Category Archives: user experience & design

The iPad will change the face of e-commerce

You can’t fire your browser up these days without the Apple iPhone, and more recently the iPad, being mentioned.  In fact it seems hardly a blog or article gets written now without mentioning these devices.  I’m going to nail my colours to the mast now – I think that the Apple iPad will be a [...]

Are apps needed for e-commerce on the iPhone?

When the iPhone launched back in 2007, one of the TV adverts boasted about its web browser capabilities. It wouldn’t be a stripped down version of the internet, or a “kinda sorta looks like the internet”, but instead a user would be able to access the web in all its glory.
As an iPhone user, I know that this is [...]

Is e-commerce with Javascript turned off too hard?

Earlier today, over at Econsultancy, Matthew Curry talked about e-commerce platforms getting it wrong with their dependence on Javascript.
I do find it quite surprising how widespread the practice of building Javascript-dependent e-commerce sites is now. As a UX designer, I love all the new bells and whistles we’re able to roll out on sites these [...]

Karen Millen – ‘add to fitting room’ as important as ‘add to basket’

After commending www.karenmillen.com on their use of “view on a model” without the need to actually click anything, I was interested to see on visiting the website yesterday that they have taken a further step forward. Enter the Karen Millen online “Fitting Room”.
This feature has been available (but fairly hidden) on the site for some [...]

Content Strategy for the Web – very useful new book

I’ve just finished reading Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson. It’s an excellent read for anyone that is involved in managing a website of any kind.
Content is a fundamental part of any website. It sounds obvious but as Halvorson points out, all too often the content is the last thing to arrive when websites [...]

My top 3 Valentine promotions on UK online stores

It’s 12 February and I just received an e-mail from Screwfix with the subject line ‘Nothing says I love you more than a pink drill’. Once again I find myself wondering how many relationships might fail this weekend thanks to online marketing.
But it got me looking through my other e-mails to see what else I had been [...]

Do-it-yourself usability testing – great new book

I’ve just finished reading Rocket Surgery Made Easy by Steve Krug, the web usability guru who wrote the celebrated Don’t Make Me Think.
Rocket Surgery Made Easy is a very practical, hands-on guide for anyone interested in running usability tests on their websites. It’s also very short - it only took me 3 hours - so I recommend you read it. However, to try and give [...]

New Whistles site – a successful experience?

The new Whistles site has already sparked a thousand comments on blogs across the UK with its decision to break with e-commerce convention.
Without quantitive insight into users’ behaviour on the site, I can only add my own opinions to the mix, but let me say that at first the site felt to me like a [...]

How are retailers using online communities part 9 – Burberry

Burberry launched their new online community today. It’s called Art of the Trench and it is, according to Burberry, a ‘living document of the trench coat and people who wear it’.
It’s undoubtedly a lovely site, featuring loads of photographs of beautiful people wearing trench coats. And it is interactive – it’s basically powered by Facebook so you can do all [...]

Debenhams clickable TV ad for Christmas

I really like what Debenhams has done with their Christmas TV ad campaign. Like many retailers, they’ve put the ad on their website along with a ‘behind-the-scenes’ clip and a competition.
However, they’ve also gone one better than most other retailers - little product shots appear throughout the ad as it plays online, allowing the customer to click and view that [...]