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Jared M. SpoolUser Interface Engineering

Revealing Design Treasures from The Amazon

On its surface, Amazon.com just seems like a large e-

commerce site, albeit a successful one. Its design isn’t flashy, nor

is it much to write home about. But deep within its pages are hidden secrets—secrets that every designer should know

about.

If one looks closely at what the team at Amazon has built, it’s

filled with innovative functionality and clever designs, all of

which creates a delightful experience for its users and directly produces regular profits for its shareholders. But not all is

perfect. Some design changes in the last few years have not been the success that the team had hoped for. Amazon’s

exceptional qualities and imperfections are critical knowledge

for any designer that wants to dig deep into what makes the site tick.

© Copyright 2009, User Interface Engineering. All Rights Reserved.

Jared M. SpoolFounding Principal

If you’ve ever seen Jared speak

about usability, you know that he’s probably the most effective,

knowledgeable communicator on

the subject today. What you probably don’t know is he has

guided the research agenda and built User Interface Engineering into

the largest research organization of

its kind in the world. He’s been working in the field of usability and

design since 1978, before the term “usability” was ever associated with

computers.

Jared spends his time working with the research teams at the company,

helps clients understand how to solve their design problems, explains

to reporters and industry analysts

what the current state of design is all about, and is a top-rated speaker

at more than 20 conferences every year. He is also the conference chair

and keynote speaker at the annual

User Interface Conference, is on the faculty of the Tufts University

Gordon Institute, and manages to squeeze in a fair amount of writing

time.

User Interface Engineering

User Interface Engineering is a

leading research, training, and consulting firm specializing in web

site and product usability. With our

in-depth research findings based on user observation, we empower

development teams to create usable web sites that increase

customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Jared M. Spool@jmspool

#JaredRamblesOnAndOnAndOnAndOn

Amazon

Revealing Design Treasures from the Amazon User Interface Engineering - www.uie.com

© Copyright 2009, User Interface Engineering. All Rights Reserved. 1

Amazon

Amazon



Visitors in December, 2008:

Rank of all websites in traffic: 8

Revenue in 2008:

Increase over 2007: 29%



2008 Foresee Customer Satisfaction Rating:

Rank in customer satisfaction ratings: 3

Unique Customers Since Launch:

Ranking in World Population: 17



Orders placed in 2008:

Orders processed every second: 24

Amazon



Amazon

Amazon



Amazon Treasure #1

Amazon



Amazon

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows



Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Amazon



Amazon

Caution



Target



Barnes & Noble (BN.com)

Walmart.com

Harry Potter 7 Reviews One Month after Release

Amazon.com

Target.com

Harry Potter 7 Reviews One Month after Release



Ratio of Reviewers to Purchasers:

Purchases required for 20 reviews: 26,000

Viewers required at 2% conversion rate: 1,300,000

Treasure #1:

Engage Through Content

User commentary enhances the experience

Brings an air of authenticity to the content

Putting in a system to “bubble up” the most interesting or useful content can dramatically improve the experience

Only a small percentage of visitors will participate

Amazon has millions of visitors a day. Do you?

You need to ensure you’ll have the traffic to make this happen



Amazon Treasure #2

Amazon



Amazon

Amazon



Caution

Amazon



Amazon

Amazon



Amazon

If every customer spent $5 more per order,it would make Amazon an additional



Amazon

Amazon



Amazon

Treasure #2:

Don’t Fear New Ideas

Experimenting with new ideas is a critical part of innovation

Risk averse organizations produce crap

Sometimes experiments don’t quite turn out the way you expect

Amazon is very comfortable with ideas not catching on

They have clear metrics of success (orders, revenue)

Risk is critical, but you have to minimize it at every chance



Amazon Treasure #3

Amazon



Amazon

Amazon



Amazon

Amazon’s Security Levels

Level 0: Amazon doesn’t know who you are (no cookie)

Level 1: Amazon knows you from a cookie

It’s how they know what books to recommend or if you’re a 1-click customer

Level 2: Amazon wants to reveal something only you should know

Such as your address or shipping history



Amazon

Goal Time vs. Tool Time

Goal Time: When the user is improving the outcome of the experience

When the user is considering the product they wish to purchase

Tool Time: When the user is moving forward without any improvement in the outcome of the experience

When the user is struggling with the security system

When the user is dealing with redesigned elements



Amazon

Amazon



Amazon

Facebook



Facebook

Amazon



Amazon

Amazon



Amazon 2007 NavigationPhase-In Plan

Phase 1: Non-cookied visitors - 5,000 per day

Phase II: Non-cookied visitors - 1 per every 5

Phase III: Cookied customers - 5,000 per day

Phase IV: Cookied customers - 1 per every 5

Phase V: Everyone

Total time: 12 weeks

Caution



Items Easy To Find with Search

The Princess Bride

Books by Tom Clancy

Movies with Téa Leoni

A Canon SD1100

Mario Kart for the Wii

Items Difficult to Find with Search

The first Tom Clancy book featuring Jack Ryan

An inexpensive, but high quality SLR camera

A good toy for my six-year-old niece

Novels written by Nobel Prize for Literature winners



Amazon

Amazon



CD Baby

UMass Amherst



BLS.gov

Westlaw



Treasure #3:

Eliminate Tool Time

Decreasing tool time increases user satisfaction

By shortening steps and removing obstacles, users are happier

Redesigns create massive tool time for users

Avoid redesigns completely by making all changes small and incremental

Not all use cases are the same

Search works on Amazon because of their data

Match functions to your use cases, not the other way around

Amazon Treasure #4



Apple



BestBuy

Target



Site

}Amazon’s “Negative Operating Cycle”

Amazon turns its inventory every 20 days

Best Buy turns its inventory every 74 days

Standard retail payment terms: 45 days

Best

Buy

Day0 44 74 76

ProductOrdered

ProductPaid For

CustomerBuys

CustomerPays

Cash Debt

}

Am

azon 20 22 44

ProductOrdered

ProductPaid For

CustomerBuys

CustomerPays

Cash FloatDay0



Treasure #4:

Never Forget the Business

Amazon’s business model is deliberately designed

The site is designed to fit the business

You have to start with a great business model to produce a great experience

Amazon



Amazon

Amazon



Revealing Treasures from The Amazon

Engage your users by delivering great content

Don’t fear trying out new ideas

Eliminate while delivering confidence

Never forget the business

Caution is warranted

Be careful when emulating features

Some experiments don’t pan out

Not all use cases are equal

More Info from User Interface Engineering

Newsletter: UIEtips (FREE)

UIE Virtual Seminars

Reports

Conferences:UIE Roadshow: Seattle, Denver, and DCUser Interface Conference: www.uiconf.com

Blog: www.uie.com/brainsparks

Site: www.uie.com



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