What does a web researcher do?

www.headsets.com web site review

• This question specifically for JOEY up till the end of Wednesday 29th. If JOEY doesn't take it by then, then any other google researcher who hasn't done a site review for us yet. Yet Another Web Site Useability test. I'm wanting a web site review,(not to find where I can get a reviewer). I need a google researcher to perform a useability test on www.headsets.com, Specifically, we're not wanting html suggestions etc, we're wanting "how did it work for you as a "headset purchaser". I'm looking to get your experience and feedback, as well as your opinions and suggestions. Please can you give any thought processes you have while you do the test. i.e. "wow this is confusing on page www.xxxxxxx.com/xxxxx (paste link and specify what). This was useful on page wwww.xxxx.com/xxxx (paste link and specify what). CLARIFICATION - I'm not after books, or services or links as to how to design a website or who can do this. I'm specifically wanting the assistance of a google answerwer to give me their user experience and their suggestions. Please try to buy a headset. Go through to order page and put Google Researcher in the Credit card field. What worked and didn't work in your buying experience. Thanks!

• Answer:

  Answer: I visited your site, http://www.headsets.com, and tested it. After perusing, testing and examining your site for approximately thirty minutes (which, keep in mind, is much longer than the average visitor will spend there), and taking notes, I decided to simply divide my comments and observations into two categories: strong points and weak points, with a general summary following those. Anything I felt was completely average as a website experience I didn't mention. Only the standouts follow. Strong points: --Prominently displayed 800 telephone number—I can’t tell you enough how just seeing a telephone number—even if they have no desire to call it—makes potential buyers fell more at ease about giving credit card information over the web. All too often e-commerce sites are overly anonymous, “give-us-your-money-and-we’ll send you –something” experiences that inspire little consumer confidence. Knowing someone is available to call definitely increases sales. I might even go so far as to make the 800 number even more prominent throughout the site—although it is on every page at the top, which is excellent. The font chosen for the 800 number is a little “fat” and blurry, in my opinion. At the same time, however, you don’t want to go overboard in the other direction and have the number change colors and flash or anything like that—overly ostentatious is a turn-off as well, which you wisely avoid throughout your site's look-and-feel. --Site navigation-- The site navigational controls are excellent—it is very easy to get to any part of the site from the links map at the bottom of every page, the “You are here:” info at the top of each page and the numerous links. I always knew where I was in relation to the home page. --Nowhere in your site did I find any dead links. --Kudos for the “Beginners Guide.” This type of help makes those who aren’t exactly sure if the product is right for them or not feel much more at home and comfortable about making an informed decision. “Why use a headset?” and similar questions are an excellent lead-in for potential buyers. I myself have purchased online products (I recently bought an X10 video cam system online) after reading similar tutorial-esque help features. Weak points: --As far as “look-and-feel” goes, I’d have to say that the white background is not so easy-on-the-eyes, although I can also see that since the showcased products are black, that white provides for maximum contrast. (Perhaps you could have the main body of the page background be something other than white, but have inserts with white backgrounds for the product pictures, or use Photoshop to give the pictures white backgrounds). --I think the Headset Wizard dialogue is a good tool, although, I think the “I want to spend on a headset:” default choice (pre-selected radio-button) ought to be the “The least possible” rather than “Less than $200.” In my experience, people shop online because they want things cheap and fast. Also, by having "The least possible" as the default, it shows that you are not trying to coax people into spending more money--even your least inexpensive products are good quality, is what that kind of gesture says to me. --The “Chat with a headset specialist” feature is a nice idea, but not if every single person is “Temporarily offline.” It looks, frankly, like wishful thinking, or like you bit off more than you could chew in terms of offering services to clients or potential buyers when they are all “temporarily offline.” --ON ORDER PAGE: I deliberately left all required fields blank, selected FedEx shipping, entered “GA-researcher” under Credit Card, clicked on Place Order, and I got a 404 error—Page Not Found, rather than an error msg reminding me to properly fill out all incomplete forms (preferably with those fields highlighted). --I haven’t really made up mind yet about the “Satisfied Customers” banner—it’s somewhat reminiscent of the old Counters that displayed the number of visitors to a site—or maybe the McDonald’s “Billions Served” slogan--but does it really make me think, “Wow, 53,000 satisfied customers, they must be great headsets!”? Personally I think it’s somewhat distracting, as I start to wonder how those statistics are compiled, and if they’re true, and what exactly constitutes a “satisfied” customer, etc., rather than thinking about which headset I should buy. I think what would help more in this area is to have a page of not only simple customer testimonials, as you have (which is not a bad thing), but actual “Case Studies,” where you highlight companies who have made bulk purchases, and can truly say (and demonstrate) how you have helped their bottom line. Minor weak/confusing point: On http://www.headsets.com/headsets/guide/guide.html, and on other pages as well, the links table on the left (“Beginner’s Guide” through “Glossary of terms”-- to the left of each link there is a dash with a small box around it—similar to the Windows expanding tree diagram, where if you click the minus sign it hides the list, and if you click the “+” it expands the list. I found myself clicking on the “-“ signs thinking there was some kind of expanding menu (maybe I’m just an idiot or something, but certainly some other type of bullet style could work). Technical note: The first thing that happened upon logging on to your site—and this is not necessarily a big deal—but I have MS Visual Studio on my machine, and three “Do you wish to debug?” error msgs pop up upon entrance to your site (but quite a few professional sites have this affect on my system). Also, every time I hit my browser’s (the AOL6-supplied version of IE) Back button to go back within your site—Visual Studio would ask me if I wanted to debug an unterminated string constant on your site. I’m not exactly sure if this is truly meaningful information for you or not, but it was part of my experience as a user of and visitor to your website. I didn’t bother testing your site’s technical performance on other browsers or O/S platforms, etc., since from your question you indicated you were much more interested in usability for potential buyers rather than technical issues or “how-to’s.” On a Website Usability scale of 1-10, I’d rate this one at an 8.5, with the only real weakness coming from the lack of error handling in the credit card order form. Also, I'm assuming that the handling of credit card information is secure. The actual user-friendliness of the site is quite high, and it is certainly a professional site in terms of appearance and functionality. Google search strategy: http://www.headsets.com; personal observations. Good luck with your venture. I hope my comments are helpful to you. Thank you for using Google Answers for this type of inquiry.