The web changes, its a simple fact.  How users interact with websites changes as more sites adopt functionality.  Some basic principles will never change and should not be ignored.  However, remember that “cool” functionality you thought was cutting edge and you spent hours developing 3 years ago which you removed because of a drop in clicks, sales, etc…  Why not try it out again?  If it was unfamiliar to users, it may not be so now. Chances are by now, someone else is doing it and chances are they are seeing positve results.  So uncomment the code, review the change and try it again.

I was previously using SportsTap to keep track of updated sports scores.  However I found this app to be slow at times and the interface was not the most intuitive.  Yesterday, apple released Sportacular put out by streamingscores.com.  This app is a much better interface and is a must faster application than SportsTap.  What I love about this app…

• Get scores for the sports which matter most to me
• Create groups of your fantasy players and view all their stats on one screen
• News available from ESPN, Fox Sports, CBS Sports, and Yahoo Sports
• Navigation is intuitive

Google has just launched a new feature to their google maps toolset. They now allow you to change the route for a trip that you have requested directions for. So, if their is a road you really want to go down but the standard route just does not appeal to you…move the blue line. It is that simple. The route is then re-calculated for time and distance depending on the route you select

Check it out, it is a great way to take a 2 hour drive from Jacksonville to Melbourne and turn it in to a 7 hour detour.

This is great.  It hits the nail on the head.  Technology has come so far in the last 30 years that we are now going back to big and bulky, non-portable, computers.  Sure, its neat…but do we need a $10,000 coffee table?  Could you imagine the accessories that would be available.  Now introducing, the Microsoft Banzai Centerpiece.

Video: Parody of Microsoft Surface

Better yet, do you A|B test? If so, why not? You should be. You should be continuously testing. Whether it be as simple as a variation in a headline or whether you simply change a an image on a landing page. You will be surprised to find out that some enhancements or ideas that you think are the greatest thing since sliced bread will turn out to be hurting your site performance. If you are an e-commerce site, you should be without a doubt testing as your business depends on the customer being able to complete a transaction.

What is A|B testing you may ask. It is a simple test of 2 variables to see which performs better. Your metrics for success could be different depending on what you are going after. If you are trying to increase your mailing list size, obviously the number of email addresses you collect will be your metric of choice. On the other hand, if you are attempting to decrease your checkout abandonment rate, you metric could be a conversion number of those customers who entered checkout over those customers who completed checkout. There are further variations on this which is known as multivariate testing. This is a test of more than one variable on a particular page. A little bit more difficult to test and measure, but it allows you to get the most out of a test.

The information you gather from these test results will be invaluable. It is a great study in customer behavior and a great way to introduce usability testing to your business. The key to everything is you must determine the items that you feel will be actionable for each test. No sense in testing something and not doing something about it.

Here are some ideas to get you started…

• Landing Page headline
• Color/location/size of an “add to cart” button
• Location of search
• Location of a newsletter signup
• font color/size used on your pages
• Checkout process (for e-commerce sites)

There is so much more to take into consideration before you begin testing. I suggest thinking about what aspects of your website you can test and how it might apply to the type of site you maintain. I’ll try to add more as time goes on. Start with some focus groups or usability studies. Get some of your customers together to talk about the challenges they face on a daily basis. Not able to reach out to your local customers, try surveying them.