Only When the Words Outdo the Silence

I’ve noticed more sites addressing visitors directly with language that likely comes out of their analytics package.  I like what KBB has done with their most recent redesign in asking users questions that help them drill down to what they’d like to accomplish.  Direct, simple, clear. Something similar occurs on the Convio website with the My Organization Needs to.. section.  KBB’s previous design had a lot going on – see Google’s cached version of the site.

Update: Cached version of this page is outdated, but…it did work at one point.  I promise.  And, another thought(s) to add on:

• It’s like they decided to turn their page into one of those chat pop-ups – “Hi. We’re here.  Yes, we’re talking to you.  How can we help?”
• Not only is it useful, but personal

I’ve noticed sites are slowly starting to add a navigation section aimed at action – take a peek at the navigation footer over at Hitwise.  When people hit the bottom of the page, perhaps after they’ve read the above-the-fold information and haven’t found the info they were looking for, they’ll notice a section that a) explicitly addresses them, “I”, making it a bit more personal and b) the actions included in this section are likely based off of keyword data from their analytics package which means the links function as appropriate calls-to-action.  Or, let’s take the other angle and say the “I Want to…” links aren’t based on any sort of data.  Well, then it should be!  If you have an internal site search engine, you’d be apt to go their first and see what people cannot find on your site.  Then, boom, turn it into a call to action.

Written on September 26, 2008

There’s a scene in the HBO sitcom Lucky Louie where the main character Louie is going to apply to flight school.  He heads down to the library to make a copy of a document and, once finished with the difficult task of pressing Copy, ship out the application – flight school there he goes.  However, when he gets to the library, he finds out the copy machine isn’t working.  Louie says screw it, that’s too much effort.  He doesn’t apply to Flight School.  That does not happen in real life, does it?  It does, sorta…

Who else out there has stumbled upon an interesting website, your finger kicks into high-gear, click, click, click, you notice a mouth watering link within the website, click, click, boom!  The last click takes you to a form.  You need to fill out a form to join the website (read the information, play the game).  Form?  The arrow on your screen darts up to the StumbleUpon extension and you’re whisked away to the world wide web once again.  No flight school for me.

Well, according to recently released research from Google on Federated Login:

when users are presented with a traditional signup page that asks for your E-mail, password and password confirmation, it is quite common for 30% – 50% of users to not finish the process.

In other words, the words of Michael Jackson, you are not alone.  Google, please count me among that 50% (I already know you’re tracking my behavior anyway, so I probably don’t need to tell you that).

I know what you’re thinking, “Wait a minute, so what you’re telling me is that I’m losing customers because of a measly form?”  So it would seem, particularly because it asks for e-mail, password, and password confirmation.  Ring a bell?

And, “What the heck is Federated Login?  How will it affect my business?”  Well, let’s take a real world example to explain the basic premise of Federated Login.

According to the OpenID website, “OpenID eliminates the need for multiple usernames across different websites, simplifying your online experience…OpenID can stay with you, no matter which Provider you move to…For businesses, this means a lower cost of password and account management, while drawing new web traffic. OpenID lowers user frustration by letting users have control of their login.”  Federated login is the elimination of the need for multiple usernames across different websites. In this example, OpenID is merely one protocol currently in use that eliminates this need across a number of websites.

Rather than continuously creating more and more accounts across numerous e-commerce websites, for example, all you would need to do in order to log in is provide your email and your identity would then be validated and the appropriate information would be provided to the website.  Google has been testing user interfaces similar to those found on Buy.com:


The report on Federated Login states that federated login has been the “holy grail” of the identity community, but has failed to find a model that:

• is simple for end users
• had a reasonable trust model between the the website and the entity that will identify you to the website

The study is a testament to the potential that lies ahead for the online world – specifically the business side of the online world – in terms of usability. Equally, businesses with a presence on the internet should also look to this study as more evidence that while increasing rankings and traffic is absolutely necessary to accomplishing your goals, once that traffic hits your website it needs to be usable and effective.