How NOT to Win Customers
I’m working on a project for a client who recently purchased NCR’s Counterpoint system. It is a fancy point-of-sale system that combines a cash register with inventory tracking and customer...
View ArticleDon’t Make This Web Design Mistake!
Do you wish more people would fill out your web forms? Use your web or phone app? Buy from you online? Here’s one tip that will help: Let them do what they want with as few clicks as possible! It...
View ArticleWhat Makes Shoppers Click & Buy? [infographic]
I generally hate long, skinny infographics, but this one has lots of good digital media and e-commerce statistics in it. I also have a complete source list for all of the statistics cited, and will...
View ArticleHow to Hire a Web Design Firm
I’ve never met a business owner or marketer who hasn’t had a bad experience with a web design firm. That’s sad. Sometimes it is because the people they hired really didn’t know what they were doing,...
View Article33 Top Website Usability Mistakes That Are Hurting Your Business!
We don’t see nearly as many website usability mistakes as we used to, but there are still plenty of them out there. In today’s podcast I’ve tackled 33 common website mistakes that I still see pretty...
View ArticleBuild Your Business Online: Don’t Panic – Start Here!
You Know Your Website Isn’t Enough to Build Your Business Online, but… Last week I gave a talk to the Residential Construction Industy Conference in Edmonton, Alberta. Their business is booming these...
View ArticleCall To Action: Don’t Make This Online Marketing Mistake!
Don’t Shy Away From a Call to Action When I look back on it now, I wonder how much consulting business I lost in my early days because, like so many sales people, I was afraid to put a “call …Continue...
View ArticleWant A High Survey Response Rate? Don’t Do This!
Why Is Our Survey Response Rate So Low? I’ve worked in market research for much of my career, and I’m a proud Canadian, so it really pains me to see a Canadian market research firm mess up like this....
View ArticleDon’t Make This Mistake on Your Web Forms!
4 Tips for Better Security Questions I was trying to sign up for a service online today (name blurred to protect the guilty), and ran smack into a bunch of usability mistakes, including these badly...
View ArticleMarketers: Learn the Neuroscience of Attention & Trust To Get More Sales
I’ve got two recent interviews for you in today’s podcast: Diana Lucaci, founder of True Impact Marketing, who spoke at the recent Marketing Research & Intelligence Association (MRIA) national...
View ArticleSales tactics
Like many people, I hate making cold sales calls. So I tend to sympathize with those who have to. But today I got a call from someone using what I considered to be truly slimy sales tactics. He left me...
View ArticleUsability of Online Interactive Media
Just read an interesting study: “User Feedback Drives Five Principles for Multimedia News on the Web” By Peter Schumacher Source: Online Journalism Review They tested how users interacted with...
View ArticleTask or Scenario Design Guidelines
Good task design is a difficult balancing act. If you don’t use tasks, and tell users simply to “explore and comment on” the site, the feedback you will get will be more positive than is realistic, and...
View ArticleOnline International Journal of Usability Studies – First Issue
Online International Journal of Usability Studies – Current Issue The Usability Professionals’ Association has launched a new academic journal. If you are doing interesting research, this could be a...
View ArticleTry Before You Buy feature
Have you ever tried to find a granola bar that contains no nuts or seeds? Not an easy feat, let me assure you! So I went searching online for stores that specialize in people with allergies. One of...
View ArticleWeb Credibility Guidelines
The Web Credibility Project: Guidelines – Stanford University Their top 10 is bang-on with what our research has shown. It all boils down to transparency and trust. The post Web Credibility Guidelines...
View ArticleJakob Nielsen on slow website users
Outliers and Luck in User Performance (Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox) I was interested to see in his most recent Alertbox that Jakob Nielsen is finally acknowledging that there are purposes for large-sample...
View ArticleNicely Designed Home Page
Business solutions: Payroll, benefit administration, human resources – ADP We generally find that users dislike 3 or more column layouts, as they don’t know where to focus their attention. I finally...
View ArticlePlain English Helps Usability
Site Advisor is running a survey on its website that lets you view several sites and try to guess which ones will put spyware or adware on your computer if you use them. They make the point, quite...
View ArticleTips to Help Visually Impaired Web Users
We’ve all read about the importance of using alt tags (a way to label pictures) so that visually impaired web users know what’s there, but I recently had my eyes opened much further when doing...
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