Revealing Design Treasures from the Amazon.key - User Interface ...

Jared M. Spool

User Interface Engineering

Jared M. Spool

Founding Principal

Revealing Design Treasures

from The Amazon

On its surface, Amazon.com just seems like a large e-

commerce site, albeit a successful one. Its design isn’t flashy, nor

is it much to write home about. But deep within its pages are

hidden secrets—secrets that every designer should know

about.

If one looks closely at what the team at Amazon has built, it’s

filled with innovative functionality and clever designs, all of

which creates a delightful experience for its users and directly

produces regular profits for its shareholders. But not all is

perfect. Some design changes in the last few years have not

been the success that the team had hoped for. Amazon’s

exceptional qualities and imperfections are critical knowledge

for any designer that wants to dig deep into what makes the

site tick.

© Copyright 2009, User Interface Engineering. All Rights Reserved.

If you’ve ever seen Jared speak

about usability, you know that he’s

probably the most effective,

knowledgeable communicator on

the subject today. What you

probably don’t know is he has

guided the research agenda and

built User Interface Engineering into

the largest research organization of

its kind in the world. He’s been

working in the field of usability and

design since 1978, before the term

“usability” was ever associated with

computers.

Jared spends his time working with

the research teams at the company,

helps clients understand how to

solve their design problems, explains

to reporters and industry analysts

what the current state of design is

all about, and is a top-rated speaker

at more than 20 conferences every

year. He is also the conference chair

and keynote speaker at the annual

User Interface Conference, is on the

faculty of the Tufts University

Gordon Institute, and manages to

squeeze in a fair amount of writing

time.

User Interface Engineering

User Interface Engineering is a

leading research, training, and

consulting firm specializing in web

site and product usability. With our

in-depth research findings based on

user observation, we empower

development teams to create

usable web sites that increase

customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Revealing Design Treasures from the Amazon

User Interface Engineering - www.uie.com

Jared M. Spool

@jmspool

#JaredRamblesOnAndOnAndOnAndOn

© Copyright 2009, User Interface Engineering. All Rights Reserved. 1

Amazon



Amazon


Amazon



Amazon


Amazon



Amazon


Amazon






Visitors in December, 2008:

Rank of all websites in traffic: 8

Revenue in 2008:

Increase over 2007: 29%




2008 Foresee Customer Satisfaction Rating:

Rank in customer satisfaction ratings: 3

Unique Customers Since Launch:

Ranking in World Population: 17




Orders placed in 2008:

Orders processed every second: 24


Amazon



Amazon


Amazon



Amazon Treasure #1


Amazon



Amazon

Harry Potter and the

Deathly Hallows




Harry Potter and the

Sorcerer’s Stone


Amazon



Amazon

Caution




Target




Harry Potter 7 Reviews One Month after Release

Barnes & Noble (BN.com)

Walmart.com

Harry Potter 7 Reviews One Month after Release

Amazon.com

Target.com




Ratio of Reviewers to Purchasers:

Purchases required for 20 reviews: 26,000

Viewers required at 2% conversion rate: 1,300,000

Treasure #1:

Engage Through Content

User commentary enhances the experience

Brings an air of authenticity to the content

Putting in a system to “bubble up” the most interesting or useful

content can dramatically improve the experience

Only a small percentage of visitors will participate

Amazon has millions of visitors a day. Do you?

You need to ensure you’ll have the traffic to make this happen






Amazon



Amazon


Amazon



Amazon


Amazon



Amazon


Amazon



Amazon


Amazon



Caution


Amazon



Amazon


Amazon



Amazon


Amazon



Amazon


Amazon



Amazon


Amazon



Amazon

If every customer spent $5 more per order,

it would make Amazon an additional




Amazon


Amazon



Amazon

Treasure #2:

Don’t Fear New Ideas

Experimenting with new ideas is a critical part of innovation

Risk averse organizations produce crap

Sometimes experiments don’t quite turn out the way you

expect

Amazon is very comfortable with ideas not catching on

They have clear metrics of success (orders, revenue)

Risk is critical, but you have to minimize it at every chance






Amazon



Amazon


Amazon



Amazon

Amazon’s Security Levels

Level 0: Amazon doesn’t know who you are (no cookie)

Level 1: Amazon knows you from a cookie

It’s how they know what books to recommend or

if you’re a 1-click customer

Level 2: Amazon wants to reveal something only you should

know

Such as your address or shipping history




Amazon

Goal Time vs. Tool Time

Goal Time: When the user is improving the outcome of the

experience

When the user is considering the product they wish to purchase

Tool Time: When the user is moving forward without any

improvement in the outcome of the experience

When the user is struggling with the security system

When the user is dealing with redesigned elements




Amazon


Amazon



Amazon

Facebook




Facebook


Amazon



Amazon


Amazon



Amazon 2007 Navigation

Phase-In Plan

Phase 1: Non-cookied visitors - 5,000 per day

Phase II: Non-cookied visitors - 1 per every 5

Phase III: Cookied customers - 5,000 per day

Phase IV: Cookied customers - 1 per every 5

Phase V: Everyone

Total time: 12 weeks

Caution




Items Easy To Find

with Search

The Princess Bride

Books by Tom Clancy

Movies with Téa Leoni

A Canon SD1100

Mario Kart for the Wii

Items Difficult to Find

with Search

The first Tom Clancy book featuring Jack Ryan

An inexpensive, but high quality SLR camera

A good toy for my six-year-old niece

Novels written by Nobel Prize for Literature winners




Amazon


Amazon



CD Baby

UMass Amherst




BLS.gov


Westlaw



Treasure #3:

Eliminate Tool Time

Decreasing tool time increases user satisfaction

By shortening steps and removing obstacles, users are happier

Redesigns create massive tool time for users

Avoid redesigns completely by making all changes small and

incremental

Not all use cases are the same

Search works on Amazon because of their data

Match functions to your use cases, not the other way around






Apple



BestBuy


Target

Site}



Amazon’s “Negative

Operating Cycle”

Amazon turns its inventory every 20 days

Best Buy turns its inventory every 74 days

Standard retail payment terms: 45 days

Best Buy

Amazon

Day

Cash Debt

0 44 74 76

Product

Ordered

Day

0

Product

Ordered

Customer

Buys

}

Product

Paid For

20 22 Cash Float 44

Customer

Pays

Product

Paid For

Customer

Buys

Customer

Pays




Treasure #4:

Never Forget the Business

Amazon’s business model is deliberately designed

The site is designed to fit the business

You have to start with a great business model to produce a

great experience


Amazon



Amazon


Amazon



Revealing Treasures from

The Amazon

Engage your users by delivering great content

Don’t fear trying out new ideas

Eliminate

while delivering confidence

Never forget the business

Caution is warranted

Be careful when emulating features

Some experiments don’t pan out

Not all use cases are equal

More Info from User

Interface Engineering

Newsletter: UIEtips (FREE)

UIE Virtual Seminars

Reports

Conferences:

UIE Roadshow: Seattle, Denver, and DC

User Interface Conference: www.uiconf.com

Blog: www.uie.com/brainsparks

Site: www.uie.com


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