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Java-E UK - Our WebSite Ethos
1. Customer-Led
A web-site should always be designed with the needs of the customers in mind, and should never be designed purely with the personal preferences/wishes of the person who is running the business/site.
2. No unrequested Pop-ups/unders
Regardless of how interesting a web-site is, if that site ever spews out an unrequested pop-up/pop-under window then most people (quite rightly) close not only the pop-up window without even waiting for it to load, but also close all windows relating to that site. Unrequested pop-ups/unders are a terrible invention and should never be used anywhere. We do use pop-up windows, but only when you press something like a [Details] button and you don't want the main/original page to be lost.
3. No irrelevant large flash/graphics
Despite what a lot of companies seem to think, not everybody in the world has a broadband connection, a top-spec PC, and the latest software installed. Retail web-sites are for information/processing only, and there is no valid reason for having large graphics which slow down the navigation of the site. Also, too many graphics clutter the screen and make the information hard to find.
4. No meaningless categories
Fictional example: A "Condor Egg Nests" category might actually mean "Flight Vouchers to America". Lots of companies seem to think that everybody in the world automatically knows all the strange and meaningless names that they've given their products/services - well, they don't. Categories should indicate what's actually being sold and should not just show a marketing-manager's ridiculous naming conventions. If we sell a silver pendant, then it's under the categories of "Silver" and "Pendants" and can also be found by going into the detailed search and clicking on the "Silver" and "Pendants" categories to find all "Silver Pendants" - we decided not to replace that with a category of "Moonlight Moments" (or similar fictional nonsense).
5. Use one-step navigation
If a site is designed properly, then you shouldn't have to go through lots of sub-menus to get to what you want. Any information that you want should be instantly available using as few clicks as possible, and you certainly shouldn't have to go through lots of different pages to get there. Everything should be clearly and relevantly labelled so that as soon as the front-end page has loaded, you can instantly see how to get to the information that you want.
6. Pages should load quickly
Sites should be designed and tuned so that all pages (especially the front-end pages) load as quickly as possible. If we ever go to a site and it takes more than about 10 seconds to see if we can get what we want, then we just close the site and go somewhere else.
7. Incorporate Changes Requested
Firstly, customers should be welcomed to send feedback/suggestions for site changes and improvements. Secondly, those changes should be implemented if they're judged to be a benefit to customers.
8. Customer-Led Search Facilities
Customers should be able to search for products easily and by using any categories/properties (or combination of them) that they want.
9. Clear Price Labelling
Final (all-inclusive) prices should be displayed when browsing products - customers should not have to go half way through the ordering process before being told how much postage/packing or sales tax they have to pay.
10. Show All Product Details/Information
All aspects of the product should be viewable when browsing - you shouldn't be forced to settle for just a single picture and a two word description.
11. Show "Real" Pictures
Pictures of products should be shown on a real background and not digitally-cropped around the product's edges - cropped pictures like that make the picture look like just a graphic instead of a real item/photo. Also, with such cropped pictures, you don't get a true idea of size/colour/contours etc. Pictures should also show all aspects/sides of the product so that you get a clear understanding of the overall look-and-feel of the item.
12. Start from Scratch
Prior to building this site, we looked at a large number of other retail sites, but we didn't like any of them very much (apart from Amazon, who were absolutely spot-on/perfect in their design/structure for what they do), so we started our design completely from scratch. We pretended we were a potential customer of our own products and thought about what we'd want to see and how it should be presented/organised to get quick access to the information. Everything was then built around what we (with our "potential customer" hats on) wanted to see - we created the site structure and database around what we wanted the site to look like - we didn't care about our own internal technical complexities as they can always be solved - the important thing was to end up with what we think our customers need/want. We were lucky - the owner/creator of Java-E UK used to design/build computer systems/software for a living, so we had the in-house expertise to be able to make such a bespoke site at no real cost to the business - we do appreciate that other small businesses generally don't have that particular piece of luck on their side, which is why we only save our real criticism for large companies who have large I.T. budgets but who just don't do their job properly.
13. Boycott Failing Sites
If commercial retail web-sites (most especially those owned by large companies) don't do all of the above, then do the world a favour and don't buy anything from them. You should boycott customer unfriendly sites - if they're not willing to think of their customers, then they don't deserve to have any customers.
14. Complain To Failing Sites
If you can't find what you need to know straight away from a relevant site, then don't spend ages trying to find it - just use their [Contact] button/page straight away and send them an email saying their web-site was unusable and you "just wanted to know ...." - let them do the legwork for you. Don't be rude/offensive in your email to them - be blunt but constructive. For example: "Your site doesn't have a readily-available/friendly search facility and I don't think that your customers should have to waste their time trying to find hidden information - what kind of silver rings do you have and how much are they ?" If failing web-sites keep getting that kind of response from people, they'll have no choice but to enhance them as they won't be able to cope with that kind of question constantly being asked by their customers (unless they ignore such questions, in which case they'll lose all their customers anyway) - this is particularly relevant to large sites/companies - if 99% of all their internet contact is related to not being able to use their site easily, then the directors will (hopefully) start to see that something is wrong and try to fix it. We always do this - we take account of the size of the business, and if it's a large business with no excuses for having such a dismal site (as opposed to a small business who may be forced into using a third-party site-product through no fault of their own) then we boycott them and tell them why they've just lost a customer.
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