Posts Tagged ‘design’

Magento checkout extensions have been pretty popular for a long time. For Ecommerce owners the idea of increasing sales just by making the checkout process smoother is a very appealing one.

The problem is that most checkout extensions are actually harmful to conversion rates and checkout usability.

All Magento checkout extensions I’ve seen out there are very bad in terms of load speed, conversions, and stability.

Don’t combine checkout steps into a single crowded step

First of all I have no idea why but all checkout extensions I’ve ever seen combine the checkout steps into a crowded 3-column design and promote this as if it’s a positive thing.

Here’s a screenshot taken from one such extension to illustrate what I mean:

Even the savviest users get confused with such a layout! Not to mention most internet shoppers eager to complete their purchase quickly and move on. I mean – which fields are you supposed to fill out first? Why are there so many options everywhere? It’s really overwhelming – especially if you’re just buying a shirt or a pair of shoes!

There are a ton of checkout extensions but somehow they all combine all checkout steps into one crowded page with 3 columns. It doesn’t get any worse in terms of usability and conversions!

Don’t overwrite Magento’s functionality

These extensions also completely overwrite Magento’s checkout functionality which is a big no no in terms of upgade-ability, stability and security.

What that means is that you’ll run into countless issues and problems with new Magento verions, and other 3rd party extensions (such as payment methods, shipping methods, etc).

Don’t weigh down your checkout page

In  addition these extensions add their own style files, template files, and layout files to the checkout page which will affect  load speed and page performance – actually slowing down the most important page of an online store!

Don’t trust anything but numbers

If you’re trying out a Magento checkout extension, you should make sure to test conversion rates with A/B testing (you can use Google Website Optimizer for that if you want a free and quick implementation). One company did test conversion rates and saw a huge decrease in conversion rates when compared to the original Magento checkout process!

Well, that’s expected to anyone with any sense of design and usability.

Look for an alternative

You can stick with the native Magento checkout functionality and that’s fine. Except for the very first step which is very confusing to users:

Fortunately this first step can be easily and seamlessly removed with the Optimized Checkout Extension without affecting any of the checkout functionality and all its possible scenarios.

If you want users to sign up for your newsletter at checkout you can incorporate this very simple extension which adds a newsletter check-box with a bunch of possible scenarios you can configure in the admin.

Links mentioned in this post:

• Google Website Optimizer
• A/B Testing the One Step Checkout Magento Extension
• Magento Conversion Rate Optimization – Cart and Checkout
• Optimized Checkout Extension
• Newsletter Checkout Extension
  

Everybody knows a website’s landing page is really important. Since it’s easier to scroll than to click, one of the guiding principles in landing page design is that long landing pages tend to yield better results than their shorter counterpart.

Here are 2 truly awesome long landing pages utilizing the browser native scroll in an innovative way: (more…)

I found this really great article on using different style sheets for differently sized browser windows when designing a website or web application, potentially significantly enhancing the user experience. Enjoy!

One of the worst ways to go about getting something done or solving a problem is to look for multiple options.

That’s particularly obvious in the design field. When you’re looking to get a design done, don’t ask “can I see a few options of how that can look?” but rather focus on creating the one design that will be right. Any good designer knows that. So much waste and confusion is created when you don’t work that way. Especially because having seen the few options most people request to combine some elements of one option with some elements from the other option and you end up with a Frankenstein type of design made of disparate pieces. The result is simply not coherent.

I think that the core of this issue comes from a culture of multiple choices. It start in school where most tests consist of multiple choice answers. People end up not exercising their brain to look for the right solution to a problem. Instead they are faced with a selection of choices and they focus on the options. This type of approach is deadly to creativity. (more…)

Start your designs with the content that goes on the page – not the other way around.

Don’t design “boxes”, “areas”, or “structure” and then fill them out with the content you think will go there.

Instead, start by designing the main elements based on the content that you want to communicate on the page. That way you’ll be sure to include the content right away into your design strategy. Content is what matters most.

Start with the content and how you want to display it. That title, that image, this slogan and that short text. Here goes the navigation, there the main call to action. Here some additional content/options. How do I want to display these elements in order to make sure I will achieve my goals? The rest should follow.

Related posts:

• Web Design Is All About Content
• Attractive Content Rules Web Design

The web design field includes 3 areas of expertise that require unique sets of skills. Design, client side programming, and server side programming are the 3 main areas of expertise necessary to accomplish anything good in the web design field – and they are very different in nature.

If you’re working on a web design & development project, or looking for a team to work with you, this is something that is absolutely crucial to understand. (more…)

Here is a question that is often asked by clients and web designers alike: Should you try to avoid scroll whenever possible and make your web design fit on most computer screens? Or should you have longer web pages automatically depending on the native browser scroll? As a general rule don’t try to avoid scrolls. But on the other hand it is essential that you make your main design element fit within the page. Let me explain: (more…)

You can’t listen to your customers. That’s the secret to fostering customer satisfaction.

Customers will always ask for “more”. More features, more options, more mockups, more more more. Listening to these requests will not create satisfaction because more features means more complexity, more options means more clutter, and more mockups means more waste and confusion. I don’t mean that you shouldn’t keep the communication channels open between you and your customers. I mean to ignore these requests ‘as is’ and focus on understanding your customers needs and behavior in order to create a better product, a better design, and provide a better service. Your customers will thank you for it and you’ll foster satisfaction. (more…)

A couple of months ago, we updated the design of our web design company’s official website. Our goal was to ensure that our website’s design and programming remain at the top of the web design industry, while achieving our business and marketing goals. These goals included further improving our Search Engine ranking, company branding, and website conversions.

Web marketing requires ongoing effort. In particular, Search Engine Optimization requires ongoing efforts – that’s why we regularly improve our web presence… unless we’re too busy working on the next big thing! (more…)

A very common mistake many web designers make when designing a website is that they focus on the design too much. Every website has a set of goals that is specific to that website. And the design of the website should focus solely on achieving these goals! In most cases, that doesn’t include showing off the designers web design skills or the developer’s web programming skills!

For Ecommerce websites one of main goals is conversion – i.e. how many visits are converting into sales. I don’t care if the website is horrible, old school,  confusing, outdated, or even if it has bugs – as long as it achieves the business goals! In this case, as long as the web design converts! Who cares if AJAX was used or if you have a Flash 3D innovative element that was nearly impossible to pull off if it has nothing to do with the website’s goals. (more…)