creature comforts.
Editor's Notes
- Date of his flight turned out to be the deadline for collective bargaining between the airline he was booked on and one of its unions. He did what anyone would do and a) start checking Google News to see if a deal had been reached and b) visited the airlines Web site to see what they were saying about it.
- There was nothing about the impending strike on the airline’s Home page and there wasn’t a word to be found anywhere on the site. He was sure there were hundreds of thousands of people who were holding tickets for the coming week and wondering what was going to happen to their flight. He had expected to find a FAQ list dedicated to the topic. Is there really going to be a strike? What is the current status of talks? If there is a strike what will happen? How will I be able to rebook my flight? What will the airline do to help me? His take away: The airline had no procedure for updating their Home page for special circumstances Some legal or business reason they didn’t want to admit that their might be a strike It hadn’t occurred to them that people might be interested They just couldn’t be bothered.
- Idiosyncratic IDEO SYN CRATIC – some people are more suspicious by nature, more ornery; other are inherently more patient, trusting or optimistic. You shouldn’t count on a large reserve in people’s reservoir. Situational – If I have just come from a bad experience on another site You can refill it – even if you have made mistakes that have diminished my goodwill, you can replenish it by doing things that make me feel like you’re looking out for my best interests Single mistake – For example, just opening up a registration form with tons of fields may be enough to cause some people’s reserve to plunge instantly to zero.
- Hiding info: phone #, access to things I need quickly Punishing me: no spaces in credit card # when it makes it easier to type just because someone didn’t want to code it Asking me for info: makes me wonder what your underlying motives are and I loose trust Shucking & Jiving: fake sincerity & attempts to convince me that you care… i.e. your call is important to me but your time is not. Or I am glad you came to the site but I really don’t care to present information that you may want, only what I want you to see. Putting sizzle in my way: wade through marketing & make it difficult when I am in a hurry Your site looks amateurish: disorganized, unprofessional, no effort
- provide all those details that make life easier – track shipping and forward details to automatically bring up info. Give me lots of support information in a clear and organized way. Effort – generate information for me to solve my problem, making sure information is accurate and useful, present information clearly, and let me easily find it. He gives the example of an FAQ. Questions I have - Give users a true FAQ, not a marketing FAQ. Keep questions and answers relevant and up-to-date. My own example is not hiding information in images or pdfs or other file formats. Creature comforts – printer friendly pages and drop information such as ad banners but keep necessary images.