Friday, May 6, 2011

A Call To Action!

This article serves as a series of afterthoughts from a fantastic article written by, David Hamill at UXBooth.com and how it relates to the e-commerce world. http://www.uxbooth.com/blog/good-call-to-action-buttons/


When it comes to the e-commerce world, gaining (and holding) the attention of the user is an absolute must! There is a service to be offered, a product to fall in love with, or a featured ‘something’ that must be had. Through a well formed call to action strategy, the user’s experience can and will be a great one!


As a designer, it is easy to think that the experience you’ve created is a great one and that others will surely see it the same way. However, this could not be more far from the truth. It takes careful planning to ensure that even the most visually attractive designs will provide the user with a clear path as well as a lucrative one. Why would the user have to work to get your business? It most definitely should the other way around.


So, what is a ‘call to action exactly’ in the web design world? Hamill really hits the nail on the head when talking about designers prioritizing tasks: “You need to remove any friction that slows the user’s progress.” This is a perfect explanation for what a well-formed call to action strategy can do. It is all about making the user’s experience feel fluid. The call to action should be clear and should feel intuitive to the user. The more the user has to work for your products and service the more they will feel uncomfortable with the experience.


Hamill brings many points to the table when talking about prioritizing your calls to action. Wording, color, positioning, and size all play a role. Most of his examples and reasoning are dead on. Let’s take a look at a few of them and see how they react in the e-commerce world.


Wording
Hamill’s main point here emphasizes how important it is to use verbs as the first word in an action item.
The task at hand should be short and sweet. This is definitely not an area to try and think outside of the box. It hits hard in the e-commerce world, especially when dealing with the checkout process. ‘Add to Shopping Cart,’ ‘Checkout,’ or ‘Create New Account’ are a few examples. The user should never have to guess what a button is going to do for them and should always have a clear path to the next step.


Positioning
Positioning is a key element of design as a whole.
So, it is no surprise when it can greatly influence your call to action. One of my personal biggest pet peeves involves having to search for the checkout/purchase button when I am ready to purchase something on the web. Hamill provides a very similar example using the Virgin Mobile Money site. There is an ‘Apply Online’ button that appears at the top of the page. It is in plain sight for the user right from the get go. However, once you continue scrolling down the page it disappears. Now, this is not the end of the world by any means for the user. If they want to apply, they will simply scroll back towards the top and hit the appropriate button. However, this causes friction. It seems so simple, but small annoyances such as this will definitely add up over time! If the information needed falls below the design fold, you should always provide a simple way to back to the original call to action. It’s all about removing that friction!


Color

What a wonderful thing color truly can be! First and foremost, never underestimate the power that color can bring to design. Hamill gives one specific point about color use when regarding call to action buttons: “ It’s not always necessary to reserve a color solely for your call-to-action button.” This is one idea I strongly disagree with. A call to action item is just that, a call to action for the user. They are emphasized for a reason. Let them shine! The color being used should stand out to the user in a positive way. Don’t be afraid to use bright or vivid colors for these items. The user will be able to spot your call to action easily and will do so subconsciously in some cases. This all goes back to the idea of having a fluid user experience. Help the user’s eyes move towards action items in this way.


With that being said, I do believe that a second color choice can and should definitely be made for pages that have more than one call to action. These should be prioritized depending on the importance of each item. A subtle way of achieving this importance is with size…


Size

Hamill uses a great example from the Twitter homepage referring to a page that has more than one action item. Not all calls to action are going to carry the same priority. It can indeed be confusing with several action items that are the same size, color, etc. For this reason, size can play a huge role in guiding the user. At the same time though, it is imperative that the sizing isn’t out of control. There is nothing worse than a giant button over-shadowing the rest of the design.


Creating a well-formed design that provides a seamless user experience is a very difficult task, even for the most seasoned design professionals. However, with the proper use of call to action items, you can help guide the user through a seamless and fluid experience.

32 comments:

  1. This is a very insightful article regarding a critical aspect to every eCommerce site. I see so many instances where the owners or stakeholders to a business feel they have an attractive website with good traffic, but they aren't seeing the sales/conversions they believe they should be getting.

    For example, a while back I was brought in to do a site re-design for an international tea company. This project included an audit of their eCommerce platform. The company realized they had some graphical design issues that may have turned people away, but what they didn't realize was the extent of the site's user experience and shopping process that was lacking or in very poor condition.

    The first thing I dove into was the site's analytics. I wanted to see what was going on when a user hit the site (as well as learn how they were entering the site). I found three red flags: 1) High Bounce Rate, 2) Many Occurrences of Shopping Cart Abandonment, 3) Some deep browsing, but no goal attainment.

    I then turned to the site itself to take a walk-thru of the shopping section (I would analyze other potential landing pages, such as the homepage and other non-shopping pages, later). In my experience, a site exhibiting significant shopping cart abandonment may have some structural flaws that when fixed could provide a nice, quick bump in conversions and sales (thereby making the client very happy with some immediate satisfaction). I put myself in the shoes of the causual online shopper visiting the online store for the first time. I couldn't believe what I found....

    When I placed an item in the shopping cart, the subsequent page presented me with options to either "continue shopping" or "checkout". If I selected the former, I was taken back to the previous product page. I could then jump to another product page and select an additional item for purchase. After browsing a few more product pages, I decided that I wanted to finalize my order with what I had in the cart. I started looking for either a "checkout" button or a "view cart" button. Neither was to be found! I thought to myself, "This can't be right. There has to be a way to get back to the checkout pages from here." Nope. A customer had no way of making a purchase unless they pulled up their browser history to find the checkout page they had been on. And even then, they were presented with a confusing browser notification to resend data (which would duplicate the item in the cart if "yes" were selected).

    After finishing my assessment, I learned that their site not only lacked proper calls to action (and properly designed calls to action) as discussed in this article, but they lacked ANY calls to action. Hamill talks about removing friction that could slow a user's progress... well, this site didn't just present friction, it contained many washed out roads and other hazards impeding a user's journey to completing an order. On the bright side, many of the identified site issues have been fixed and they are experiencing a 400% increase in sales over last year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Josh, what a great real world example. It is amazing what even a small amount of user testing can do for a site's usability and accessibility. It is far to easy to sit back and expect users to learn your navigation, layout, tools, etc. It's just as easy for the user to hit the back button and find the next best thing!

    Thanks for the response!

    ReplyDelete

  3. Your blog is very informative, finally, I found exactly what I want. Paypal is an excellent service for online payments but lots of its users confront issues while they access Paypal. If you want to resolve your problems then must visit telefoonnummer Paypal Nederland.

    ReplyDelete

  4. Your blog is very informative and interesting to read, finally, I found exactly what I searching for. There are lots of users of Macfee antivirus in the world because of its features and easy interface. If you want to explore more interesting facts about Mcafee antivirus or want to resolve your technical issues then must visit ondersteuning voor Mcafee Nederland.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a group of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche.

    토토사이트
    온라인카지노
    파워볼사이트

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your content are very helpful and knowledgeable. Thank you so much for sharing with us. Do My Online Class For Me my services.

    ReplyDelete
  7. My friend deals with E-commerce on daily basis and is quite familiar with the way things should be presented and all. I think so she will appreciate your blog as well because it is quite well written. She has earned so much from this experience of hers that whenever I run short of money she willingly Pay for Dissertation services that I’m taking.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yes! This content is very good and very informative.Sharing this blog, you have made it easier for me to research the Law Essay Writing Service Uk. for my Academics Service

    ReplyDelete
  9. Keeping it simple, Call to action is usually the part of a web page, advertisement, or content that encourages the audience to do something. Call to action is mostly used in landing pages for web designing.
    Buy Dissertation Online .

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is very useful article. I will connect it back to your site though?
    Nice post! This is a very nice blog that I will definitively come back to more times this year! Thanks for informative post...
    일본야동

    ReplyDelete
  11. Have never met an exclusive and nice way that have been contributing with all the great and nice way that have been determined out here.
    Night service in Delhi

    ReplyDelete
  12. Good product at a reasonable price with speedy delivery, roseland furniture discount code Quick delivery service, well packed, easy to assemble.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nice ! This is a very useful post for us. This article is clear and with lots of useful information. I will definitely share it. Mahindra 265

    ReplyDelete
  14. You have explained one of the most important points. thanks for it.
    Tata 1109

    ReplyDelete
  15. I'm not an Internet reader, but I really like your site. Come on! I'll bookmark your site so I can come back later. Good luck.

    토토사이트링크
    토토사이트
    바카라사이트
    온라인카지노
    토토
    토토사이트

    ReplyDelete
  16. Showing client surveys is an extraordinary method for laying out friendly evidence tax check car. It provides new website so visiting your site now.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Magnificent correspondence all through, Best Discount code site,
    summer vacation,
    london travel guide,
    Emporio Armani,
    Beach Vacations,
    Fashion Discount code,
    Beauty Discount code extremely clear directions and really speedy reactions. An extremely sure encounter.

    ReplyDelete
  18. You should always provide a simple way to back to the original call to action. It’s all about removing that friction. Thanks for sharing this blog. Now it's time to avail Custom Soap Boxes for more information.


    ReplyDelete
  19. To the best of our data, this study is the primary again to} establish gambling elements related with the level of adolescent drawback gambling in 카지노사이트.online Korean adolescents using national data. Europe accounts for the most important market share and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 12% over the forecast interval. Multiple European nations, including Italy, Malta, France, Spain, and Germany, have legalized gambling, contributing to this growth. The availability of high-speed internet, the rising reputation of on-line casinos, and the increasing use of smartphones are different market development drivers. In addition, the Gaming Act of 2005 imposed by the UKGC (U.K. Gambling Commission) has made it possible for enterprises to advertise their gambling web sites, which helps to increase the regional market.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thanks for reading this. I really like your article keep posting, If you are Interested in medical billing, visit GreenSense Billing, for outsourced medical billing services. revenue cycle management services and best credentials services.

    ReplyDelete
  21. The bomber jacket is a timeless piece that has made a comeback in recent years. Its versatility and comfort make it a must-have in any wardrobe. Whether dressed up or dressed down, this jacket adds a touch of edgy cool to any outfit. I love the range of styles available, from classic leather to trendy prints. It's a great investment that will never go out of style

    ReplyDelete
  22. The best app design companies are truly exceptional! Their creativity, attention to detail, and user-centered approach result in stunning and intuitive app designs that set them apart. Highly recommended for outstanding app experiences!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Printable coloring pages are a brilliant find! My kids stay entertained and their creativity blossoms. Thanks for sharing this excellent resource!

    ReplyDelete
  24. In-home senior assistance offers personalized care and companionship, enhancing quality of life with dignity and comfort. It's heartening to see such crucial support tailored to individual needs. Truly invaluable service!

    ReplyDelete
  25. This article insightfully highlights the significance of effective calls to action (CTAs) in marketing, similar to how well-designed stitch and angel coloring pages capture attention. It clearly demonstrates how CTAs can guide customers and improve conversion rates. A must-read for those looking to refine their marketing tactics with impactful CTAs.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thanks for sharing the best information and suggestions, it is very nice and very useful to us. I appreciate the work that you have shared in this post. Keep sharing these types of articles here.Wedding vendors in Uttar Pradesh

    ReplyDelete
  27. The Holland Sweet Puff is a traditional smoking pipe known for its distinctive design and sweet, mellow smoking experience. Made from high-quality glass, it features a compact and portable design, making it convenient for use on the go. The pipe is typically used for smoking herbs or tobacco, and its unique construction allows for smooth, flavorful draws.

    The "sweet puff" name comes from the gentle, sweet aftertaste often associated with its use, making it a popular choice among enthusiasts. Easy to clean and maintain, the Holland Sweet Puffcombines functionality with a classic aesthetic, appealing to both beginners and experienced users. Its durability and timeless design ensure it remains a favored piece in any collection.

    ReplyDelete
  28. All the posts on your website are great. And I liked your post very much. I got to know something new from this post. Thank you for sharing your post with us
    Tata Yodha Price

    ReplyDelete
  29. Nice blog thanks for sharing it. The content is easy to understand

    Mahindra 265 Price

    ReplyDelete
  30. Each post focuses on current causes that need attention and presents concrete ways to get involved—whether through volunteering, advocacy, or small everyday actions that can create ripple effects. By spotlighting individuals and organizations making an impact, A Call to Action! also serves as a reminder that collective efforts can bring about real change.
    oficina de quiebras cerca de mí

    ReplyDelete