Christmas Shopping Woes

I am peeved about my experience with one of the online shopping sites recently. I set off redeeming my gift voucher and trust me it was a can of worms.

The shopping home page is miserable(cluttered), I bet my 8^th standard daughter would've designed an intuitive and superior one!

Online shopping is a big deal and I am surprised to see how recklessly and callously it’s done, playing with those silly animations on the home page around navigation is just unforgivable and ridiculous.

I am one who doesn’t give up easily, therefore I search for a couple of items through the chaotic product listing by going back and forth and try to add them to my shopping cart but can’t find the add to cart option upfront! So… I click on the product details(new page renders) and find the ‘add to cart’ option there, great God. Now how do I add the other item to the cart I’ve chosen to buy? You guessed it right, I have to hit the back button on the browser couple of times to reach the page, because there’s no option to go back to the page from where I started, I only have the option ‘Shop More’.

One hilarious thing about this site is that you find yourself signing in a couple of times though you are already signed in.

Well, I went through the rigmarole to complete the purchase and promising myself never to use this site ever in future. I give my gift certificate number in the text box and pay the balance amount through my credit card, you think am done with the transaction? Sorry boss, NO.

The transaction processing page shows up and gives a message ‘OUP Waiting for Gateway Response’ and I wait there for the message to show up ‘your transaction successful’ or something to that effect, but that doesn’t happen.Reluctantly, I call the customer support, and they sweetly tell me that the application has some problem and my money and gift certificate will be credited back between 48-72 hours.

48-72 hours? Holy cow! Why should I wait? Their inefficiency can’t be my inconvenience, right.

This is one classic example of losing business and customers because of bad design. Usability matters a lot for sites which do business online, when will the folks understand this simple truth and wake up to the fact?

Focus on Users

Making a great website or an application is not just enough, you have to deliver what your users want in a way they want.

How do I figure out what and how my users want? Well, there are many techniques and methods through which one can easily find this out.

If you are coming up with a new concept then you can achieve this through market research, individual interviews and FGD (focus group discussions). The data collected through these techniques and methodologies helps in understanding the user needs and wants and above all helps in creating the persona. Persona help us to create tailor made applications for our users, unlike one size fit all. Giving more than what user is looking for boosts the UX factor of the application when it is simple to use, non obtrusive, intuitive and without arrogance. If, our intent is to invite beginners with a great initial experience while also attracting power users whose excitement and expertise will draw others to the product, then we can achieve this feat without much ado by ensuring good User Experience.

In case you are coming up with a product which is already in use and has competition, then the technique used to gather data is more or less similar to the ones we have discussed above, however, in this case we will conduct extensive user tests with the similar existing applications to find out the usability roadblocks, pain points and user satisfaction of the said product. Once we have this invaluable data in our hand designing our product becomes pretty simple. What we are doing hereafter is just improvising the competitor’s product ensuring it is user and usage centered. Because there’s no point reinventing the wheel!

To design a great product and be best in the trade is not a child’s play, however, it’s neither impossible too.

Right from concept to commissioning stage, the product stake holders should have the clarity of the product and stick to that without deviation. Define product guidelines, abide to them, and follow the best practices and standards for coding, design etc to make the product a benchmark standard for others.

All said and done, end of the day, if we understand the users and focus on them, all else will follow on it’s own.

Being best is not an end point, but a starting point....

What is 49-O in Constitution of India?

49-O in Constitution of India

Did you know that there is a system in our constitution, as per the 1969
act, in section " 49-O" that a person can go to the polling booth,
confirm his identity, get his finger marked and convey the presiding
election officer that he doesn't want to vote anyone!

Yes such a feature is available, but obviously these leaders have never
disclosed it....
This is called "49-O".

Why should you go and say " I VOTE NOBODY"... because, in a ward, if a
candidate wins, say by 123 votes, and that particular ward has received
"49-O" votes more than 123, then that polling will be cancelled and will
have to be re-polled. Not only that, but the candidature of the
contestants will be removed and they cannot contest the re-polling,
since people had already expressed their decision on them.

This would bring fear into parties and hence look for genuine candidates
for their parties for election. This would change the way; of our whole
political system....... it is seemingly surprising why the election
commission has not revealed such a feature to the public....

Please spread this news to as many as you know...
Seems to be a wonderful weapon against corrupt parties in India ... show
your power, expressing your desire not to vote for anybody, is even more
powerful than voting.... so don't miss your chance. So either vote, or
vote not to vote (vote 49-O) and pass this info
on...

Use your voting right for a better INDIA