User experience (UX) is about how your users perceive your website, application, product, etc. If they have a good experience, they'll like your company and your message, service, or product. If not, they'll probably go somewhere else.

Here are two stories about the UX of buying a ladder. Do you recognize these situations?

Once upon a time...
Bill went to a home-improvement superstore to buy a ladder. The signs were bad, so he wandered up and down the aisles searching.

At last, he found the ladders - high on a wall so people wouldn't climb them and hurt themselves. But that also meant Bill couldn't judge their quality or stability.

Finally, he decided one of them looked pretty good. Bill noticed there were small tags with bar-codes underneath each ladder. A sign told him that if he took the tag to the check-out and paid, he could pick it up behind the store.

So he took a tag and got in line at the check-out. But the store didn't honor Bill's particular credit card. Luckily, Bill had some cash.

He took his receipt and went behind the store to pick up the ladder. Several minutes later, Bill was told - "This ladder isn't in stock. Come back in a couple of weeks."

Well, Bill needed the ladder now. So he went back inside to choose another model. But first he needed to return the old one. Unfortunately, you cannot return something you don't have. At least this was what they told him at the Customer Service Desk.

Bill finally convinced the manager to make a refund…sort of: "We don't refund cash. You'll get a check in the mail." Since Bill didn't have enough cash for a second ladder, he drove back home.

Was he happy? Was he eager to return to this particular store?

You tell us.

Once upon ANOTHER time...
Bill went to a home-improvement website to buy a ladder. There was no link to "Ladders" so he spent a lot of time clicking around.

At long last, he found the ladders, listed under "Hardware" – and listed by numbers rather than names. Since there were no descriptions on this page, Bill had to guess:

"What's the difference between a 10102LGS and a 10122LGF?"
 
He clicked back and forth until he found one that looked pretty good – even though the picture was small and there wasn't much text to tell him about the features. Bill clicked the little shopping-cart icon and added the ladder to his basket. Nothing happened, so he clicked a couple more times.
 
He then clicked his way to the check-out.
 
The check-out wanted lots of personal data, which Bill carefully entered. Yet each time he tried to move to the next step, the website told him that it was missing required information. And each time Bill clicked the Back button to see what was missing, the entire form became blank again.
 
At long last, he was ready to confirm his purchase. But now there were four ladders in his cart and no way to remove the extra three. So, he repeated the entire process.
 
When Bill finally made it through the check-out screens - paying extra for express delivery - he got an e-mail telling him the ladder was out of stock. Expected delivery time was 2-6 weeks.
 
Was Bill happy with his on-line experience? Was he likely to return to this website in the future?
 
Of course not.

So, how can we help YOU?

To the top