The Usability Myth

The Usability Myth: 4 Surprising discoveries we learned after testing the most common usability principles

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TODAY’S TEAM

Dr. Flint McGlaughlin – Director, MECLABS Group Flint McGlaughlin is the Director of MECLABS Group. The organization has partnered with key market leaders including The New York Times, Microsoft Corporation, and Reuters Group. Dr. McGlaughlin also serves as the Director of Enterprise Research at the Transforming Business Institute, University of Cambridge (UK) and served as a former Trustee for Westminster Theological Centre. Dr. McGlaughlin originally studied Philosophy and Theology at the University of London’s Specialist Jesuit College. Today, his primary research is focused on enterprise as transformative agent. His work has won multiple awards and has been quoted in more than 13,000 online and offline sources.

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EXPERIMENT: BACKGROUND

Experiment ID: (Protected) Location: MarketingExperiments Research Library Test Protocol Number: TP1283

Background: Italian ecommerce website offering cosmetics. The researchers were focusing on testing different approaches to the “body” category page. Goal: To increase the rate of conversion Primary Research Question: Which page will generate the highest rate of conversion? Approach: A/B variable cluster test

Research Notes:

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EXPERIMENT: CONTROL

• The control listed all the main categories of “body” products:

• Deodorants • Moisturizers • Toner • Skin • Hair remover • Feet • Hands • Mouth • Scrubs and Specials • Accessories • Combination Offers

• Products are all listed below

by category as selected

Control – Category List

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EXPERIMENT: CONTROL

Is the category list at the top of the page the most user-friendly way to present the information?

Control – Category List

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EXPERIMENT: TREATMENT 1

• Treatment 1 seeks to make the page easier to use by adding an interactive configurator that enables the visitor to customize the products that show up below.

• By Category • By Objective • By Product Line

T1 – Configurator

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• Treatment 2 seeks to make page easier by removing the category links and simply featuring the main categories with images.

T2 – Visual Categories

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• Treatment 3 is a radical approach that seeks to make the process easier by removing the “body” category page altogether, enabling the visitor to choose their category within the navigation of the homepage.

T3 – Navigation Links (text)

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• Treatment 4 is similar to Treatment 3, only it integrates a more visual approach to the categories within the navigation.

T4 – Navigation Links (visual)

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EXPERIMENT: TEST YOUR INTUITION Control – Category List T1 – Configurator T2 – Visual Categories

T3 – Navigation Links (text) T4 – Navigation Links (visual)

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EXPERIMENT: RESULTS

Treatment Version Conversion Rate

Relative Difference

Control – Category List 1.04% -

T1 – Configurator 1.25% 20% T2 – Visual Categories 1.10% 6%

T3 – Navigation Links (text) 1.10% 5%

T4 – Navigation Links (visual) 1.10% 5%

20% Increase in Total Conversions Treatment 1 category page increased conversion rate by 20%

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EXPERIMENT: RESULTS

Why did the configurator beat all the other methods? Was it the usability? If so, what made it more usable than the other methods?

Control – Category List T1 – Configurator

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THE USABILITY MYTH

1. Focusing on usability can hinder an effective approach to optimization. It often undermines the micro-yes approach and can ultimately hinder results.

2. An overemphasis on “usability” confuses the means with the end. The goal of our website is not “usability”, but rather “buyability”.

3. Usability, when viewed properly, can be a valuable tool for helping marketers identify hidden psychological costs in their conversion processes.

Key Principles

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USING USABILITY

Conversion Methodology

Metric Analysis

Usability (UX)

Competitive Analysis

Focus Groups

Marketing Opinions

Hypothesis Tools Test

Usability Claim: Users have to scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the call-to-action. By raising the CTA above the fold, we can improve the rate conversion

Control A single-column page where the call to action is located at the bottom of the page

Treatment 1 A two-column page where the the call to action is located at the top right of the page .

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THE USABILITY MYTH

1. A focus on usability can hinder an effective approach to optimization. It often undermines the micro-yes approach and can ultimately hinder results.

2. An overemphasis on “usability” confuses the means with the end. The goal of our website is not “usability”, but rather “buyability”.

3. Usability, when viewed properly, can be a valuable tool for helping marketers identify unnecessary psychological cost in their conversion processes.

4. All usability claims must be tested.

Key Principles

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TODAY’S FOCUS

Today, we are going to walk through 4 interesting discoveries that we have made when testing some of

the most common “rules of usability”.

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DISCOVERY #1: Short is Not Always Sweet

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COMMON RULES OF USABILITY

“…the material that's the most important for the users' goals or your business goals should be above the fold…”

“Keep it short…cut the copy and keep the most important points of the message near the top.”

“

”

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SHORTENING A PAGE CAN BE EFFECTIVE

16.52% 19.95% 23.14% 25.40%

• Often conversion increases as the page is shortened, but this is not always the case…

Conversion increases as page-length decreases

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Background: An addiction and mental health rehabilitation facility. Goal: Increase the total number of leads captured. Primary Research Question: Which page will obtain the most form submissions? Approach: A/B multi-factor split test

Research Notes:

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EXPERIMENT: CONTROL

• Average short-form page template with a rotating banner.

• Call to action is above the fold on the right hand side and above “the fold”.

What if we created a single-column, long-form structure with the CTA at

the bottom?

Control

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EXPERIMENT: TREATMENT Treatment - Top

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EXPERIMENT: TREATMENT Treatment – Middle

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EXPERIMENT: TREATMENT Treatment – Bottom

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EXPERIMENT: SIDE-BY-SIDE Treatment

• The treatment is nearly 2x the length of the control and the call-to-action is at the bottom of the page.

Control

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EXPERIMENT: CONTROL

Design Conversion Rate

Control 0.78%

Treatment 2.48%

Relative Difference 220%

220% Increase in Total Conversion The treatment page increased the rate of conversion by 220%

What you need to understand: By utilizing a single-column, long-copy approach, the treatment better guides the prospect’s thought process and generates 220% more leads online.

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DISCOVERY #1: SHORT IS NOT ALWAYS SWEET

Key Principles

1. We control the chronology of the mind with the geography of the page. Many times, it is necessary to guide the visitor through a significant amount of information before they are ready to make a decision.

2. Generally, there is a direct relationship between the cost/complexity of an offer and the amount of information that is required to achieve a conversion.

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DISCOVER #2: Navigation is Not Always Necessary

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Users want to have control... Navigation is arguably the

most important part of your website, aside from the content…

Give users complete control of your website by allowing

them to navigate located information and direct where they are at all times….

“

”


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NOT THIS, BUT THIS

548% INCREASE IN CONVERSION

Not this

But this

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NOT THIS, BUT THIS

155% INCREASE IN CONVERSION

Not this But this

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24% REVENUE PER VISITOR

Not this

NOT THIS, BUT THIS

But this

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NOT THIS, BUT THIS

56% IN REV. PER ORDER

Not this But this

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DISCOVERY #2: NAVIGATION IS NOT ALWAYS NECESSARY

Key Principles

1. Navigation necessarily presents a series of competing options and will almost always diffuse attention.

2. Navigation should be utilized as a channel-like tool to help the customer move towards an offer, not away from one.

3. For the average site, this means that navigation should be emphasized on directory pages (home pages; category pages; etc.), and deemphasized on destination pages (product pages; lead forms; etc.).

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DISCOVER #3: Options Are Not Always Helpful

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Having choices is considered a good thing. We are used to choices and we value dearly if we can be in control.

“

” The more choices, the better…

When people have no choice, life is miserable. As you start adding options, you increase wellbeing…


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Background: Integrated software solutions for businesses and enterprise Goal: The company sought to increase free trial sign-ups for the CRM solutions Primary Research Question: Which landing page will obtain the most conversions? Approach: A/B split test (variable cluster)

Research Notes:


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LOGO

LOGO

EXPERIMENT: SIDE-BY-SIDE

Control

Treatment

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LOGO

1 2 3

LOGO

1

By changing the display of the offer, we simplified the customer’s decision from three evenly weighted buttons to a single selection.

EXPERIMENT: SIDE-BY-SIDE

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78% Increase in Conversion The simplified design contributed to a 77.94% conversion gain.

Path Design CR

Control 1.71%

Treatment 3.05%

Relative Difference: 77.94%

EXPERIMENT: RESULTS

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Key Principles

1. When possible, marketing collateral should NOT lead a prospect to set of potential options, but rather to “the one” option. Beware of unsupervised thinking.

DISCOVERY #3: OPTIONS ARE NOT ALWAYS HELPFUL

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DISCOVER #4: Minimal is Not Always Optimal

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COMMON USABILITY PRINCIPLES

[Websites should have an] aesthetic and minimalist design…dialogues should not contain information

which is irrelevant or rarely needed.

A minimalist design draws the users to focus on the main subject at hand without being distracted by

irrelevant images or text.

“

”

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ORIGINAL EXPERIMENT

• Treatment 2 takes a more minimalist approach, and yet Treatment 1 outperformed it by 14%

Treatment 1 Configurator & Full List of Products

Treatment 2 Organized Categories Only

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• Treatments 3 took even more of a minimalist approach by completely removing the page altogether and letting the visitor jump straight to the category through the navigation…

• Yet this minimalist approach did not improve conversion.

Treatment 3 Organized Categories within Navigation Links

ORIGINAL EXPERIMENT

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Treatment 1 Configurator & Full List of Products

• In all, Treatment 1 was the most complex version of the page from a design and process standpoint…

• …and yet it provided the easiest and most useful experience for the visitor.

ORIGINAL EXPERIMENT

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DISCOVERY #4: MINIMAL IS NOT ALWAYS OPTIMAL

Key Principles

1. We do not optimize web pages; we optimize thought sequences. Our goal is NOT to minimize complexity on the page, but rather confusion in the mind (i.e., psychological effort).

2. Minimizing the confusion in the mind will at times include adding elements to the page design:

• Adding Interactive Tools • Adding Statements of Value • Adding Anxiety Reducers

• Adding (separating) Micro-Steps • Adding Eye-path Guides • Adding Qualifying Friction

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SUMMARY: WE MUST TRANSCEND BEST PRACTICES

Rule-based Optimization

Science-based Optimization

vs.

• Emphasize hero shots • Keep it above the fold • Avoid too much copy • Emphasize the Benefits • Don’t use reverse text • Don’t rely too much on Flash • Implement basket recovery emails • Avoid auto-on audio

Practice

Methodology

Meta-theory

C = 4m + 3v + 2(i-f) - 2a ©

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SUMMARY: THE USABILITY MYTH

DISCOVERY #1: Short is Not Always Sweet We control the chronology of the mind with the geography of the page. There is a direct relationship between the cost/complexity of an offer and the amount of information that is required to achieve a conversion.

Discovery #2: Navigation is Not Always Necessary Navigation necessarily presents a series of competing options and will almost always diffuse attention. Navigation should be utilized as a channel-like tool to help the customer move towards an offer, not away from one.

Discovery #3: Options Are Not Always Helpful When possible, marketing collateral should NOT lead a prospect to set of potential options, but rather to “the one” option. Beware of unsupervised thinking.

Discovery #4: Minimal is Not Always Optimal Our goal is NOT to minimize complexity on the page, but rather complexity in the mind. Minimizing the complexity in the mind will at times include adding elements to the page design.

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LIVE OPTIMIZATION

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Tune into our next Web clinic to learn: • How one company

used email subject lines and body copy to determine the essence of its value proposition.

• A 5-step methodology for testing value proposition with email messages.

Upcoming Web Clinic

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Live Optimization

Primary objective(s): To capture leads for partnerships

Primary traffic source(s): Organic and Direct ad

Page URL: http://bit.ly/ZpL9Ll

Target audience: Potential research partners

Merck

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American Red Cross

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