E-Commerce by Design

Abstract

Designing for electronic commerce poses a new set of challenges for usability professionals. At one level, it is a macroergonomic problem that touches a variety of systems, organizations, processes, interfaces between companies and to customers, and cultural assumptions and social institutions. It is complex even at the interface between customers and companies selling to them as the needs of customers, sales staff, corporate public relations and branding interests, and others need to be balanced against one another. The usability of a given electronic interface for customers is going to be influenced by the access device, a customer's needs (e.g., their shopping goals), past shopping experiences and habits, their experience with the Web, and the shopping context. Unfortunately, the research supporting design is limited. This paper will review the evolution of one e-commerce site, issues that have arisen in the course of that evolution, and approaches to resolving the issues.