Short Informal Survey - Feedback Appreciated

[dduardo]

I would appreciate any type of feedback to this short informal survey.

1. True or False: Before visiting ecommerce sites do you have a preconcived idea on what you are going to purchase?

2. On ecommerce sites which do you use more often: Category Navigation or Search?

3. True or False: Would you find it useful to do multi-item searches concurrently on ecommerce sites?

4. Where do you prefer navigation controls on a website: Left, Center or Right?

5. On ecommerce sites do you spend time browsing or do you just buy what you need and leave?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

1. True
2 Search
3 False
4 left? [no particular preference]
5 Get what I need and leave

 

[Monique]

1. true
2. both*
3. false
4. left
5. both*

If I browse, I use the category navigation
If I have a specific idea, I use search

 

[jma2001]

1. True or False: Before visiting ecommerce sites do you have a preconcived idea on what you are going to purchase?

Almost always. The one big exception is Amazon.com, I sometimes spend hours browsing the 'related' links and Listmania lists looking for interesting books. The customer reviews are fun to read and add a lot of entertainment value to the site.

2. On ecommerce sites which do you use more often: Category Navigation or Search?

Search, by far. Category navigation is only useful when the categories are narrow enough to contain a manageable amount of items. If a category has 100+ items in it, and I have to do a search anyway to find what I am looking for, then what use is it?

3. True or False: Would you find it useful to do multi-item searches concurrently on ecommerce sites?

Do you mean searching for multiple items on the same site, or searching for the same item across multiple sites (like a best price search)?

4. Where do you prefer navigation controls on a website: Left, Center or Right?

Left, only because that is the established standard.

5. On ecommerce sites do you spend time browsing or do you just buy what you need and leave?

I only browse extensively on Amazon.com, their design really encourages browsing, as I mentioned earlier.

Are you familar with Jakob Nielsen and useit.com? You should definitely check it out if you are interested in e-commerce usability. He addresses all of the questions you have raised here.

 

[dduardo]

jma2001, thanks for the link.

By concurrent multi-item searches I mean: If you have a list of items you need (i.e. Grocercy List) you can just type all those items into one big form and the site will search for all the products at once and display each search result in a different tab rather than having to search for each item individually.

 

[BobG]

1. True - Before visiting ecommerce sites do you have a preconcived idea on what you are going to purchase?

2. Search On ecommerce sites which do you use more often: Category Navigation or Search?

3. False Would you find it useful to do multi-item searches concurrently on ecommerce sites?

4. Left Where do you prefer navigation controls on a website: Left, Center or Right?

5. Browse On ecommerce sites do you spend time browsing or do you just buy what you need and leave?

 

[Evo]

1. True - Before visiting ecommerce sites do you have a preconcived idea on what you are going to purchase?

2. Search On ecommerce sites which do you use more often: Category Navigation or Search? (but this is only because I usually can't easily or quickly find what I am looking for under category)

3. False Would you find it useful to do multi-item searches concurrently on ecommerce sites?

4. Left Where do you prefer navigation controls on a website: Left, Center or Right?

5. Browse On ecommerce sites do you spend time browsing or do you just buy what you need and leave?

 

[jma2001]

By concurrent multi-item searches I mean: If you have a list of items you need (i.e. Grocercy List) you can just type all those items into one big form and the site will search for all the products at once and display each search result in a different tab rather than having to search for each item individually.

That sounds potentially confusing, you would need to do usability testing to make something like that work. That's another subject that Jakob Nielsen discusses extensively on his site.

 

[brewnog]

Same as Ivan.

 

[Moonbear]

I would appreciate any type of feedback to this short informal survey.

1. True or False: Before visiting ecommerce sites do you have a preconcived idea on what you are going to purchase?

True

2. On ecommerce sites which do you use more often: Category Navigation or Search?

Category Navigation (unless I can't find the categories on the first page, then I search).

3. True or False: Would you find it useful to do multi-item searches concurrently on ecommerce sites?

False

4. Where do you prefer navigation controls on a website: Left, Center or Right?

Right, but as long as they are easily found, it's not a strong preference.

5. On ecommerce sites do you spend time browsing or do you just buy what you need and leave?

Usually buy what I need and leave, but sometimes do some browsing after I find what I was looking for in the first place.

Hey, dduardo, you should cross-reference answers on this thread so you don't bother including data from the 31% of PFers who we know lie on surveys.

 

[Knavish]

True
Search
False (actually indifferent)
Left
Buy and leave

 

[faust9]

False---I can spend hours on Amazon or Digi-key looking for something
Search
False
Left---Either corner really
Browse

 

[mattmns]

True - I usually have an idea of what I want.
Both - Depends on if I am looking for a certain specific book, or just for good books on a certain subject
Unsure - Depends on how well designed it was.
Left
Browse

 

[honestrosewater]

1. True
2. Search
3. True
4. Center
5. Browse

http://www.usability.gov/ Yeah, it's the gov, but this is an exception ;) Edit: Oh, I can't resist- if you are looking for ideas, cssvault is fabulous.

 

[Kerrie]

1. Definitely. Before visiting ecommerce sites do you have a preconcived idea on what you are going to purchase?

2. Search. On ecommerce sites which do you use more often: Category Navigation or Search?

3. No, I take it one thing at a time. True or False: Would you find it useful to do multi-item searches concurrently on ecommerce sites?

4. Right. Where do you prefer navigation controls on a website: Left, Center or Right?

5. Browse. On ecommerce sites do you spend time browsing or do you just buy what you need and leave?