Web Site Usability: A Designer's Guide
A fascinating, highly surprising study of the way people actually look for information at a Website.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Web Site Usability: A Designer's Guide
Chapter 5: The Difficulty of Comparisons
Overview
Making comparisons is tougher than we thought! Since most web sites try, at least indirectly, to sell products, we expected the sites to help users make decisions. But after watching users try to answer comparative questions, it seems that most sites are not designed to help people compare information.
We asked users to answer comparison questions at each site. These required them to find information in two or more places. For example, we asked users to find the best convertible for under $20,000. They had to research all the models.
Users found these questions much harder than the non-comparison questions. We weren't surprised by this after all, comparison questions require at least twice as much work. We were surprised, however, by the significance of the difference. After each question, users rated their energy level. The highest energy level reported after a comparison question was lower than the lowest energy level they reported after a non-comparison question.
How Users Handled Comparisons
Users clearly struggled with comparisons. This was most evident in the strategies they used.
Remembering
Some users would try to rely on their memories to help them compare information. They'd find one option, try to remember the salient points, then find another option. We saw a lot of flipping back and forth between the options, and a lot of inaccurate answers. Not surprisingly, human memory proved to be quite fallible.
Writing Things Down
Repeatedly, we saw users write down one piece of information and then go to another...
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