Don't judge a book by its cover - Flashy design will kill sales

Brand Republic 06-Mar-06, 08:00

River Island's new website is a very attractive one at that. On first impression it looks and behaves really well. It ticks the 'cool' button and I bet the client loves it, writes Simon Norris, managing director of online design company Nomensa.

Beware though, in terms of user experience this site could and should do much better. Retail marketers should know better. Customers have a tendency to vote with their mice, and I expect to see some significant changes to the site within the next six months as River Island reacts to its customer response (and sales).

It provides many inconsistent and confusing navigation features. For instance, there's a magnifying glass for trousers but not for bags, shoes and other items. People expect detail, especially when purchasing items that reflect and communicate to others about their personality.

My favourite "boob" is the Hot Banner button which takes you to the help section. And there was me thinking it would take me to hot (cool) clothes!

Worst of all though is the hi-jacking of the browser. How do I send a link to someone, bookmark a page or increase the size of the font? Simple answer -- I can't!

These are little things that make the web amazing and will continue to revolutionise the way we shop.

Don't get me wrong, I love Flash -- it is a powerful tool and when used appropriately can create highly interactive and engaging user experiences. However, to use it as a singular technology seems daft -- especially given the fact that the same design could have been created without it.

Good user experience design balances the creative and usability aspects of web design to build an experience that matches the needs of the business with the needs of the shopper -- creating the best fit. The result is simple: more customers, and more revenue. This makes for happy customers that return more often and recommend to others.

The new site will have very poor search engine visibility. Where's the commercial sense there?

The days of people just browsing websites because they are new or novel is very twentieth century. Cool, for cool's sake, just doesn't cut it with customers. People visit a website because they have an end goal. They are time sensitive and expect to get what they want, how they want it and when they want it.

Now consider recent research published by consumer analyst Verdict. They calculated that annual UK internet sales trail behind the high street by only £1.2bn - how long will it be before the high street is overtaken by the internet in terms of goods sold? Websites that exclude people will suffer at the hands of consumers – literally. Online user experience is everything and the consumer is truly queen.

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