User Experience

My Kindle just arrived. It came in a brown cardboard box, Amazon style, except that this was a different model box from the standard ones – more classy, somehow, with its black band across one end. Tear off the strip of perforated card at one end, and the lid lifts up to reveal the object of your desire: THE Kindle. There’s something of an Apple feel to the experience – white, smooth – lustrous, even? – hard, moulded plastic inside, no frills, and the dark matte grey device nestled, pod-like, in the box. Basic instructions on the screen clearly display a diagram of the device, its USB/power cord and how to plug it in – so clearly in fact, I first thought this was printed on the protective plastic film, and so did a couple of other people I showed it to. So far this is turning out to be a rather good customer experience. Read more…

A  few weeks ago, I opened the amazon.co.uk home page to find a splashy ad for the all-new Kindle. A few buzz words caught my eye – free 3G, slim as a pencil, 3500 books, read in sunlight, UK-Kindle store…having so far resisted buying one of these devices (see my earlier post) but with both a professional and a personal interest in them, I read on. Call it great marketing or just the product finally hitting my sweet spot, but I was hooked and ordered one on the spot. Seems I was not the only one: the product is already sold out pre-shipping (launch was announced for August 27) and current orders can expect delivery in the second half of September. Read more…

This article, written by Neil Mason, was originally published on Clickz.com on 13/08/10 and is republished here with permission.

I don’t know whether the number is right or not but a while back I heard that sophisticated marketing companies such as the world’s leading brands spent about 10% of their marketing budget on research and measurement. Irrespective whether the number is accurate or not, it’s a good benchmark I think – 10% feels about right. Read more…

CA Calls for European Businesses to Wake Up to ‘Web Stress’ or Risk Losing Customers and Sales

• World’s first* neurological experiment into poor online customer experience proves existence of ‘web stress’
• Brain wave analysis indicates that consumers need to concentrate 50% more than normal when using a badly performing website
• Two most stressful points of the online sales cycle are search and checkout

* Based on extensive desk research in February 2010. Read more…

To explore ‘web stress’, CA partnered with Foviance to see if application performance had an impact on buying habits and consumer behaviour online.

Using an EEG (Electroencephalography) cap and sophisticated neurological and physiological testing equipment, volunteers were wired up during the study and had their brain wave activity monitored. Everyday tasks online such as finding and buying items were tested by the volunteers.

The results revealed that search and checkout were the two most stressful points of everyday processes carried out online, resulting in the volunteers exhibiting a heightened level of ‘web stress’. This type of stress results in more than three quarters of customers abandoning websites before they have completed the task that drove them to the site in the first place. To download the whitepaper a valid e-mail address is required, however Foviance will not contact you unless you specifically request it.

July 30, 2009 – Foviance, the experts in customer experience, were appointed in 4Q 2008 by Turner Broadcasting to evaluate the user experience of their newly developed Cartoon Network website launching across 12 EMEA territories in 2009.Research was conducted by Foviance in the UK, Poland and Spain, working in collaboration with Xperience Consulting in Spain and UseLab in Poland. This research played a key part in the user centred development of Cartoon Network’s new website, which aims to increase the level of kids’ engagement, entertainment and reward. The UK website has recently launched as part of the EMEA wide rollout. Read more…

In times of a recession, online fraud increases (CIFAS ‘Fraud trends and recession go hand in hand’) but most online users, although aware of Internet threats, have a gap in understanding them. Read more…

Sean Burton, Analytic Consultant within Foviance’s Applied Insights team recently spoke at NMA’s Live ’09 event on optimising online spend. The one-day conference focused on maximising the return from online investments. Read more…