I recently bought a domain name for a client from GoDaddy. To sum the experience up in 2 words: Turd Sandwich. The experience was horrible! 

All I wanted to buy was a single domain name for a single year, but I had to wade through page after page of offers and bright red text and buttons demanding I add other products or services to my order because of the amazing discounts they were offering.  On each new page I came to, I had to figure out what it was they were trying to sell me on and then search diligently for the “no thanks, please continue” button.  Even when I was finally able to get to the check out page, GoDaddy had automatically added the renewal of two domain names I already own to my cart.  No thanks!  By the time I clicked the final “submit” button, I was ready to pull my hair out!

The lesson learned?  User experience matters.

Here are 5 important lessons on how to improve your site’s usability and make your website a pleasant experience for your user. 

1. Start with a plan.  

Before you type a single line of code or put a pixel on the screen, plan out what you want that user experience to be like.  Get out a piece of paper or use a Word document to create wireframes of the experience.  Will your checkout process have 2 screens or 3?  Should your user have to register before they add to their cart or only when they go to check out? 

Drawing out the basic framework of your site can bring up user experience questions early on in the process and can help you make the best decisions for your site.  It also helps you stick with the vision and goals of your company. 

2. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Maybe the shopping cart solution you’re using allows you to display up pop-ups for related products and accessories, but that doesn’t mean you should do it.  Think about and research the type of marketing or experience you want to set up for your website and ask the important questions like: Does this feature add value to the experience?  Does this distract the user from the desired action I want from them?  Is this feature in-line with the rest of our business model and core values?

Offers are great on websites when they help your customers.  Everyone loves to save money and know they are getting a good deal.  But on GoDaddy’s site, I counted 18 different areas where they to cross-sell, over-sell, or up-sell me on some sort of additional service or feature that I absolutely had no intention of buying. 

3. Make it simple.

Make your site simple and intuitive.  A shopping cart experience shouldn’t be any longer than 3 of 4 screens once the user has the products in his cart.  Don’t drag out the experience by giving him too many hoops to jump through or he might give up entirely.

It’s a good idea to remind your customer of the related products you offer, but make sure to do these in a way that supplements the core task that is taking place.  Make these product links available to the user, but don’t slow down the check out process.  If the user is enticed, he will click.  Otherwise, let your customer buy the product and be on his way.

4. Make the next step the obvious one.

When your customer is going to make a purchase on your website, make the next step in the process visually the most obvious one.  On your product page, make your “Add to Cart” button the one that stands out the most.  On your shopping cart page, make the “Check Out” button red or some bright color to draw attention to it.   Don’t make the user hunt around for the right button to click, make it easy for them to buy your product. 

On GoDaddy’s website, I was inundated with orange buttons: search for another domain name, add another item to my cart, continue to registration, 6 buttons in total!  All I wanted to do was check out, but it took me a minute or so to figure out which orange button I was supposed to click that would get me out of their ordering screen hell.  

5. Feedback, feedback, feedback.

If you are designing a new site around a specific group of users, bring them into the conversation.  If you’re planning a new website, what features and functionality would provide value for them?  Show them your wireframes for the site and ask if they have any feedback on the flow of the site.  Does it make sense to consolidate some of the steps into a single step?  What is the best way to lay out the screen so that it’s obvious to the user where they need to go next? 

Even once your site is designed, solicit feedback from users.  How is the site working?  Are there areas that aren’t intuitive that might need to be re-worked?  Are there tools or resources that might make the site more valuable?  What frustrations are they running into when they go to make a purchase or interact with your website?

What has been your user experience on the web?  Which sites have frustrated you and which sites have gotten it right?  Share your thoughts below.