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NewsMacys.com has increased its conversion rate by 150% after a redesign that mainly focused on improving the usability of the site's search feature. The magnitude of the sales increase confirms the potential for improvement on current websites: most sites continue to lose most of their prospects because they are too difficult to use.The fact that improved search accounted for most of the increase in sales does not surprise me. We know from our research last year that website users only succeed in half of their initial queries. Macy's search improvements are partly due to a software solution called IntuiFind, which costs $250,000 and addresses the verbal disagreement phenomenon (the fact that many users will use different query terms than the vocabulary used by the webpage author). Smaller sites can get the same benefits from a manual analysis of their query logs and by following more of the 29 usability guidelines for search design: the average site only complies with a third of these guidelines, so it is no wonder that users have trouble searching on websites. Recent InterviewsFORTUNE: Thinkers: The Top Ten Minds in Small Business (Dec.)Federal Computer Week: Dot-gov by design (Dec. 10) USA Today: Dashing through the store is easy online (Dec. 5) IT Director: Jakob Nielsen on usability and intranets (Dec. 3) CIO Magazine: A discussion with Jakob Nielsen and Vincent Flanders (Dec. 1) Revolution: Two cents' worth: Site usability must guide web designers (Nov. 21) Computer Weekly: Cut intranet costs by factoring in usability (Nov. 15) New Media Knowledge: Jakob Nielsen on Homepage Usability (Nov. 13) The Age (Australia): Winnowing grain from the Internet chaff (Nov. 13) Network of the World: Homepage usability (includes 3 minute video clip) (Nov. 9) New Media Age: Independence is the killer app (Nov. 9) The Independent (London): Microsoft deal fails to ensure public has choice (Nov. 8) Darwin Magazine: What intranet metrics should companies pay attention to? (Nov. 1) Washington Post: You'd Think They'd Learn: Bad Design Kills Web Sites (Oct. 25) Federal Computer Week: Web usability obstacles abound (Oct. 22) The Register: Jakob Nielsen on how Apple blew it, how Linux will blow it, and the Next Big Thing (Oct. 16) WebReference: Jakob Nielsen and Marie Tahir on Homepage Usability (Oct. 11) Internet Magazine: Web is 'evil, lazy and stupid' (Oct. 8) The Guardian: Usability Guru (Aug. 16) Credit Suisse Bulletin: The man with the mouse is king (July 31) Internet Magazine: The future's bright! (What will the Internet be like in 20 years?) (July 1) New York Times: Corporate Sites Seem to Skimp on the Facts |
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