L.T 1. 1 – Website experience

Brief:

Question 1:

Think about your personal experience as a web user and answer the following questions:

• If you search for a particular company and you cannot find a website for them, how does this shape your opinion of the company?
• If the website of a company or business is outdated, will it be a deciding factor of whether you will support the business?
• What elements on a website will help you trust a business or company?
• How do you feel when you come to an error page on a website? How does it influence your opinion of the company or entity to which the website belongs?
• If you struggle to find something on a website or don’t understand how to navigate where you want to be, will you try to contact them personally to find what you are looking for? Or will you close the window and browse to their competition?
• If you cannot find a physical address or contact details on a website, will this influence your overall opinion of the business or company?
• How long will you wait for a website to load before you give up and move on to the next one?
• If a website has broken image links or buttons that don’t work, will this influence the credibility of the company or business?
• When browsing the internet on your mobile phone, how do you feel about a website if the text is too small to read or the buttons are hard to click? Will you try to visit the website from your computer, or will you lose interest?
• Name one thing that will make you go back to a website and one thing that will cause you to close a website window?

Ask the same questions to at least two other people.

Compare all the answers you have written down and make a list of at least five things that you think will make a website successful and five things that will create a negative experience.

Question 2:

Take a screenshot of one website that you think is good, write down at least three elements that impressed you.

Now take a screenshot of a website that frustrates you. Write down at least three things that are causing a negative experience.

question 1

If you search for a particular company and you cannot find a website for them, how does this shape your opinion of the company?

Not finding what I am searching for usually leads to me looking elsewhere for something similar. This leads to the company losing business and therefore is not a good thing. My personal opinion is that I then believe them to not be successful or trustworthy. I think they might be shut down or out of business.
-My friends had similar thoughts and added that it also made them feel stupid, or that they might have gotten the URL wrong.

If the website of a company or business is outdated, will it be a deciding factor in whether you will support the business?

No, not for me. I would still consider buying from them. Personally, I don’t shop online much, and when I do, it is something very specific I need, and if the price is right and they have it in stock, I will buy it regardless of how outdated or difficult to find it is.
Elements that help me trust a business or company are good reviews, a great logo, web design, and a professional look and feel of the page.
-My friends said they would not likely buy from someone whom they didn’t understand the web page of, or felt as if the page was made in the 80s.

What elements on a website will help you trust a business or company?

Logo, good color usage, good design, smart search system, easy to navigate, and professional font/hierarchy. Few to no ads. Their address normally also gives away whether this is a trusted site.
-My friends say that being a “big brand” like Nike, Adidas, Ikea, etc makes my friends trust them, so showcasing a familiar Logo would help bring out this fact.. They immediately trust them because they are big. If the page is littered with spam and pop-ups, they consider it to be a fake page and leave the site.

How do you feel when you come to an error page on a website? How does it influence your opinion of the company or entity to which the website belongs?

That largely depends on the look of the error message. Trusted companies normally have a “site down” message show up, and some info when it can be expected to come back up When that happens, I normally just wait unless I can find the information I need elsewhere. Sites that just give a standard error message, I assume are down for good, and won’t visit again, making me think they are no longer a company. or they have bad security.
-My friends get annoyed and ask others to try and access the page, thinking it might be their phone/browser. They try again later if it still doesn’t work. They don’t particularly think anything special about the company because of it, other than getting annoyed.

If you struggle to find something on a website or don’t understand how to navigate where you want to be, will you try to contact them personally to find what you are looking for? Or will you close the window and browse to their competition?

I hardly ever contact them. I have only done so when there is something official, like NAV, tax office, and places like that. Otherwise, I just go to the competition.
-My friends (my kids) ask me for help or someone else at hand. They do not call. They also go to another site if it gets too complicated.

If you cannot find a physical address or contact details on a website, will this influence your overall opinion of the business or company?

Yes. I hate when I struggle to get in touch with a company. It makes me think they might be a scam site or not a very trustworthy company
-My friends said the same thing.

How long will you wait for a website to load before you give up and move on to the next one?

That depends on how important the specific site is, and the information I need. If it is official, I can wait for 3-5 min or try from different browsers and/or my phone. If it’s random information, I swap after 5 sec and look elsewhere.
-My friends don’t wait at all. They jump straight to another page.

If a website has broken image links or buttons that don’t work, will this influence the credibility of the company or business?

Yes, sometimes.
-My friends said yes, it’s lazy work. Bad programming and that the company doesn’t care.

When browsing the internet on your mobile phone, how do you feel about a website if the text is too small to read or the buttons are hard to click? Will you try to visit the website from your computer, or will you lose interest?

I feel the company has not spent the time or resources on UU/UX and that they don’t deserve my business. I look for other places to go instead. I will not go to the computer unless I have to.
-My friends lose interest. They will not bother checking it further unless it’s something official. (like NAV, taxes, etc.)

Name one thing that will make you go back to a website and one thing that will cause you to close a website window?

Good information that is easy to understand
Pop-ups make me close a page for good.
-My friends said they close difficult pages, and keep revisiting good articles that they need and are easily understandable.

Pluses on websites

• Good Hierarchy
• Clear view (oversiklig)
• No clutter/ads/pop-ups
• Simple menu system
• Clean design/color
  
  

Negatives on websites

• Messy page with too much info
• Clutter and too many colors/fonts
• Pop-ups and Ads
• No customer service
• Long loading time, error messages
  
  

question 2