Your online shop's design matters!

Your online shop’s design should make it easy for customers to buy. It should be something customers like, but above all something they know how to use. A beautiful surface does little good if they have to guess what is expected of them.

The video is from April 2009 and introduces the chapter on designing an online shop. Among other things, I use eBay as an example and recommend learning about usability.

Your online shop’s design needs to work for the customer

If you sell fashion items or products where appearance matters a lot, the visual side obviously plays a role. But if the task is to sell lots of goods, take a look at eBay.

If you ask me, eBay looks like shit. I joke about whether a designer has been involved at all. Of course one has, but it was not primarily built to be amazingly beautiful.

It is functional, like the cockpit of an F-16. That is the point I want to make: Things need to work for the person using them.

It is about creating a shop customers both like and know how to buy from.

Don’t Make Me Think

One book you should read is Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think. I think it is one of the most brilliant books ever written on this subject, and I consider it a bible in the field.

Also look at Jakob Nielsen’s work on usability. Both help underline that things need to be easy for the customer.

The whole point is in the book’s title. The customer should not have to sit wondering what he is doing here or what you expect him to do next.

The people who come into your shop want to buy things. You need to help them do that.

Make the next step clear

Do not get precious and think the customer should understand a subtle hint. Make it obvious.

In the video, I talk about big arrows showing the way. First I say red arrows, then correct myself because I associate red with a warning colour. What matters is that the customer can see what you want him to do.

Once he has found an item, for example, there are two paths: Does he want to keep shopping, or does he want to pay?

Both options need to be easy to understand. If he wants to pay, he should be able to move smoothly from one step to the next.

It should feel so simple that he thinks: Of course I should press that button. That is how I buy the goods I want.

Design also helps build trust

Design is not just about navigation. It also helps inspire the trust people need before they dare to buy. I return to that part in a later chapter.

At its most basic, the design is your shop. It is what people see and experience, and it is the experience you give the consumer.

If you do not have that part under control, you do not have much of what the customer encounters under control either.

So read the chapter about design, and read Don’t Make Me Think. If you take usability seriously and make the path to purchase clear, you are well on your way. You can find more of my e-commerce experiences in E-pusher.