[Sigia-l] Shopping Basket

[Louise Hewitt]

On 16 Jan 2011, at 00:47, Jacqui Olkin wrote:

> 
> Louise,
> 
> I would echo Darin's recommendation in the post below, to test early, with real users.
> 
> I will add that I have done a couple of e-commerce usability tests involving modal shopping cart layers that appeared when test participants added items to their cart. The participants ranged in age and web-savviness, and the modal layer tested well; it was seen and understood.
Yes, and I think (and agree) that this 'item has been added + rich info' capacity of the overlay is the driver behind the approach. There's all sorts of backups built in too, like a changed state for the CTA and a item count on the cart-flap icon in the header.
> 
> One thing I wonder about the site you mention is how easy it will be for a user to view details of items already in the cart, or remove items. The stability of that modal "flap" in different browsers, resolutions, and devices will be critical to the success of the design, and not just when a user is adding items to the cart or trying to complete a purchase.
This is my concern I think (and in response to you Jonathon) - that when or if users want to see what's in their basket, the behaviour of the overlay will be unexpected and how to access it won't be clear.

Obviously I can't specify the full details of the project design here and much of it is already locked down.

But it's been great to hear how the principle is playing out in general and among the crowd. In particular from those of you with specific ecom testing experience as there are reasons why this hasn't and can't be done in this case.

Cheers all.

Lou.
> 
> Good luck! Let us know how your project progresses.
> 
> Jacqui
> 
> Jacqui Olkin 
> Olkin Communications Consulting 
> jacqui at olkincommunications.com  
> 571-643-6020 ph. 
> 703-834-5653 fax 
> Twitter: @OlkinComm
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> 
> web strategy, usability, information architecture, redesigns
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2011 10:09:23 -0800
>> From: darinqsullivan at gmail.com
>> To: sigia-l at asis.org
>> Subject: Re: [Sigia-l] Shopping Basket
>> 
>> On Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 3:03 AM, Louise Hewitt <louise.hewitt at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> I have inherited a high-profile ecom project, and the solution has been designed so that there is no dedicated page for the shopping basket content (the basket can only be viewed in an auxillary 'flap' that layers over the page content anchored and triggered from an icon in the header.
>>> 
>>> The abscence of a dedicated page to 'view your basket' is making me edgy. I'm not super-experience with e-com design, so I'm hoping there are some experts out there who have been through this before and can help:
>>> 
>> 
>> Hi Louise... Since you inherited this project, are there design and
>> (better yet) usability test artifacts that you can review? What
>> rationale has been expressed for using an overlay to display contents
>> of the cart? I think that your intuition serves you well here, in
>> making you "edgy."
>> 
>> Overlay windows are inherently modal, and as such, usually mean that
>> they behave differently than a normal browser window in response to
>> user action. If the different behavior is desired by the business,
>> with a clearly articulated rationale for how that behavior will
>> produce a better experience or more revenue for the business, then
>> great. Your team has something that will allow you to measure the
>> overlay cart's success.
>> 
>> My own experience with presenting users with modal behavior,
>> especially for e-com, has been to "increase conversion." However,
>> users can quickly become confused when "normal" pages are supplanted.
>> You've probably experienced examples of this yourself when making
>> service or subscription purchases. Persistent navigation will
>> disappear, browser back buttons becomes disabled, and so on.
>> Unfortunately, from a business standpoint, these tactics have proven
>> to be effective, for a certain demographic.
>> 
>>> 1 - is there an obvious bear trap in not including a dedicated cart-view page?
>>> 2 - has anyone got anecdotal or concrete evidence of user acceptance of overlay cart views?
>>> 3 - anything else that you think might come and bite my behind.
>> 
>> Despite being armed with relevant, pertinent, examples or data that
>> demonstrate modal tactics are problematic, business managers will
>> argue that the material you cite is not relevant to their specific
>> situation, industry, product, customer, etc. The single best thing
>> that I can recommend, to help you avoid having your behind bitten, is
>> to do testing, early, with actual customers.
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