Free Research

E-commerce Usability Best Practices

This paper is intended to act as an introduction to the principles of website usability and their particular application in the design and development of sites that have a primary goal to draw visitors to complete an online purchase.

We will introduce you to the best usability practices gathered from the lessons and experiences of first generation e-commerce sites. This includes an analysis of the key factors known to affect user’s online purchasing habits, such as trustworthiness and clarity of design.

The specific guidelines we look at focus on the really critical issues of checkout and payment processes as well as more general factors such as layout and product information.

There are of course no hard and fast rules - if there were then all shopping websites would be the same and there would be very little room for creativity. However an understanding of the key factors that influence the completion of a purchase, and the best current practices for layout and providing the ‘right’ amount of product information, is a crucial starting point in the development or re-design of any e-commerce enabled website.

This paper will outline a combination of guidelines that should be applied to the development or review of an e-commerce site. It will highlight human factors in online shopping experience, provide guidelines on best practices for key areas of an e-commerce site, and provide a summarised conclusion for how to apply these guidelines.

Related Articles