Ecom Carts Checkout

E-COMMERCE USER EXPERIENCECheckout & Registration “When your customer is unable or unwilling to complete an online order after finding a desired product, it is a disaster for your site. Not only do you lose that sale, but often you lose the customer as well.” Jakob Nielsen Susan Farrell Carolyn Snyder Rolf Molich © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. All rights reserved worldwide. Executive Summary In order to buy things from a site on the Web today, a customer must generally put items in the shopping cart, select gift options and shipping method, enter shipping and billing addresses, review the order, provide payment information, confirm the sale, and perhaps save information for future convenience when shopping at that site in the future. Issues that arose during checkout and registration caused 22% of the sales catastrophies in this study. Product Information 11% Finding Item 27% Add to Cart 6% Checkout 10% Registration 8% Technical Problem 9% Personal Information 4% Delivery 5% Availability 6% Pricing 5% Shipping & Tax 7% The chart’s total is 98% due to cumulative rounding errors When your customer is unable or unwilling to complete an online order after finding a desired product, it is a disaster for your site. Not only do you lose that sale, but often you lose the customer as well. After deciding what to buy, the customer’s next goal is to complete the purchase quickly. Confusion and unanswered questions slow people down, so one of the best strategies for streamlining checkout is to make it match the customer’s expectations as closely as possible. We recommend the following model for the checkout and registration process: 1. The shopping cart displays each line item, all additional charges, and the total based on the cheapest shipping method. Shoppers want to know the bottom line before investing much time, because shipping charges help them decide whether to buy at all. The shopping cart page should also provide links to the return policy and any guarantees. 2. Customer chooses gift options, if any. People expect to specify any gift options such as a card message or gift wrap before entering their own information. 3. Customer selects shipping method. People want to compare the prices of various shipping options. 4. Customer enters shipping address, then billing address. Ask for only the information needed to fulfill the order and auto-fill forms whenever required information is already in the system. Some people leave a site if too much personal information is required. Providing error-recovery information is crucial to customer success. 5. Customer reviews the entire order and provides payment information. Some people are uncomfortable providing a credit card number online. Others are unable to complete the shopping process for some reason. Offer toll-free telephone ordering to avoid losing those sales. 6. Site displays a confirmation page and gives customers the option to register. Requiring registration before or during a purchase drives away business — many of the users in our study refused or were unable to register. Registration should always be optional. Customers must first perceive benefits to themselves and then get help from the site when choosing a user name and password. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . http://www.nngroup.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. All rights reserved worldwide. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. Please buy it instead of copying. 2 ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. Please buy it instead of copying. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . http://www.nngroup.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. All rights reserved worldwide. ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Registration Order Summary, Payment, and Confirmation Shipping and Billing Address Forms The Checkout Process Shopping Cart Sites We Tested About the Study – Overview of Method Executive Summary Table of Contents Optional Registration Various Approaches to Registration Why Registration Fails Order Confirmation Payment Forms Order Summary Required Fields Form Entry Problems Multiple Recipients International Form Issues Address Forms Privacy Policy Asking for Personal Information Shipping Methods and Delivery Options When and How to Show Shipping Charges Steps, Procedures, Diagrams Shopping Instructions Removing Items from the Shopping Cart Navigation in the Shopping Cart What to Include in the Shopping Cart 3 35 41 20 17 14 24 40 35 29 40 27 13 14 37 24 38 27 34 23 23 11 9 2 5 7 6 7 42 ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Creating a User Name and Password Login Problems: Using the Wrong Form Creating a Good Checkout Process Summary of Recommendations for Designers Reports in This Series About the Authors References Index ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 44 51 56 57 59 60 61 62 ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration .com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. Please buy it instead of copying. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own.nngroup. 4 . http://www. All rights reserved worldwide. providing instructions to the user and taking notes. All users had previously shopped online and most had made purchases. giving us data about both domestic users (19 of 20 sites were American) and overseas users. Most tasks either asked the user to find a specific item that we knew existed on the site or were more open-ended. we screened out participants who had technical knowledge of the Web. We chose sites in seven different industries (such as clothing and toys) so that within each industry we had two or three sites for comparison.About the Study – Overview of Method An international team of five usability experts led by Jakob Nielsen conducted usability tests of 20 business-to-consumer e-commerce websites.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. however. We also had a short task for each site where we asked users to find customer service information. Each user spent about 40 minutes on each site. http://www. we stopped the users before they entered a credit card number. The typical user tested three of our 20 selected sites in a test session lasting two hours. allowing users freedom to shop according to their own preferences. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. six from the US and three from Denmark. such as how to cancel an order or return an item. Our Methodology report provides greater detail about how we conducted this study. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . We supplied the tasks. A highly experienced facilitator sat in the same room with the user. Users ranged in age from their twenties to their fifties. We asked users to think aloud as they worked. In most cases. All rights reserved worldwide. Please buy it instead of copying. Each site was tested by a minimum of nine users. 5 . including copies of all the tasks.nngroup. which were modeled on common goals of users during online shopping. A total of 64 users participated: 39 from the United States and 25 from Denmark. so they did not actually complete the purchase. healthcare.furniture.com) NorwaySweaters (www.towerrecords.com) 1800flowers (www.sears.com) TowerRecords (www.com) Furniture (www.jcrew.com) Main products offered Fashion and sportswear for men and women Clothing for men and women Sweaters in traditional Norwegian patterns Apparel. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. candies and gift baskets Flowers and plants Custom gift baskets that include foods and novelties Specialty coffee.com) Sears (www. tea.living. software. desserts.nordstrom. etc.com) Wal-Mart (www. videos and games for children Educational toys.com) Gevalia (www.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group.com) BasketHaus (www. collectibles.reel. http://www.iflorist. books.disney.walmart.com) Jcrew (www.com) Iflorist (www. toys. featuring Walt Disney characters Toys. and glassware Freshly roasted whole bean specialty coffee Furniture and accessories for the home Office.com) CustomDisc (www.com) Reel (www. All rights reserved worldwide.nngroup.baskethaus.smarterkids.customdisc. books. and home services Discount department store Flowers. women Tools. 6 .boo. and residential furniture Furniture and accessories for the home Custom music CDs containing songs chosen by the user Videos and DVDs Music CDs.peets.norwaysweaters.com) HermanMiller (www.com) Living (www. shoes and accessories for men.hermanmiller.Sites We Tested Category Clothing Site name Boo (www. brewing equipment.com) eToys (www. Please buy it instead of copying. appliances.1800flowers.etoys. videos and DVDs Clothing. gourmet foods. software.com) Disney (www.com) Nordstrom (www.com) Peet’s (www.gevalia. videos and games for children Department Stores Flowers Food Novelties Furniture Entertainment Media Toys Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration .com) SmarterKids (www. Shopping Cart The term “shopping cart” and “cart” in this report refer to the single page on an e-commerce site that shows items the customer has chosen to purchase. The subsequent pages needed to complete the order are called the “checkout process,” or simply “checkout.” What to Include in the Shopping Cart The purposes of the shopping cart are to: • Show a summary of the items the user has selected. • Provide links to information the user may wish to review before purchasing, such as the return policy and product page for each item. • Provide a means to modify quantities and remove items. • Provide navigation mechanisms so the customer can begin the checkout process or return to the store for more items. Once users got an item into their carts, the shopping cart page itself caused few problems in most cases. Problems users had in putting items into the cart are discussed in our Product Pages report. Show items, all costs, and the subtotal. Users expected the shopping cart to show all the items they’d chosen and the subtotal. Our test sites generally met these expectations. Tip: Show estimated shipping charges in the shopping cart. See “Shipping Methods and Delivery Options” in this report for more information. TowerRecords properly showed the availability of each item in the shopping cart; but as discussed later, it wasn’t clear to users how to remove items or proceed with the checkout process. C1 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . http://www.nngroup.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. All rights reserved worldwide. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. Please buy it instead of copying. 7 Peet’s showed estimated US shipping cost and had a clear Remove Item button. C2 Provide information about return policies and guarantees. Before purchasing, some users wanted to read the return policy. They were interested in the deadline for returning goods and whether there were any costs associated with returns (such as not having shipping charges refunded or having to pay return postage). Nordstrom had a prominent link to its return policy on the first page of the checkout process. One user said, “I would want to know what their return and exchange policy was, before I went any further. It’s good they’ve got that right there. That’s a definite plus.” On Reel, another user wanted to read about the five-point guarantee indicated by an icon in the upper left corner, but the icon was not clickable. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . http://www.nngroup.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. All rights reserved worldwide. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. Please buy it instead of copying. 8 Nordstrom provided a link to the return policy from the “shopping bag.” C3 Navigation in the Shopping Cart Provide a “return to shopping” link. There are several possible things a customer would like to do after verifying that an item is in the cart and noting the total purchase price including shipping: Go someplace else: • Complete the purchase. The customer needs to find the button to pay and exit. • Buy more items from the same department. The customer needs to go back to the previous category page. • Begin shopping for an entirely different item in the store. The customer needs to go to the list of departments or begin a search. Do something further about the products in the cart: • Accessorize the chosen items. The customer needs some suggestions about what other items might be needed, with a link to the product pages where the features of the additional items are shown. As discussed in more detail in our Selling Strategies report, we don’t recommend adding accessories to the order automatically, but offering suggested items in the cart seems to be acceptable. • Change the number of items or delete an item. The customer needs a button that removes items and the option to change any item’s quantities. These features of the cart are discussed later in this report. In many instances during our test, the Continue Shopping button didn’t go where users expected. Here are some examples from Jcrew: • The user put a jacket in the shopping cart and then clicked the Continue Shopping button. The website displayed the product page for the jacket he had just bought. The user said he had expected to return to the Men’s directory and not to the jacket he had just ordered. It seemed unlikely that he would buy more jackets. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . http://www.nngroup.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. All rights reserved worldwide. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. Please buy it instead of copying. 9 One common behavior pattern we saw was users clicking the Back button from the shopping cart when they wished to continue shopping. Because the Back button is such a frequently used method of website navigation.” and so forth.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. “Okay. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . Some sites use it for “back to where you were” and others create a “top of catalog” link. One user patiently re-specified the grinds for all her chosen coffees each time she returned to the shopping cart. In other tests we’ve seen longer button names work better than short labels. In any case. This approach requires a highly noticeable shopping cart in order to be successful. without ever realizing that use of the Back button would cause her choices to be lost. http://www. both Gevalia and Peet’s requested that the user specify a grind for the coffee on the shopping cart page. 10 . it is not realistic to expect users to stop using it in this special case. Tip: Name navigation buttons so that they clearly indicate where they will take you. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. test your designs with users and ask what they expect to happen when they click on each button in the shopping cart and observe which buttons they choose when shopping. Like Boo did. It’s hard for customers to be sure where a Continue Shopping link goes.• The user had selected a pair of shoes and was on the View Order page.nngroup. However. the user’s choice of grind was lost if the user used the Back button to continue shopping. All rights reserved worldwide. despite the presence of a Continue Shopping button. Tip: Consider an integrated shopping cart. but it seems promising because it avoids the need for a Continue Shopping button and perhaps unnecessary or premature trips to the shopping cart during a shopping session. For example. for example by calling the button “back to previous page” or “return to product search results. Boo used a prominent “Buy Now” button in the “boobag” to begin the checkout process. Please buy it instead of copying. some sites integrate the shopping cart with each product page so that both cart items and items for sale are always visible. The name on the button could clear this confusion up right away. where is the I-don’t-want-anything-else button?” He clicked the Continue Shopping button and the website returned him to the Rugged Shoes page. In our test. 11 . We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. individual Remove buttons for each item in the shopping cart — even the fancy remove icons like the US-style trash can on Reel — were readily understood. Changing the quantity to zero and clicking “Update” didn’t work as well. http://www. All rights reserved worldwide.nngroup. though.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group.Boo avoided the need for a Continue Shopping button by making the contents of the shopping cart (“boobag”) visible. Please buy it instead of copying. C4 Removing Items from the Shopping Cart Provide a Remove button for each item in the cart. because some users didn’t realize they had to click Update. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . It isn’t apparent to the user that the change must be sent to the server and back to the browser before it is really changed. which is that because the user has changed the quantities.nngroup. 12 . The buttons were near the bottom of the screen and he said they were hard to read. because he couldn’t understand that he had to both change the quantity and press the I Changed It button. he or she is now looking at the new numbers and so appears to be done. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own.SmarterKids separated the change-quantity function from the removeitem function. buttons should state what they do from the user’s point of view. an approach we recommend. not what the user did or what the system did. Tip: In general. but the Update Quantities button could have been closer to the fields it referred to. “I Changed It” is not as good a label as “Change It” would be. Please buy it instead of copying. “Show my new quantities” would seem to be a better label than “I Changed It. C5 One Gevalia user got completely stuck while trying to delete items. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration .com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. http://www. There were instructions but he didn’t read them. All rights reserved worldwide.” but it doesn’t address the real problem. It took her about three minutes of clicking on various things before she scrolled down and saw the delete and modify buttons. he found that his shopping cart was empty. 13 . Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . so users won’t rely on the Back button. Tip: Every time the user clicks any button or link in the shopping cart — even if it’s the Help button — the cart should update any changed quantities automatically. repeat those items where they will be visible. a user checked the small checkbox to the left of the Quantity field to indicate that he wanted to buy the product. Our Product Pages report discusses in detail the problems users had putting items into the cart and their resulting confusion caused by seeing an empty cart.Wal-Mart gave one user trouble because the “Remove checked items” label was placed too far away from the checkbox. it might be that the checkbox itself was a confusing mechanism for item removal. Put shopping instructions in the empty shopping cart that explain how to place an item in the cart. Shopping Instructions Provide shopping instructions in the empty shopping cart. Some users wanted to read details about the ordering process before beginning to shop. they simply wanted to do it. After clicking Checkout. they did so because they were unable to get started in the checkout process. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. He didn’t relate the checkbox to the text underneath. the facilitator asked him what the checkbox meant and why he checked it. Buttons that didn’t appear on the screen were a problem for one HermanMiller user. Also. When the user repeated this action in the following task. http://www. when users looked in Help. they didn’t want to read about how to check out. The user said he didn’t know what it meant but it seemed necessary to check it. Once they had products in the cart. Also provide navigation back to the page the user entered the cart from.nngroup. Tip: If users might have to scroll to see the action buttons or navigation in the shopping cart.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. which explained that checking the box meant the item should be removed. at least until they have a problem. C6 On Wal-Mart. The users who needed this information the most were those who had tried to put an item in the cart and failed and those who explored the shopping cart because they didn’t know exactly where to begin. In this study. Many users don’t read instructions. Please buy it instead of copying. because checkboxes are often used to denote positive choices. All rights reserved worldwide. and no skipping around is allowed. One step must be completed before the next one can be started. and the location. appearance. Choose shipping method. so the order of these two steps should be determined by the patterns of behavior you notice on your own site. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. Please buy it instead of copying. and this kind of message is of no help to users who don’t understand how to put items into the cart. http://www. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration .If the steps in the shopping process are made explicit and they match what the user expects. The problems we saw were mainly the site’s checkout process not matching the user’s mental model of the process. Specify any gift options such as wrapping and a card message.) 2. Cookie preferences are not the only likely cause of having an empty cart. like most of the sites we tested. Typically. Diagrams Navigation during the checkout process usually consists of a way to move through a linear procedure. C7 The Checkout Process Steps.) 3. and labels on the navigation buttons themselves. 14 . The message referred only to information about the site’s reliance on cookies. users wanted to complete the steps in the following order: 1. All rights reserved worldwide. after reviewing their items and other charges. didn’t provide any shopping instructions in the empty shopping cart. This process generally starts in the shopping cart or order form and ends with the confirmation page. Order the steps in the checkout process according to users’ expectations. (Sometimes this step may be more important than the gift options. Procedures.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. the need for additional help in the checkout pages can be alleviated. (See our report on Selling Strategies for more information about gift options. Enter shipping address information. 1800flowers.nngroup. but users clicked on it to try to navigate around the Customer Login. That said. the graphics could be clickable or have rollover tips. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. before asking for personal information.nngroup. which didn’t work. These attempts failed. Enter billing information (the address is often the same as the shipping address). Some users wanted to skip the Customer Login step. http://www. As discussed later in this report. Please buy it instead of copying. placing registration before or in the middle of the checkout process can confuse and alienate users — sometimes enough so that they stop shopping at the site. All rights reserved worldwide. Give a credit card number.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. Users liked illustrations that showed the steps in the checkout process. however. C8 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . Show the steps of the process. 15 . much of the need for steps or clickable graphics would probably go away if sites moved the shipping information and specification step to the beginning of the checkout process. 5. HermanMiller’s checkout process had an unnumbered graphic step diagram. because the graphic wasn’t clickable and registration wasn’t optional.4. so they tried clicking on Shipping Info or Delivery Info. Note that users did not expect registration as a natural part of the above process. because the process is linear. not random access and registration / login was required. Alternatively. The only problem with these graphics was that users sometimes tried to click the graphic to skip to a later step — typically shipping — because they had questions about that step of the process. HermanMiller had a step diagram (below). Ordering the steps of the checkout process to match what the majority of users expect and providing enough information at the right steps might have prevented this mistake. or slogans on them can be confused with advertising and thus ignored. submit buttons can be confused with other graphical elements. In general. Tip: Don’t over-design buttons. C9 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . All rights reserved worldwide. particularly in the shopping cart.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. 16 . making sure customers notice the process buttons and know when to click on them is extremely important. If they do not look like push buttons. In particular. the more distracting and complex the page or button looks. http://www. Accidental early exit from registration or checkout can occur when site navigation is present and more attractive than form buttons. where the over-designed buttons made it hard to identify the Continue Checkout button. animations. buttons that have images. Boo’s Next button was a bit too subtle — it blended in with the design of the page.nngroup. Several studies of “ad blindness” show that many people report not even noticing items on pages that look like ads. When the action buttons were more graphical and less button-like. our users had trouble finding them. Some users tried to click the circles at the top to proceed to the next step. Also see the TowerRecords example (Image C1). the more confusing it can be to use. Please buy it instead of copying. Because the entire checkout process often cannot be completed if only part of the information is submitted. In this study we saw evidence of ad blindness several times.Make the next-step button prominent and visually distinct from the site navigation and other page elements. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group.nngroup. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. and some sites required much more information. before they entered any of their own personal information. This user desire creates a site design challenge. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration .Furniture’s prominent Continue button provided a good cue for going on to the next step. http://www. because the delivery address sometimes determines the costs for tax and shipping. Please buy it instead of copying. 17 . All rights reserved worldwide. including shipping and tax. Users wanted to know the total. C10 When and How to Show Shipping Charges Reveal shipping charges before asking for personal information. Most of our test sites required the user to enter at least a shipping address before revealing the shipping charges. … I want to see from the [beginning of checkout]. except the user also had to register or log in before site revealed shipping charges. You can call.Users grumbled about having to give out personal information before they were ready to commit to the total amount of the purchase: • Wal-Mart: “This says that shipping. • eToys.” which concerned some users.nngroup. Living – “Free shipping” appeared on the home page. but I want to know when I might be getting ripped off or not. Wal-Mart – Shipping charges were presented after the user entered a shipping address (and sometimes billing address). We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. the user had to call or e-mail the store to discover the total charge.” • NorwaySweaters: “Shipping and tax may be added to your order … it shouldn’t say ‘may.’ Is shipping and handling the same as tax? I don’t know where you’d find out what the tax is. • HermanMiller. tax. “Delivery: FREE. • Reel – The choice of shipping methods. but before credit card entry. but you’ve gone through this whole thing. TowerRecords – Same as those above. NorwaySweaters. Sears. I wouldn’t. but one step before confirming the order. You should have a standard rate you pay. Please buy it instead of copying. When Shipping Charges Were Revealed Rating Site Excellent – User • Iflorist – Delivery fee appeared on the product page. more. SmarterKids. Good – User was • Boo. Poor – Shipping charges were not provided at all. If I had to put in my credit card without knowing [the total cost]. 1800flowers.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. Shipping charges were shown during checkout as $0 rather than “free. A link to information about free delivery information was shown in the shopping cart. The order preview page. I don’t mind paying shipping and handling. Disney. was required to enter no personal • Furniture – Shipping was free. That seems like a ridiculous amount — that would make me nervous. appeared on the payment page below the credit card number. Jcrew. My time is valuable. which was and / or shipping shown before users entered shipping and billing information. Fair – User was required to enter shipping and / or billing address but not credit card number. said: was shown as free. All rights reserved worldwide. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . They’re asking you to give your credit card. after users entered all information including credit card number. Note that sites that offer free shipping avoid the issue of when to present shipping charges. 18 . or they were shown after the user entered credit card information. and handling will be added during checkout. required to enter little or no personal • Boo – Some users tried to click on the words “free shipping” to learn information. http://www. with prices. before shipping or billing address was entered. The table is ordered from best to worst.” • Peet’s – Estimated shipping charge appeared in the shopping cart. depending on the amount of personal information users had to enter. CustomDisc. Nordstrom.” The following table shows how much information the user had to enter before a site revealed the shipping charge.” • BasketHaus: “I don’t like the idea you don’t know what your shipping cost is. • BasketHaus – Final amounts were not shown on site at all. … Somewhere I read that shipping could be as high as $60. • Gevalia – Shipping charges were shown on the order summary page. because it’s a convenience. the ZIP / postal code and the country name for the delivery address. This approach may not be possible if the site has a legal obligation to collect tax or duty. A simpler alternative that would please customers even more would be to make all extra costs “free” and clearly show the word “free” in the shopping cart. http://www. A previous version of this page failed to explain why the site was asking for what seemed like personal information. All rights reserved worldwide. Please buy it instead of copying. C11 Provide exact shipping charges and tax. we believe that users would be willing to enter this information on the first page of the shopping cart in return for the exact charges and a total. 19 . We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. however. not formulas. Sites that had formulas for shipping charges and tax made determining total cost more difficult. a site could potentially calculate shipping charges and taxes and present the grand total in the shopping cart. With two pieces of information. Staples (which is not a site we tested) asked users for a ZIP Code early in the shopping process. Shipping charges and tax were responsible for 7% of the sales catastrophes in our study.Tip: Ask for a ZIP or postal code and country for the purpose of calculating shipping charges. but in any case they wanted to know the cost of shipping as early as possible — before committing themselves to a purchase. Although none of our test sites used this method. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . After Staples added an explanation (to view real-time inventory availability). Users preferred free shipping.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. the number of users who abandoned the site at that point was dramatically reduced.nngroup. (See Image C13. 20 . All rights reserved worldwide. http://www. and service depending on the shipping method and carrier. If I’m on the phone. UPS works fine. One user said: “How do I know what they’re charging me? I’ve found with all of them [websites] their shipping information is not clear. during regular business hours.. Users recognized that there are tradeoffs in cost. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. On the other hand. if possible.” C12 Shipping Methods and Delivery Options Give the user a choice of shipping methods and carriers. then I’d rather have it kept at the post office than UPS leaving it under the porch..nngroup. speed. Please buy it instead of copying.” • “Depends on how fast I want it.) Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration .” Although the Wal-Mart example was confusing because it required the user to calculate the total shipping charge. I don’t like shopping to be this difficult. at least it showed the cost / speed tradeoff for the various shipping methods.’.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. they say ‘your total will be . Examples: • “If it was being shipped someplace when someone might not be home. I didn’t see any options for UPS or overnight.1800flowers had the most confusing shipping charges. Shipping needs to be clearer. com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. the site can show gift options only when appropriate. cards. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . Please buy it instead of copying. such as wrapping. provide a helpful error message that tells the customer exactly what is wrong and what to change. If gifts are flagged early in the process. These instructions are even more important when customers are ordering large and expensive items (such as furniture and jewelry) and emergency or surprise items (such as mission-critical equipment and gifts). 21 . because some customers have requirements such as “deliver to back of house.” “accept my signature only.nngroup. If possible.Wal-Mart offered customers a choice of shipping methods and their associated prices (good) but forced them to perform calculations when they wanted to know the total (bad). C14 Tip: Consider providing a shipping instruction field. If an incompatible address and shipper are chosen. Many of our users expressed the desire to include such instructions. offer a shipping instruction field. Jcrew clearly showed the time and money tradeoff at the bottom of their shipping options form.” “deliver to manager’s office. All rights reserved worldwide.” and so forth.” “deliver before 6 pm. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. Delivery instructions can also be useful when a person needs to sign for a package or bring it indoors. Tip: Ask customers whether any items are gifts before asking about delivery options. or additional delivery addresses. http://www. show the postal service as the default shipper and allow the customer to change shipping address and shippers easily. C13 Tip: When a customer provides a post office box for the shipping address. What if the box doesn’t fit in my aunt’s front door?” Although not all users bothered to read Living’s additional information about delivery. One user who read Living’s delivery information was glad that items weighing over 150 pounds would be delivered for free by people who would make sure the furniture was brought inside: “It’s nice to know if they’re going to show up at my door with a 150-pound box. http://www.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. C15 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . so the customer may want more information about what to expect.nngroup. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. 22 . Some items are harder to deliver than others. Please buy it instead of copying. All rights reserved worldwide. those users who did read it appreciated this level of detail.Tip: Provide detailed information on delivery for large or perishable items. A larger proportion of users entered something. but customers who choose to answer questions might give more accurate information.nngroup. they will be more likely to enter false information. All rights reserved worldwide. Also. Many users expressed concern about why a site wanted certain information. out of concerns for his safety and privacy. Users were also worried that their e-mail addresses would be misused to send unsolicited commercial e-mail. Please buy it instead of copying. Not only were users concerned about revealing their own personal information. Revealing street addresses was not generally a concern. Tip: Explain the benefit to the user of entering phone numbers and e-mail addresses.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. make a separate questionnaire and offer customers an incentive to complete it after their purchase.Shipping and Billing Address Forms Asking for Personal Information If you ask customers for more than is required to complete the purchase. users were not as concerned about receiving unwanted postal mail as they were about being contacted by phone or e-mail. Tip: If marketing resists removing registration because of the desire to collect customer data. he would not want to include the recipient’s phone number. you risk losing their trust and the sale. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . Sometimes the issue with providing phone numbers and e-mail addresses was that the user just didn’t have that information. because if the recipient got a phone call about the delivery it would spoil the surprise. Not all Web shoppers possess an e-mail address — as was the case for several users in our study. Some people shop from someone else’s computer. and the site will lose fewer sales due to registration resistance. If customers don’t understand or agree with your reason for needing their e-mail addresses. so just because they have access to he Internet does not guarantee that they have an e-mail address. One user said she would never give out the telephone number for her young nephew if she was sending him a gift. The issues related to gaining and losing customer trust are discussed primarily in our Trust report. Ask for only the information needed to complete the transaction and clearly state how it can be used. http://www. not everyone knows the phone number of a gift recipient. Even when entering demographic information is optional. 23 . They particularly balked at entering phone numbers because they didn’t want their numbers used for telemarketing. and make entering them optional. Information collected is likely to be invalid either way. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. Refusal to enter personal information caused 4% of the sales catastrophes in our study. Even so. probably because users recognized that this information is required in order to deliver the items purchased. Some users simply made up false information when they didn’t want to enter it. but they also resisted entering the information of others. A false email address can cause more trouble for them (for example because they can’t receive important information about their order) than would entering no information. but some specific observations are mentioned here when they relate to the checkout and registration process. Another user explained that if he were sending a gift. but they weren’t happy about it. it takes longer to fill out the additional information and increases the likelihood of errors. currency converters. which is not unreasonable. ZIP / postal code lookups. and so forth. We don’t know if it would help to place links to the privacy policy next to the fields users are concerned about. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own.Privacy Policy The vast majority of users who expressed a concern about the use of their personal information did not attempt to look up the site’s privacy policy to find out how their information would be used. on CustomDisc. Tip: Provide tools for forms. Shorter isn’t always better. An “Address 2” field confused some users. but several Danish users weren’t sure what “MI” stood for. Labels such as “Name” and “City” were selfexplanatory. Most of our users didn’t go out of their way to look for privacy policies. 24 . they should pull up your state. they clicked a link called “(explain)” that was right next to the field called “cost. The difference between “shipping” and “billing” is subtle and the user must translate this difference into people. Please buy it instead of copying. Proximity and the name of the link can both help indicate that the link contains brief contextual help. but they did click on informational links that seemed to promise a specific answer to the question they had at the time.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. because they didn’t understand its purpose.” Address Forms Use clear labels and show examples of valid entries. though. Where appropriate. Examples do not remove the need for validation and descriptive error messages. Address forms look alike. They know where you are. or Australian states. or longer labels for form fields.nngroup. International users may need more examples. offer tools such as address books. Make the size of the field indicate the length of the expected input. area code lookups. • Iflorist: The user could not remember the postal code of the recipient. We noticed that a few users reversed the shipping and billing address information on Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . when they wondered why the disc cost so much. • Sears: “I think if you type in your ZIP Code. She had to guess since there was no support from the website. then the country could be assumed to be the USA. none of the American users had trouble with the MI (middle initial) field. Make sure type-in fields are the right size for the data.” Differentiate shipping address from billing address. One user truncated her e-mail address in the mistaken belief that it had to fit into the visible part of the field. (See our International Users report for more information about international form issues. Users sometimes didn’t understand the purpose of a field or the format of the information they were supposed to enter. Canadian provinces. http://www. however. for example. In some cases. the users expressed their distrust that a site’s policy would be followed. For example. instructions. Tip: Place explanatory links next to information customers are likely to have questions about. Phone number and e-mail address fields should definitely show examples. unless the state menu includes military addresses. When a user selects a state.) Not every field needs an example. if the tools could be useful in order to complete the form. In our study. All rights reserved worldwide. C16 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration .nngroup.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. http://www. The shipping and billing forms on NorwaySweaters appeared on two separate pages. In contrast. 25 . All rights reserved worldwide. with only the words “billing” and “shipping” to indicate which address went where. They looked so similar that a few users reversed their addresses. “Who will be receiving your Internet Florist gift?” which was much less ambiguous. Please buy it instead of copying. Iflorist asked.NorwaySweaters — the pages looked very similar. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group.nngroup. Iflorist avoided the shipping / billing confusion by asking “Who will be receiving your Internet Florist gift?” C17 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . 26 . Please buy it instead of copying. http://www. All rights reserved worldwide.Unlike NorwaySweaters. Most people are not used to providing this information routinely because they communicate within their country or region primarily. state selection lists irritated 16 of 39 of the US users (and these were just the people who expressed their feelings). Amazon. so customers don’t need to retype the shipping address. Most users did not understand why they got this result. but we have not tested it. Also accommodate + ( ) . The need for accommodating multiple recipients depends on how common it is for a site’s customers to need to ship to more than one recipient. Phone area codes and country codes are not necessarily tied tightly to geography any more (particularly in the case of cell phones). (See Image C9.nngroup. Some sites allow customers to save an “address book. Multiple Recipients Tip: Consider whether it is necessary to support multiple shipping addresses. http://www. Use a type-in field. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . See our International Users report for more information about these and other considerations for international sites.com. For these reasons. not a selection list. by accident. such as x for extension. Previous recipients can be chosen from a list with a radio button. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. Some users were confused when typing “N” showed the states whose name begins with N and then typing “H” (which users expected would show NH for New Hampshire) showed Hawaii instead. or C16) Although none of the problems prevented users from buying. stores address information its customers entered in prior transactions. for the state. C10. International Form Issues Phone Numbers: Require an area or city code for phone numbers and allow a country code to be entered. Please buy it instead of copying. sites that used “Billing address same as Shipping address” checkboxes worked well for our users. One of the more surprising results of this study was how much selection lists (the HTML form elements sometimes called drop-down lists or pop-up menus) for selecting the state annoyed users. for example. One theoretical argument in favor of selection lists is that they reduce errors by providing predefined valid choices. allowing customers to ship various items to different recipients could be a better choice than asking customers to repeat the checkout process for each gift recipient. but we saw many users select the wrong state the first time.In general. So a person’s phone number could be in a different region than his or her shipping or billing address.and other commonly used characters in phone number fields. Providing such an address book is probably a reasonable approach. For some sites. selection lists could be a source of error as well as irritation for customers. 27 . it is better to require the user to enter complete phone information rather than to assume the phone number prefix matches the shipping address or the ZIP Code.” or collection of past recipients.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. All rights reserved worldwide. Although all the users in this study noticed and fixed the problems themselves. Disney also provided an address book feature. C18 Tip: If multiple recipients are allowed. http://www. but we didn’t test it in our study. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . but the process was difficult to understand. don’t make customers who want to ship to only one recipient fill out the more complex form. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own.nngroup.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. 28 .Disney’s shipping form allowed multiple recipients. Please buy it instead of copying. All rights reserved worldwide. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . they expected that the site would still have all the information they’d entered from the previous task. then they expected all their registration information to be retained and automatically filled into subsequent forms during checkout. Validate information submitted. such as the return policy. 11 of 39 US users experienced some kind of situation where they had to fill out the same form or fields more than once.Form Entry Problems Save and autofill all previously supplied information. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. When they clicked the Back button afterward. Allow users to enter addresses and phone numbers in the formats they are used to.nngroup. All rights reserved worldwide. because the site hadn’t stored their information. We saw these expectations in the following cases: • Partial information entered – Users filled out and submitted some forms during the checkout process but stopped short of completing the purchase at the facilitator’s request. • Information entered during registration – Users registered during the checkout process. users expected the form to be the same as when they left it. Some users refused to click on links to helpful information during the checkout process. During the next task. In our study. Users expected that any information they entered into a form would be preserved. even if you provide instructions and examples. • Information entry errors – Users completed a form but made errors. 29 . even though they acknowledged that they hadn’t actually completed a purchase. http://www. Make flexible forms and perform reasonable error checking. 16 of the 39 US users made at least one typographical error while filling out order forms. In our study. because they were afraid their data would disappear. They expected all the correctly completed fields would remain filled in when they returned to fix the form. Provide links to helpful information from the checkout forms. The majority of these users didn’t notice their errors unless the site pointed them out. but trap common mistakes. • Information entry interrupted – Users clicked a link from a checkout page in order to read about something. Please buy it instead of copying. but don’t erase the information the user has already entered.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. Don’t assume that customers will enter information in the expected format. ) City. but only two of the mismatches were caught by error checking. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. A few users entered no @ or typed @@. Phone number • Four users omitted an area code. • Three users omitted one or more characters. One user complained that “it’s easier to type it all in one shot. typing: “aol. Some users were annoyed by this solution.com.com.cm.” was a typical remark. but further testing should show whether it helps more users than not. with the @ supplied in between.Errors Users Made During Form Entry Field Name Second line of address Problems We Observed • Both first and last name were typed into the First Name field by 11 of 39 US users. This approach may not be well received. This tactic removed the need for users to type the @ symbol and also indicated clearly that the portion after the @ could not be omitted.” • Some users hesitated before typing the @ symbol.com.” Reel broke the e-mail address into two pieces. One of these users filled in the area code field with the first three digits of the local phone number.nngroup. • Two users typed both city and state in the city field. Please buy it instead of copying. ZIP • Seven users mistyped city names or ZIP Codes.com. 30 . (One noticed and fixed it. as some AOL users did on other sites.” “ao. http://www. (Two of the three noticed and corrected this error on their own.” likely because AOL lets its users send e-mail to other AOL users with only a user name. • Two users omitted “. Tip: Consider breaking the e-mail address into pieces. • Users didn’t understand what to enter in the second address line “I only have one address. which is hard to type on some keyboards. Reel had two separate input fields for the user and domain name. • Three typed a city name in this field.” • One user entered a URL instead of an e-mail address. we saw more Danish than US users hesitate. C19 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration .) E-mail address • One user omitted the domain name “@aol. State. • One user typed “same” for an evening phone number after entering the daytime phone correctly.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. All rights reserved worldwide. • One user typed “1” before the area code. even if it works better.” and “name@. but all of them noticed and corrected the problem themselves. Other people used the mouse to navigate from field to field — apparently unaware that the Tab key would do this for them. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. but there are some good resources online. but they can cause errors too. We haven’t tested any sites that perform this kind of data detection. Tip: Make smarter forms for pages with multiple submit buttons. People with text browsers. Please buy it instead of copying. which is a great error-prevention feature. either submit button could be activated by the Enter key. Our study did not seek to discover anything about keyboard shortcuts or accessibility. A good form would check and choose: If the search box contains data. the Enter / Return key on the keyboard submits a form to the server. screen readers. Test carefully before implementing shortcuts.nngroup. handle it gracefully. which shall not be named. so only a few of the first fields on the page plus the Location (URL type-in) field were accessible using Tab. submit the form. the Location field (which had the mistyped characters in it) was activated and a pornography site appeared. the user typed a few characters before noticing that her keystrokes weren’t filling in the address field. Although most users in our test pressed Tab to move between fields. The user typed quickly. Instead. Sites that beeped when people hit the Enter key prevented accidental form submission. 9 of the 39 US users experienced difficulty — ranging from being confused by a beep sound to losing the whole form contents — because they pressed Enter instead of Tab after they finished typing in a field. See the References section for more information about forms and Web accessibility. if the form contains data. she pressed Enter to submit the form. When the Tab key didn’t correctly go to the address field but went to the Location field instead. or various other Web-access devices might not be able to use your site if the Enter key does not activate the Submit button on a form. pressing Tab to change fields. On many sites. 31 . http://www. ask the user what to do. the form coding that allows the Tab key to move the cursor between fields was incomplete. On a page with both a search box and another form. Keyboard shortcuts are necessary for good accessibility and rapid form completion. but they succeeded in filling out the form. Some users were annoyed by the beep. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . After filling out the rest of the fields. All rights reserved worldwide.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. On one site we tested. Tip: Test and implement accessible solutions. or if both contain data. do a search.Expect users to hit the Enter or Return key while filling out forms. (Miss Boo was an animated character that popped up in a separate window and responded to the users’ actions. In our study we found messages that users didn’t understand. If users don’t understand or don’t notice an error message.) Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . • Explain what information was expected or how to fix the error. • Nordstrom: The user submitted the form without entering his phone number. Error recovery is extremely important to user success. Good error messages: • Tell the user politely that a problem exists. Every computer user has experienced bad error messages. clearly tell how to fix which fields. The error message appears both prominently at the top of the page and right next to the field where new information is required. Many are written from the system or developer’s point of view and tell users nothing about how to fix the problem. which appeared next to the address field. users had to select how the coffee should be ground for brewing or choose whole beans. After completing the registration form. (See Image C20. http://www. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own.” not “Username” as in the field label. because good error messages are difficult to write.” The website refused the form by simply repeating Miss Boo’s message: “Hey you! Take a break. so he ignored the message. so he went back and entered his favorite brands. We’re not asking you to write a book.” he said.When errors occur. His name was longer than the website permitted. and messages that users had to scroll down to see: • Boo: The user typed his full name for his user name in the registration form.” The message said “Name. “Please select option(s) for all indicated items:” and there was a tiny star between the grind selection list and the quantity type-in field three paragraphs below the message. so he got an error message. he clicked “Join Now. as a comment from Miss Boo. Try a name of 4 to 10 characters. messages that users didn’t notice. All rights reserved worldwide. “It just came back to the same address. It said.) The user did not understand Miss Boo’s comment. Please buy it instead of copying. • Explain clearly which field(s) had the problem. The user said he thought that the error occurred because he had not specified his favorite brands on the registration form.nngroup. At first he didn’t notice what was wrong because he had to scroll down to see the error message. • Peet’s: In the shopping cart. 32 .com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. sometimes they can’t proceed. Users who didn’t select one of the options received an error message and couldn’t proceed with their purchase unless they figured out what was required and selected a grind. The badly worded error message caused sales catastrophes because some users didn’t notice the red text and others didn’t know what it meant. http://www.nngroup.On Nordstrom’s shipping address form. 33 . C20 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . Please buy it instead of copying. All rights reserved worldwide. Nothing on the immediately visible part of the page informed the user that there was a problem. users had to scroll down to see the error about the phone number. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. C21 Required Fields At the time of this study. however. it was common for Web application developers to indicate required fields in a form by putting red asterisks (*) next to them. http://www. explain what the symbol means right there on the page.Iflorist summarized all the form errors at the top of the page and also put a red asterisk next to each field that had a problem (not shown). so users who understand that meaning of asterisk may look at the bottom of the page for it. it is better to ask for only required information on forms. 34 . As mentioned previously. to cut down on possible errors and to avoid losing customer trust.) Tip: If you use a symbol to denote something as important as a required field. however.nngroup. We have not tested this theory. If you use the asterisk for required fields. Error messages for invalid entries did not clearly indicate the expected format of the information. (See our Trust report for more information about trust and personal information. In another user test. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. Asterisks have often been used to indicate a footnote reference. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . All rights reserved worldwide.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. you should not also use it to designate an error. all users did not understand this use of asterisks. Please buy it instead of copying. and when information.Order Summary. what. Payment. A good order summary shows all the who. before a customer commits to the purchase. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. The summary should not be confused with the order confirmation page. and it allows the customer to make corrections easily. 35 .nngroup. which is shown after the purchase so that it can be printed. All rights reserved worldwide. how much. although some could have shown the summary earlier in the process. and Confirmation Order Summary Provide an order summary with all information about the transaction. C22 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . http://www. Please buy it instead of copying. Most of the sites we tested showed good summaries. CustomDisc’s Order Review had the right information on it.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. It sets expectations correctly. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. C23 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . even though the users had entered that information already.nngroup. but it did not show billing or delivery address. Please buy it instead of copying. 36 .Wal-Mart provided a succinct summary of items and prices along with security information. http://www. All rights reserved worldwide. The page should allow the customer to make changes easily and address any remaining concerns about the transaction that might prevent the customer from being comfortable enough to continue.” Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . guarantees. A good order summary shows the: • Items to be shipped. customer service. • State of the transaction. Please buy it instead of copying.”) • Links to information the customer might want. 37 . Our users had little trouble filling out payment information on most of the test sites. such as privacy.nngroup. Each instruction had been placed inside the field it applied to. The other notable problem occurred when. and other additional costs.) The fields’ lack of structure and disappearing instructions made it hard to use. one user typed “Visa” in response to a field labeled: “Name on card. http://www. • Method for making changes to the order. we learned a few things from those who did. so users generally typed over the instructions when filling out the form.The main purpose of the summary is to allow the customer to verify that all information is correct before the order is submitted. • Total charge including price for each item. BasketHaus had the most difficult form because of its free-entry text fields. Payment Forms Although most of our users did not actually complete purchases in our study (because we asked them not to). (See Image C24. tax. security. • Payment options. • Shipping and billing addresses. • Estimated delivery date. After typing over the instructions. returns. including gift messages and wrapping options. many users had questions that they couldn’t answer because that information was now gone. (For example: “The order is not placed until after you provide payment information on the next screen and press the Confirm Order button. • Shipping method. shipping. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. All rights reserved worldwide. on another site. and customer profile.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. register. C24 Offer a toll-free number for placing orders over the telephone. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group.) Order Confirmation Provide an order confirmation page after the purchase. http://www. almost 25% of our US users expressed interest in a site’s security. Please buy it instead of copying. The order summary is the last page that is shown before the user authorizes the purchase. or log in — said they would normally give up on the website and try calling the company to complete their purchase. All rights reserved worldwide. (See our Trust report for more information about where and how to present effective security information. many users in our study who got stuck — when they couldn’t figure out how to check out. especially if the store is not familiar to them or well established.After the user typed some information over the instructions. The order confirmation is the first page that appears after the user has confirmed the sale and completed the payment transaction. In our tests. Although we allowed them to enter fake personal information.nngroup. Some people are afraid to leave credit card information stored on a website because of the potential for theft later. users said many positive things about being able to place telephone orders instead of using their credit cards on the Web. 38 . Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . Include a prominent link to privacy and security policies. only three users (all Danish) saw the confirmation pages. In our tests. We believe even more people would have been interested in security if they had been asked to enter their own information. Also. he wondered what else he had been asked to enter because the prompt was gone. • How to rate the site or comment on the shopping experience. These then are our best suggestions based on our experiences as both test facilitators and customers. • Site navigation links. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. • A reminder to print or save the page for future reference. • Coupons or special offers for the next purchase. • How to manage any stored personal information.95”). Although we tested only a few order confirmation pages. or print it at work. • The order confirmation or reference number. A terrific confirmation page would also include: • The tracking number with a URL for the shipper’s tracking system. • Which e-mail address the confirmation e-mail has been sent to. If necessary. 39 . • Which credit card or other payment method has been used and the last few digits from the card number (for example: “Visa XXXX XXXX XXXX 9876”). Make sure the page prints out acceptably on several kinds of computers. Offer to e-mail the page contents to any address the user specifies. printers. Tip: Provide information that’s easy to skim. http://www. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . or access it for any number of reasons. Use bullets or other scannable short texts on order confirmation pages instead of paragraphs. provide a separate printable version. Even though a confirmation mail might have been sent. • Customer service contact information. Others will want to send the information to another account or another person. • The shipping method and estimated delivery date.Tip: Make the confirmation page as helpful as possible. and browsers. and make links from any of the text that could usefully guide the customer to more information about that topic. no discussion of the checkout process would be complete without covering this important topic. • How to get back to the store now and order more items without having to log in again. print.nngroup. and so forth. • The URL for the site. some customers will not be able to receive.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. All rights reserved worldwide. but it also shows: • A thank-you message that clearly states that the order has been successfully received (not just sent) and payment status (for example: “your credit card has been charged $25. A good confirmation page has the same information as a good summary page (see “Order Summary” earlier in this report). Tip: Design for printability and offer email options. Please buy it instead of copying. nngroup. Please buy it instead of copying. • Typed into the form fields for returning users. As of August 2005. Although we didn’t ask users in our test to comment on e-mail confirmation messages.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . Another user thought there might be a fee for membership. All rights reserved worldwide.) Those who did not understand the subsequent error page became stuck. Send a confirmation e-mail as soon as possible after the transaction. Make sure the information on the page serves both purposes well. • Didn’t realize they were supposed to invent a password. One user thought the process would open a charge account. even if they already have a printout of the page (and particularly if they don’t). Others will have it in hand when they contact customer service. Other users weren’t quite sure what registration was for and were unsure how to proceed. http://www. business hours. Some people will need to submit this page for expense reimbursement or keep it for their tax records. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. including telephone number. 40 . Many users said. People who give up on a website may not be back again. The e-mail should not include sensitive information such as the password or credit card number. Registration Why Registration Fails Registration accounted for 8% of the sales catastrophes in our study. however. It could include the last four digits of the card. of course. which is not what either the prospective buyer or seller intended. we believe it signals good customer service when sites send e-mail confirmations as soon as possible after a purchase. • Were reluctant to “join” anything or unwilling to complete a registration form. If a user fails or refuses to register — and registration is required — the failure results in a sales catastrophe for the site. the confirmation should include: • The ordered items and total price • Date and time of purchase • Order number • Customer service contact information. and time zone of call center • Delivery status • Delivery method and tracking information. “I don’t want to be a member. Many users: • Misunderstood an important aspect of registration. At a minimum. (See Image C26. Many customers would find this information very useful to have in e-mail. perhaps because they’d never had to invent one before. Others thought the site was asking for the password to their e-mail account. Some users expected the site to issue them a password. even though they were new users.Tip: Make sure the confirmation page can act as both a receipt and a tracking aid. and all the other information shown on the confirmation page of the website.” when they were asked to register while trying to buy something. it was quite common for sites to require users to register during the process of making their first purchase. http://www. because then it doesn’t interrupt or prevent the sale. In some countries. many sites required registration or login at different points. All rights reserved worldwide. optional. in alphabetical order. and required — and which sites fell into each category.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. usually as an interruption to the user’s task. in Denmark there have been many news stories about registration of HIV-infected persons and registration of those who are slow at paying their bills.Allow customers to purchase without registering. • Before the user can read customer service information. (Could you imagine being forced to register before you entered a supermarket?) Users in our tests perceived these barriers to access quite negatively. For example. even the term “registration” can be problematic because of its negative connotations. such as: • Before the user can look at the catalog of products. The table below shows the three approaches to registration we saw in our tests — none. Three Approaches to Registration (Bold sites had one or more complete failures) None • BasketHaus • Iflorist • Jcrew • Nordstrom • NorwaySweaters Optional • 1800flowers – during checkout • Boo – you could become a “VIP customer. • Furniture • HermanMiller • Living • Reel • Sears • SmarterKids • TowerRecords Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . We saw so many problems with registration in our test that we must recommend against requiring it at all. Sites that appear in bold had one or more users who became stuck on a registration-related issue and were unable or unwilling to continue. because that practice failed miserably when it was first tried. 41 . Almost no sites require users to register or log in before allowing them into the website anymore. Allowing customers to register optionally after a purchase is much better.nngroup. • Before the user can put a product in the cart. Various Approaches to Registration At the time of this writing. four sites experienced complete purchase failures with one or more users because of problems during login and registration. • CustomDisc • Disney – at any time • Gevalia – required only if ordering regular deliveries • Peet’s – during checkout • Wal-Mart – after completing purchase Required • eToys – New customers entered their e-mail address before their shipping information but didn’t choose a password until later. and it is less offensive to customers because they have a choice. Please buy it instead of copying. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. Of the eight sites that required registration. • Before the user can access online help.” which promised special offers. unlike the more aggressive attempts to get users’ information. They don’t care about one-time shoppers. Please buy it instead of copying. I would probably call their 800 number. • Boo and 1800flowers offered optional registration as part of the order form. I just want to buy coffee. when they weren’t. occurred because users believed they were required to register. This would piss me off at this point. … It kind of looks like you might have to be a registered user. We believe that optional registration has less risk of confusing or alienating the user. … I’m guessing this would be like a charge card. They assume that I will patronize this website in the future. Many users didn’t trust sites to use their information appropriately. and it annoys even those who manage to comply. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration .” On the bright side. one user said he would register with companies he knew and used often. Some complaints we heard: • Fear of unsolicited e-mail or privacy concerns – “I think they’re building a mailing list.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. one each on 1800flowers and Gevalia.” • Annoyance at the additional steps and inconvenience – Inventing a password is “too complicated. It was completely voluntary. http://www. except on 1800flowers. although they didn’t seem to mind seeing the offer. users expressed their irritation again and again at being forced to register. Forcing users to register creates an unnecessary barrier for first-time and one-time customers. There we saw users opt to skip registration. 42 . even when they perceived some value to themselves in doing so. Boo tried to convince customers to register as a VIP customer. I don’t want to join anything. All rights reserved worldwide. A few user comments about Wal-Mart indicated that its optional registration was well received. I might even call their competitor and then call them and let them know about it. they got stuck and couldn’t continue.During our tests. for example: • Wal-Mart offered optional registration after a successful purchase. Because they were unable to figure out how to register successfully. Resistance to registration was greater when the procedure was required early in the process. but they promised special deals.” • Fear of being charged something – “This is what I was trying to avoid.nngroup. We didn’t gather much data about the effectiveness of optional registration. Optional Registration Some sites’ approaches to registration were less interruptive. The failures of optional registration in our test. Although we didn’t test optional registration after the purchase. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. … This looks like a billing form. • Disney: Comparing Disney to an earlier site she tested that required her to register. for my credit card. the user said: “I’m just entering [required information]. All rights reserved worldwide. C25 Users perceived a site more positively when registration was optional: • Reel: “I’ve shopped on sites that say ‘would you like to save this’ — that was great. A big advantage to offering registration at the end of a purchase is that one of its key benefits — not having to fill out so many forms next time — is then more apparent to the user. I feel much better about that. I did that. we believe it’s the right approach. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . 43 . http://www. they simply go somewhere else to shop. It doesn’t look like I’m doing a password thing.nngroup. the value of doing so may not be fully realized until the second visit. If customers don’t understand the benefit to themselves of registering.” The user made this remark (about sites we didn’t test) after objecting to having to register during the checkout process. Although it can be to the customer’s advantage to register. That makes sense. Please buy it instead of copying.#26289000034004 Wal-Mart offered optional registration after the customer completed a purchase. I can just pay and get out of there.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group.” Explain the benefits of registration and consider offering an incentive. Clearly explain the privacy policy and make it easy to find. Customers are already trading money for goods. none offered a way to delete a user account. Please buy it instead of copying.” But she commented. They wanted to feel like they were getting something back in return for giving up the requested information.nngroup.Tip: Make sure to explain the convenience benefit explicitly. 44 . Privacy and security are really the same problem from the users’ point of view (their information might be used without their consent). Tell customers how easy it is to cancel a registration. In other studies. On 1800flowers. users expressed concerns about both privacy and security. We believe we saw an unusually low incidence of users looking at the privacy policy. On every site that offered an incentive.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. That’s what I believe — they would charge me fees. Tip: Make it easy for customers to cancel their registration. We suggest including the word “free” in the list of benefits to avoid the kind of concern we saw: • Tower: “There might even be a fee for membership. easier shopping. For example: “Any personal information you enter will be deleted as soon as any current order has been completed. and the forms for creating a new login (which look similar to the forms used to log in on most sites) created some difficulties for users. so it’s only fair to offer something further in exchange for their registration information.” Of the 15 sites we tested that required registration. All rights reserved worldwide. “I’m not sure how it’s faster or easier.” Users were more willing to register when there was a clear incentive or value to them in doing so. however. This form confusion is discussed in detail in the section. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. Membership can cost something in other contexts. http://www. Creating a User Name and Password Creating a password and user name for future login was part of the registration process on many sites.” • 1800flowers: “I could order things as I need them and not have to be locked in with a potential membership fee. probably because in the US tests most users were not entering their own information. at least one user volunteered a positive reaction to it. which users may not distinguish between to the degree that developers do. before and after you ask them to register. I’m suspecting.” later in this report. you will delete all information about them. with various likely causes (the site released the information on purpose or allowed it to get away through accident or negligence).” Tip: Say that membership is free of charge. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . one user read in the FAQ that registering was supposed to result in “faster. “Login Problems: Using the Wrong Form. Promise that if they cancel their registration. Picking a unique user name can be one of the big hurdles in registering. It’s possible that the percentage of customers without an e-mail address may be smaller — perhaps even small enough to ignore — for sites that target business customers instead of the middle-class consumers we tested. about 5% told us they didn’t have their own e-mail address. as we have seen in this study and others. Although we didn’t see it in our study. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . Using a person’s e-mail address as a user name has two advantages: it is easier to remember and it is already unique. but what password? My e-mail password? Not clear on what they’re asking for. however. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. or they share one with others. I don’t want to give out my password for my e-mail account. there is a third problem worth mentioning: 3.Allow (but don’t require) an e-mail address for the user name. All rights reserved worldwide.” • Wal-Mart: The user typed her e-mail address in the field for User Name and her AOL password in the Password field. (Consider the complications of sharing an e-mail address with the person you are ordering a gift for!) Out of 64 users in our study. • Living: “It asks for my name and e-mail address. Please buy it instead of copying. Four users mistakenly thought a site was asking for the password to their e-mail account. … I’m not going to go any further. Lack of e-mail address. Allow users to change their e-mail address after proper login. Password confusion.nngroup. http://www. 2. Customer e-mail addresses can change quite often. Not all Web shoppers have an e-mail address. and transfer their properties seamlessly.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. 45 . which they were understandably reluctant to provide. We saw two problems with using an e-mail address in our tests: 1. 46 . Please buy it instead of copying.Living’s Sign In page is an example of the kind of forms that caused users to mistakenly believe the site was asking for the password to their e-mail accounts. for a detailed discussion of this problem. many of whom used the wrong half of the form to try to create a new account (See “Login Problems: Using the Wrong Form.nngroup. These dual-purpose forms confused users.” later in this report.) C26 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . http://www.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. All rights reserved worldwide. e-mail address. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own.nngroup. and so forth. the error message should suggest how to create a unique user name and provide available variations on the name the user asked for. This page was better than Living’s Sign In page. but HermanMiller also didn’t clearly explain what to enter. Some users in our tests needed assistance from the facilitator to fill in these fields. a nickname. If the user name first chosen is already in use. http://www. mention that fact — it might deter the user from entering a foolish or derogatory name.HermanMiller’s login page attempted to explain the purpose of creating a user name and password. If the user name will be used by the site to greet the user. C27 Explain how to select a user name and password and why. Explain what the user should enter — full name. because they didn’t understand the purpose of the user name and password. Instructions and explanations on the sites were often inadequate. Please buy it instead of copying.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. All rights reserved worldwide. 47 . The rule was revealed only on the registration error page. “You’re not supposed to make passwords up. Five users were unsure what to enter for a password. The main issues were how to get one and how to remember it.” • Living: Another user said. but her information was gone. shown here.” She tried the “Forgot my password” link.nngroup. Please buy it instead of copying. Show an example or two. but don’t allow the examples to be used as passwords.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group.Several users got quite upset when their password was turned down because of some reasonable but unexplained rule.” She tried to sign in without entering a password. I didn’t have a password to begin with. • Living: One user explained.” She spent several minutes struggling until the facilitator explained she had to make up a password. These users believed the site would email them a password. http://www. “I’m in a loop. Tell users to invent their own passwords and not to wait for one to be given to them. Make sure this explanation is provided again in the error message if the user skips the password field. All rights reserved worldwide. Two became stuck and needed help from the facilitator in order to proceed. Explain any limits on number and type of characters. 48 . Some users make bad passwords or use the same ones every time. So I never know what to do there. then “Request a password. It’s not going to let me skip them.” then “Create a new password. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . because this misconception can cause some users to leave the password field blank. or do I gotta go to Your Account first?” The user must create a secure but memorable password. C28 Problems creating a user name paled in comparison to problems we saw with creating a password. • HermanMiller: “So that means I have to get a password in order to order? So do I make one up. You’re supposed to get passwords. The user must invent a password. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. “The password thing gets me. such as the minimum length of five characters on Reel.” She ended up on the login page she’d just filled out. Explain what a good password looks like and why it’s to the user’s advantage to make one. users defeated password security in this way so consistently that the hint process was identified as the site’s most severe security and usability problem. and if I enter something foolish. Avoid using secret questions and hints for password recovery. Many passwords selected by our users were easy to guess or defeat by trial and error. No one seemed confused by it or questioned why it was there. Tip: Check for weak passwords. If I put in a question that’s obvious enough to have an answer come up. or the user name should be trapped by error checking. which destroyed their security completely. Tip: Let the user choose who should make up the password. in Communications of the ACM December 1999.” Others used their password as the hint.” A few users entered the same thing into both the question and the answer. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . 49 . We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. One method.” requires the customer to choose a question and a corresponding answer (unrelated to the password) that can later be used to verify his or her identity. Passwords such as aaaaa.Once users entered a password. I’ll never remember.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. Many e-commerce websites have a feature that is designed to allow the customer to recover a forgotten password. the site can prompt the customer with the hint.” Make sure the generated password is pronounceable nonsense. Several users in our test liked the concept of a password hint. such as “daughter. An excellent reference about motivating users to create secure passwords is: Users Are Not The Enemy. During multiple tests of a popular free e-mail site. http://www. The site poses the question and the user must respond with the pre-defined answer. One user summed up the issue: “I don’t like when they do these questions and answers for passwords. or let us make up a good one for you. One user was so annoyed by the password question and answer on SmarterKids that he refused to continue. for example quotanbil. then it’s obvious enough for someone else. Add explanatory text: “Make up your own password. 123456.nngroup. pages 41–46. Even if customers don’t mind having to create hints or questions. by Anne Adams and Martina Angela Sasse. Please buy it instead of copying. but others hated using them. The other method in common use requires the customer to save a “hint” about the nature of the password. especially for secret questions. and if the password is forgotten. Both methods have two significant downsides: • They can alienate customers. Some users chose questions other people could answer. it does take them extra time and effort to understand and complete the additional fields. All rights reserved worldwide. • They can weaken security. hints and questions create more problems. the Confirm Password field didn’t cause any problems. Although password recovery seems like a good thing to offer. but we didn’t notice any sites in our study that checked for weak passwords. sometimes called a “secret question. Tip: Motivate users to create secure passwords. Tip: Instead of using hints or questions. Even so. or simply require the user to make a new account. 50 . http://www. On the SmarterKids Registration page some users typed the same word in both the Question and Answer fields or simply typed their password into one or both fields.nngroup. All rights reserved worldwide. because e-mailing passwords is insecure. this method poses less risk than allowing an insecure hint to reveal the password when someone is trying to break into a user’s account. Please buy it instead of copying. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. C29 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . Suggest the customer log in immediately and create a new password.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. send the customer an e-mail containing the forgotten password at the registered e-mail address (if there is one). typed the password with the right characters but capitalized the wrong letter. But in our test. or the password doesn’t match the user name. All rights reserved worldwide. but instead simply began entering data into the first field they saw on the page. So they made up a new name or password.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. our users picked the wrong set again and again.) It may seem at first like a case of “clueless user” when new customers complete user name and password fields intended only for returning customers. Login fails for one of two reasons on the system side: either the user name is not recognized. They didn’t always read the instructions. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration .nngroup. but the user has a more complex situation. (See Images C26 and C27. entered some other account’s password or user name. http://www. Even when the fields for new customers looked distinct from those for returning customers. Users typically assumed the error message meant that they had simply invented an unacceptable name or password. 51 . None of the websites we tested explained which of the two kinds of system login failure occurred (it might compromise security to do so).Login Problems: Using the Wrong Form Allow new users to register even if they use the returning customer login form. The user might have used the wrong form when trying to create a login. typed the right password incorrectly. The system detects which type of problem occurred. which was that the users had mistakenly typed into the returning customer form instead of the new customer form in an effort to create a new login and password. but we saw this problem happen often enough that we believe websites should actually support or work around this behavior. Please buy it instead of copying. no error messages hinted at the real problem. On most sites that had separate fields for new and returning customers. A few users could not proceed beyond that point because nothing they typed (into the wrong form) worked and they never realized their mistake. and so forth. we saw users try to invent a new user name and password by typing into the fields for returning customers. She didn’t read the labels. She got stuck and couldn’t continue with her purchase. “Someone already got my stupid password.” She never realized that the user name and password fields are for previously registered users only. The real problem was that she was a new user who typed her information into the form instead of clicking the top button.) Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . Although wellconstructed. she said. Please note that your password is case sensitive. they are a much less usable choice for most websites and most users.nngroup. not for those who are creating a new account. one user started out typing into the correct set of fields (for new users) but switched to the simpler set of fields (for returning users) after getting her first error message. When the site gave her an error. C30 • Reel had a new customer button (called “Continue”) and a returning customer form with type-in fields. All rights reserved worldwide. She didn’t get past that point. case-sensitive passwords can provide better security from password cracking programs. http://www. “The account name / password combination is not valid. The user typed her e-mail address and a password and clicked Continue. (See Image C26.Reel’s message said. She never read the instructions on the bottom of the page. Please buy it instead of copying. • On Living.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. 52 .” Unfortunately the user believed this meant her password was already in use. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. Please buy it instead of copying. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. A minute later he said. Two users mistakenly concluded that Wal-Mart required registration when they saw this page. “I’m not a registered user” and deleted the information he had typed.” Some new users tried to type a user name and password despite the big “or” that tried to divide new customers from returning ones. which does not require registration: • “I don’t like this. … I don’t know when I’ll ever get back to this website. We saw this mistake on Wal-Mart. 53 . All rights reserved worldwide. http://www. our users assumed they had to register. so why should they have the information?” • The user typed a user name and a password even though he hadn’t registered yet. C31 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration .Another kind of form confusion occurred in our study.nngroup.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. “I assumed I needed to register. When sites showed a prominent login form for returning customers. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . • Unified form – Amazon. despite your best efforts. designed one login form for all users (Image C34) that looks quite different from the typical login / password form. which seemed to work well for our users. however. C32 Tip: To alleviate confusion between new and returning user forms. Please buy it instead of copying.Worse. as shown) and concluded they had to register before being able to view the catalog. Use two separate buttons for new and returning customers instead of type-in fields. for example. http://www. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. we have three recommendations: • Buttons – Try the Sears approach (Image C33). Gevalia created a perceived barrier on the front page of their catalog by providing a prominent registration and login form.nngroup. mistakes can likely be minimized. Some users didn’t notice the barely visible “guest” option (which was partly cut off by the bottom of the monitor. which they refused to do.com. All rights reserved worldwide. The resulting error page should clearly explain what might be the problem and offer new users a means of proceeding from there with new account creation if they wish. and some users needed help from the facilitator to get into the catalog. Gevalia’s design led users to believe that they had to register in order to see the catalog. We have not tested this or similar designs. By providing one form for everyone. 54 . new customers will sometimes try to enter information into the fields for returning users. The option to enter as a guest was not immediately noticeable. • Error recovery – Assume that. C33 We didn’t test Amazon. This approach worked for our users.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. C34 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration .com.nngroup. 55 . who had to read the buttons in order to choose one. Please buy it instead of copying.Sears sorted the “First-time User” from the “Registered User” with buttons rather than instructions. All rights reserved worldwide. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. No attractive login form was present to distract them. but we suspect this kind of unified form might work better than the now-typical dual login forms that use two similar entry areas for both new and returning customers. http://www. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. customers should be invited to register with the site after their initial purchase. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . http://www. 56 . Please buy it instead of copying. Even though form designers may have a clear picture of the database fields the information will go into. All rights reserved worldwide. Instead. Data entry errors can be prevented by allowing users to enter their information in a familiar order into appropriate-length fields. We believe that mandatory registration will soon disappear as consumers experience more e-commerce sites that don’t require registration and as more companies begin to understand the cost in terms of lost sales. Users expect to see all relevant details of their purchase before committing to it. users don’t care about database schema.Creating a Good Checkout Process Although checkout — filling out a series of forms — seems simple.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. Missing information or unpleasant surprises can drive them away from a site. forms should validate important data. This study clearly showed that forcing users to register while purchasing is counter-productive. our study shows that its usability can’t be taken for granted.nngroup. No matter how good the explanations and examples. ..... 29 Expect users to hit the Enter or Return key while filling out forms. for the state....................................... Don’t expect your first design to be perfect even if you follow all the guidelines.................................................... please share it with us..... 32 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration ............... ... ... 23 Use clear labels and show examples of valid entries........ ................................. all costs.................. 57 .......................... 7 Provide information about return policies and guarantees................................. if possible...... 24 Make the size of the field indicate the length of the expected input..... Please buy it instead of copying..... but they do not remove the need to conduct site-specific usability testing. ................... .... ........ not rules........ 29 Validate information submitted....... 9 Provide a Remove button for each item in the cart................ 19 Give the user a choice of shipping methods and carriers......................... . 13 The Checkout Process Order the steps in the checkout process according to users’ expectations....... 17 Provide exact shipping charges and tax.......... 15 Make the next-step button prominent and visually distinct from the site navigation and other page elements..................... http://www....... 31 When errors occur......... and the subtotal...................... for good reason........................................................................................................ so your site will be the best it can be when it goes online................... ........... ..................... 24 Use a type-in field.................. .. ................. .. Shopping Cart Show items..... ............................ Plan time in the development schedule to find and correct problems.................................................... ...................................................... Our conclusions are based on a large number of usability test observations carried out by experts....... ... 11 Provide shopping instructions in the empty shopping cart................... see the Methodology report that is a part of this series............. All rights reserved worldwide......com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group........................................Summary of Recommendations for Designers This report contains guidelines and suggestions........................ not a selection list............. clearly tell how to fix which fields..... The guidelines in this report will go a long way toward making e-commerce sites more usable.............. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own.......... Every site has unique issues..... 14 Show the steps of the process.... ............................. 16 Reveal shipping charges before asking for personal information. 20 Shipping and Billing Address Forms Ask for only the information needed to complete the transaction and clearly state how it can be used................... 27 Save and autofill all previously supplied information......... Your site could be different from the sites we tested............. ..................... however.................... handle it gracefully... And if you find something interesting we haven’t discussed............................. We encourage you to conduct your own usability studies to identify any situations that may be exceptions to our guidelines.....................................................nngroup.... 24 Differentiate shipping address from billing address.......... Guidelines work hand in hand with iterative development and usability testing............. ..................................... not formulas................ For detailed information about how we obtained the data presented in this report........................ 8 Provide a “return to shopping” link.. ............. . ....... ........... Payment.......................................... 49 Allow new users to register even if they use the returning customer login form.................. 41 Explain the benefits of registration and consider offering an incentive.......... . ............. ...... 51 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration .... 45 Explain how to select a user name and password and why...............................com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group................................. 44 Allow (but don’t require) an e-mail address for the user name................... ................................. and Confirmation Provide an order summary with all information about the transaction..... ........................ 38 Include a prominent link to privacy and security policies... 47 Avoid using secret questions and hints for password recovery......... 38 Send a confirmation e-mail as soon as possible after the transaction......... ................................................ Please buy it instead of copying........ ......... 43 Clearly explain the privacy policy and make it easy to find................ All rights reserved worldwide............................ We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own...... http://www........ 40 Registration Allow customers to purchase without registering...........Order Summary.... ................. .. 58 ... 38 Provide an order confirmation page after the purchase....................... 35 Offer a toll-free number for placing orders over the telephone...... .nngroup......... Checkout & Registration – Filling out Web forms correctly is very difficult for most users. such as address formats. or unavailable items. Please buy it instead of copying.nngroup. How to improve search results and search pages in product catalogs. Trust – Trust is the user’s willingness to risk time. and personal data on a website. For current information about the book and report series. Some home pages clearly show what the site sells. 59 . Product listing pages can be tricky to design because they must provide the right amount of information and organize it well. Selling Strategies – Some sites drive their customers away with high prices. money. and total cost. but also cultural issues as well. but others confuse users by obscuring the purpose of the site. Jakob discusses the strategic implications of our findings for the future of e-commerce. hardcover book. This is the report to give to your boss if he or she doesn’t have time to read the detailed reports. http://www. Product pages provide that information using a combination of text and images. and gift-giving. Better designs mean more customers can complete the shopping process. International Users – When US-based sites go global. Forcing people to register during their first purchase is a confusing and frustrating tactic that drives customers away. Product Pages – Users need sufficient information about a product before purchasing it online. Effective product pages show availability. Methodology Report Methodology – This report details how we conducted this study. Based on usability tests with 24 European users. Sites that learn to avoid these problems can then focus on tactics for achieving additional sales through crossselling. The E-Commerce User Experience reports are for sale separately or as a fullcolor. This report discusses many factors that can enhance (or damage) trust in e-commerce sites. this report distills the data from our major international usability study into the essence of e-commerce. Search – Many of our users went right to the site’s search tool (unless it was hidden) but there were several reasons search didn’t always help them. including a summary of user demographics. unreasonable shipping costs. In-Depth Reports Category Pages – Category pages organize and prioritize a site’s offerings.nngroup. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. recommendations. and a summary of all the tasks.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. Home pages are one type of category page. many aspects of the user experience get broken.com/reports/ecommerce Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . Good images also matter. product options. please visit: http://www.Reports in This Series Executive-Level Report High-Level Strategy – Written by Jakob Nielsen. how we briefed and interacted with users. This report focuses on not only the obvious issues. All rights reserved worldwide. He and Jakob Nielsen invented the heuristic inspection method. Nielsen Norman Group 48105 Warm Springs Blvd. Before starting Snyder Consulting in March 1999. http://www. We are also indebted to Tom Durkin for editorial assistance. NH 03079. Nielsen’s many books include Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity and Usability Engineering.com> http://[email protected] the Authors The entire team planned the studies and evaluated the results. Jakob Nielsen <nielsen@nngroup. Snyder Consulting 88 Brookwood Drive Carolyn Snyder <[email protected] Rolf Molich is an independent usability consultant with more than 25 years of experience in the software industry.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group.snyderconsulting. when she completed her Masters Degree in Rhetoric. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. he was a Sun Microsystems Distinguished Engineer. Although each report has a primary author. Before joining Nielsen Norman Group as a user experience specialist in 1999.com> Fremont. and Shuli Gilutz for research. Susan Farrell has been a Web developer since 1993.nngroup. Dr. USA http://www. reports were extensively reviewed by all members of the team.net> Salem. He is the author of Usable Computer Systems (available in Danish only). USA Susan Farrell <farrell@nngroup. Sofie Scheutz is a usability consultant for DialogDesign where she has been employed since January 1999. All rights reserved worldwide. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . she worked in Human Computer Interaction at Sun Microsystems and in Customer Service Tools Research and Development at Silicon Graphics. The studies were conducted and observed by Rolf Molich and Sofie Scheutz (Denmark). Denmark Sofie Scheutz <sofie.dk> DK-3660 Stenlose. Please buy it instead of copying. Before starting DialogDesign in 1997.nngroup.dk> http://www. He has been working in usability since 1984. Carolyn is co-author of Web Site Usability: A Designer’s Guide.dialogdesign. Carolyn was a principal consultant at User Interface Engineering. DialogDesign Skovkrogen 3 Rolf Molich <molich@dialogdesign. Before starting Nielsen Norman Group in 1998.net Carolyn Snyder is an independent usability consultant with more than 17 years of experience in the software industry. and Carolyn Snyder (New Hampshire). Steven Thomas for design. CA 94539. 60 . He has been working in usability since 1983 and in Web usability since 1994.com Jakob Nielsen is a usability guru. Rolf Molich worked in the Methodology department of various Danish companies. Forms in HTML Documents http://www. Designing More Usable Web Sites http://www. All rights reserved worldwide. Of particular interest is “17. 61 . form elements and attributes.References Adams.org/TR/REC-html40/interact/forms.w3.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group.org/WAI/GL Web Content Accessibility Guidelines – most recent version http://www.wisc.nngroup. if not all.01. Users Are Not The Enemy. Anne and Martina Angela Sasse. Most. Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration .html This site is the definative reference for HTML 4.11 Giving focus to an element.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT The three URLs above point to the authoritative reference materials for Web accessibility. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. Communications of the ACM.w3.” which explains keyboard access to form elements and how to set options for particular fields to a default or keyboard shortcut.edu/world/web Trace Research and Development Center’s comprehensive site is dedicated to accessibility tools and information. of the major accessibility resources can be found through these pages. This page explains the controls.trace.w3. Please buy it instead of copying. This is an excellent article about motivating users to create secure passwords. http://www.w3. Pages 41–46.org/WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group http://www. Web Accessibility Initiative http://www. December 1999. 14 tools. 14 checkout process. 30 e-mail confirmation. 9 O order confirmation. 24 errors made. 14 login problems creating. 37 personal information asking for. 24 hints. 31 error messages constructing. 35 P password creating. 40 Enter key. Please buy it instead of copying.Index A accessibility. 49 payment forms. 34 entry errors. All rights reserved worldwide. 22 drop-down menu. 9 D delivery options. 23 button labels. 29 privacy policy. 23 re-using. 24 forms adaptive. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. 10 billing address forms. 31 address book. 44 62 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . 49 I international form issues. 27 E e-mail address two-piece form. 20 delivery information large. 49 inventing.nngroup. 23. 34 autofill. . 27 L labels on forms. 29 B Back button.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. 40 continue shopping button. 55 asterisks required fields. 51 N navigation in the shopping cart. http://www. 48 hints. 12 C checkout step diagrams. perishable items. 44 explaining. 48 secret question. 47 hidden rules. 34 international. 32 error recovery. 38 order summary. 29 H help. 30 multiple recipients. 24. 27 losing data. 27 address forms. 32 F form labels. 30 error messages. 56 confirmation e-mail. 27 Amazon.com login form. 41 do not require. 29 Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience Checkout & Registration . 21 methods. 23 secret question. 38 toll-free phone number. 45 explaining. 8 S sales catastrophes. 27 shipping charges. 31 T telephone orders. 40 remove button.nngroup. 38 typos. 10 shopping instructions in shopping cart. 17 instructions. 47 V validation. 63 . 11 required fields asterisks. All rights reserved worldwide. 44 e-mail address.com/reports/ecommerce © Copyright Nielsen Norman Group. 23 shopping cart.R registration approaches. 49 selection list. 27 submit button. 43 optional. 19 shipping address forms. 11 user name. We priced this report reasonably so you can afford your own. 13 state selection list. http://www. Please buy it instead of copying. 13 integrated. 29 U update total button. 7 instructions. 31 return policy. 20 show exact charges. 41 incentives. 42 why it fails. 34 Return key. NN/g is the only company that presents the same conference in both the United States and Europe every year.000.000 to test a single design. based on our review of your design. The basics everybody should know about users’ online behavior and how to design better sites.000). Prices are subject to change without notice: for current prices. prices are higher outside the United States. please see our website at www. We are in Australia every second year.000 for a competitive study.000). We take you through a user test of your own design. A writing workshop using your own sample content for the rewrite exercises.com/services CONSULTING • • Independent outside expert review of the user experience of your website or intranet: $35. field labels.000). Here are some of our most popular services. $40.nngroup. User testing: typically $25. For the full list (and for current prices).com/services PRICES . • Writing for the Web ($8. Prices are stated in U. and email newsletters. We also teach correct methodology so that you can hone your skills and conduct your own usability projects with more success than if you use weaker methods. widgets) to feature and workflow design. teaching usability principles with your own project as the case study. We are independent of vendors and report the unvarnished truth about what works and what doesn’t. Two days intensive course on everything from screen design (buttons. dollars and were valid when this report was published.nngroup. CONFERENCE We produce an annual conference where world-class experts teach the latest findings about the usability of websites. • Fundamental Guidelines for Web Usability ($8. We are not a Web design shop—we will tell you what your customers want and how to vastly increase the business value of your site or intranet. intranets. • Intranet Usability ($18. but we won’t build the new site for you.000). We also have special training events that are optimized for having one of our seasoned usability experts come to your team and teach it usability by leveraging your own design questions: • 3-day Learning-by-Doing Usability Testing ($20. see www. Travel expenses are extra for all training seminars and for many other services.S.com/events TRAINING Most of our conference seminars are available for in-house presentation at your location. • Application Usability ($15.000).nngroup. Combines a full-day tutorial with the lessons from our testing of 27 intranets and a full-day workshop about your own intranet’s usability. For the current conference program. please see www.About Nielsen Norman Group Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g) is a consulting and research company that is solely focused on user experience. we can test your website or intranet and give you a prioritized list of the specific usability problems in your current design with advice on how to fix them. 2002. and 2001 Intranet portals: report from the trenches Ten best government intranet designs Email newsletters: 165 design guidelines Confirmation emails and transactional messages: 74 design guidelines INTRANET USABILITY E-MAIL USABILITY SPECIAL USER SEGMENTS Beyond ALT text: improving usability for users with disabilities.com/services .com/reports WEB USABILITY • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • OTHER “About Us” section of corporate sites: presenting company info online PR section of corporate sites: supporting journalists Investor Relations area of corporate website: supporting investors E-commerce user experience: 207 design guidelines B2B: 144 guidelines for converting business users into leads and customers Wish lists and gift certificates Location finder usability: 21 design guidelines Flash usability (with supplementary highlights video from user testing) Site map usability: 28 design guidelines Intranet usability guidelines based on user testing of 14 intranets Intranet design annual: 2007. of course. please see http://www. 2006.nngroup. 2003. We also have training courses to teach you how to do usability yourself. Please see http://www. 75 design guidelines (also available in software form as a Dreamweaver extension) Flash accessibility: usability of Flash design for users with disabilities Web usability for senior citizens: 46 design guidelines based on usability studies with people age 65 and older Usability of websites for children: 70 design guidelines Teenagers on the Web: 60 design guidelines Return on investment for usability Paper prototyping: a how-to video (32 minute DVD) 230 tips to improve the way you run user tests Recruiting test participants for user testing Testing users with disabilities: 40 guidelines for running studies WAP usability report: field study findings Celebrating holidays and current events on websites USER-CENTERED DESIGN METHODOLOGY • • INTERESTED IN A CUSTOM REPORT? We can conduct a competitive study of a group of websites in your category. 2005. resulting in customized guidelines to support user behavior on your exact type of site.nngroup.Reports by Nielsen Norman Group For a full list and to download reports. Or. Hewlett Packard Home Office. you’ll get four-days’ worth of tutorial knowledge in a three-day session. UK HSBC IBM Intelligent Finance Intuit King County L. and discover how understanding information foraging. . navigation and search options.L. Experts with over half a century of combined usability experience take you through fundamental principles and methods. and more — used to build any application. and testing. Sachs & Co. Specialized Full-Day Tutorials: Fundamental Guidelines for Web Usability Gain insight into essential user behaviors. intense. offering a three-day usability camp. Come for as few or as many days as you want.Bean Microsoft Modern Woodmen of America MusiciansFriend. day-long tutorials that get both broad and deep on core usability topics.com Federal Reserve Bank Fidelity Investments GE Goldman. Who Will You Meet at the Conference? Our conferences draw attendees from all over the world. help you create a sound usability plan. Three-Day Immersion: Interaction Design with Bruce “Tog” Tognazzini This detailed exploration of the entire design lifecycle covers critical issues in requirements gathering. design. and challenging camp. and content usability can help you build a website that’s easier and more enjoyable to use. Expedia / hotels. and teach you the skills you need to successfully execute that plan.Mar 5-9 Apr 22-27 May 6-11 Jun 18-23 The Usability Week 2007 Conference Usability Week 2007 takes you beyond the typical conference experience. and offers you practical and powerful tools for creating successful interaction designs. project launch. explore pivotal guidelines. and several specialized. scrolling. notification dialogs.com Nationwide Insurance Nokia Nolo Press Three-Day Intensive Camp: Usability in Practice In this fun. Application Usability 1: Page-Level Building Blocks for Feature Design Learn the user experience implications of the basic design components — buttons.net. a three-day intensive session on interaction design. and from organizations of all sizes. This knowledge will help you build full-fledged applications that optimally support user tasks. Here are the companies that sent the most people in 2006: American Cancer Society Australian Bureau of Statistics Avenue A | Razorfish Bank of America BBC Boeing BT California Franchise Tax Board California HealthCare Foundation Caterpillar Charles Schwab Cisco Systems Continental Airlines Dell Doctors.uk Eddie Bauer Esurance Inc. windows. Learn to better apply and combine such components to create more effective flows for different tasks. John Ambulance Standard & Poor's Starwood Hotels & Resorts Suncorp Target Tetra Pak ThomasNet T-Mobile Totaljobs Group Verizon Vodafone Wachovia Bank Wal-Mart Washington Mutual Washington State Dept. then master the sales and psychology fundamentals you need to maximize website . employee directories. HR information. subscription maintenance. You’ll also get a rare peek at corporate intranets and discuss how to deal with organizational issues that impact intranet design. subject lines. of Traffic Wells Fargo Which? Yahoo! Yell Group Zillow. financial analysts. as well as detailed issues in intranet design. Pay only for the days you need. Presenting Company Information on Corporate Websites Learn how customers. and forms. personalization. Designing B2B Websites Learn the intricacies of designing business-to-business websites that convert visitors into paying customers or hot leads for your off-line sales channel. Intranet Usability 1 Learn the essential features of well-designed intranets. so sign up early! Nordea Bank Philips Medical Systems PricewaterhouseCoopers QVC Reed Business Information Royal Bank of Scotland Sandia National Laboratories Showtime Networks Social Security Administration St. the deeper the discount. Numerous examples provide templates and techniques for everyday use. Study the key mistakes made. press and investor sections. We’ll detail results from our extensive studies of B2B sites. and how to apply those findings to better support your customers’ purchase decisions throughout the entire buying process. Intranet Usability 2 Day two covers intranet branding and promotion. and employment listings. and other key issues impact an email newsletter’s success. The more days you attend. and job seekers research companies online and what this implies for the design of your “about us” area. Advanced Interaction Design: Websites That Sell Most websites do more to drive customers away than to entice them to buy — and to keep buying. journalists. Email Newsletter Usability Studies of more than 100 email newsletters show how spam. Early bird rates save even more. navigation. along with key usability guidelines and testing tips. such as search.. and drastically increases the success rate for effectively communicating key messages.com to Zylom .com abebooks.Application Usability 2: Dialogue and Workflow Design Day two moves beyond the UI components themselves. content selection. Writing for the Web: Content Usability Rewriting and reorganizing text according to our “Writing for the Web” guidelines often doubles the usability of a website or intranet. and many smaller companies from sales..