Phase 7: Evaluate & Maintain

    Overview
Evaluating Your Site
    Planning For Maintenance

The success of a site depends on meeting stated goals - increased traffic, increased online sales, decreased calls to customer service, fewer complaints, and so on. Evaluation methods range from direct feedback (phone or email) to automated tracking systems (using unique user IDs). Determining how successful a site is depends on getting both quantitative and qualitative data. Many companies launch a site and then have no basis for determining success. It is difficult to obtain and analyze data, and reach measurable results. It takes planning and expertise. Determine what methods you will be utilizing during the evaluation period, how you will track and report the results, and how those methods will be utilized on an ongoing basis throughout the project's lifecycle.

Intranets and Evaluation

Intranets offer a unique set of circumstances favorable to ongoing evaluation. Most web site initiatives are smaller projects with specific goals. The audience for the site is targeted - people whom you work with. Take advantage of the iterative development cycles, and the ease of gathering targeted test subjects for usability tests and interviews. Evaluation of internal company sites should also happen in stages throughout the development process. Because you have direct access to your target audience, test and interview as often as possible to evaluate, get feedback and confirm site functionality, information design and labeling.

Obtaining User Feedback
There are many methods of obtaining data directly from users. Having a well placed feedback button or access to a 1-800 number to customer service allows the customer to feel as if they can freely interact with the company.

• email
• customer service calls,
• interviews
• surveys,
• usability tests and
• group discussions

All methods are effective, and there is no one solution we recommend. We do however recommend gathering information covering a wide range of topics. Content, usability, navigation, ordering, customer service, search functionality, user log-in and registration - these cover all aspects of development from the user's perspective. Sometimes feedback can be automated, such as with OnlineOpinion an application that gathers ratings and data on a page by page basis. Companies that actively seek feedback from their customer base are more likely to improve services, beat their competition and provide a streamlined experience to their users - because they are listening. And taking action.

OnlineOpinion (www.opinionlab.com) is used by many high-end corporations to help determine which areas of their sites are successful and why. It is a hidden feature on each site page, activating when a customer rolls over the "+" icon.

Tabs or no Tabs?

When Amazon.com launched its new interface (changing from tabs to a directory structure) last year, they tested the new design out on actual users to determine if usability and sales increased or decreased with the new structure. They selected specific servers for their testing and watched as their user base struggled and then proceeded to master the new interface. Before actually changing the interface to their entire audience base, Amazon.com sent out a letter in advance explaining the change, why the change was being made and what the benefits would be to the customer. This allowed their audience to buy into the change beforehand, instead of being shocked and irritated by the redesign once it was live. Result: Informed customers are happier customers although everyone dislikes change.

Monitoring Logs/User Tracking

Many companies spend tens of thousands of dollars analyzing server logs and purchasing software packages to determine user habits and patterns. Many companies rely on user logs to monitor who is coming to their site (and from where), how long they are on the site, what major paths they take, and where they usually end a session (if logged in.) Very few companies actually know what to do with the user logs. Software packages range from a low-cost basic analysis of hits and domain names to detailed user tracking and reporting methods in web-based (server-side) software. As effective reporting becomes more and more important to businesses with a web component, the number of sophisticated software packages has increased. Often termed "Business Intelligence," reporting plays a significant role in proving the value of the web component to the rest of the business. There are a wide variety of vendors available, and picking one that meets your cost, time and business requirements can be arduous. Identifying the appropriate product, however, must be done; if you don't have the expertise to do this in-house, there are a variety of third-party integration companies that can provide you with this expertise.

Data is only valuable if it is analyzed. Start by determining what kind of information would be the most valuable. Are you tracking hits to your site? Are you tracking spikes in traffic due to outside marketing and PR? Are you trying to determine how successful purchasing paths are, or how a user is able to navigate through an online learning module? Once you have established the information you would like to track, do some research and decide if user logs yield the best results. Most likely you will need to pair user logs with actual customer interviews and usability studies to determine why the user made certain decisions or quit out of a session.

Webtrends.com offers easy to read results to monitor your traffic on a minute by minute or day to day analysis.

Implementing Results
Customer statistics are helpful in determining ongoing strategies to meet specific needs. By understanding the habits and demographics of your user base, you can provide better service to those individuals. Statistical data is useful, however it takes quite a bit of experience in order to properly decipher and analyze the information. Simple logic can help to determine what elements of the site are effective. Many times, poor messaging, confusing interface design and unclear paths towards primary and secondary actions result in lost customers.

Determine Primary Action

Some sites try to be 'everything to everybody'. They end up being 'nothing to nobody'. Users need to be directed towards specific tasks. A web site needs to be useful and simple to use. At one company, it was established through logs and feedback that users went to the online ordering page as their primary action. The company took heed and moved the log-in screen from 2 levels down to the homepage - resulting in a 30% increase in customer orders over a 5-week period.

Planning For Maintenance >>

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

This original content was created for the Macromedia Techniques Site.
© 1995-2001 Macromedia, Inc.