How Usability Testing Helped CorePHP Launch a Great New Site!

It’s no secret that I am a big fan of the corePHP people. They are not only some of the nicest people I’ve ever met, they are also super professional and created one of my favorite extensions: Wordpress for Joomla. So when they asked me to perform usability testing on what was then a pre-release version of their new site, I was more than happy to help. corePHP’s business model is to sell subscriptions that include downloads, upgrades and support services. It was very important then that the purchasing process was as simple and clear as possible. A messy purchasing process can reduce the conversion rate dramatically. During the tests, in which I took the site all the way through to purchase, I found a number of usability problems and even some bugs. I wrote the report and created a mock-up (below) with suggestions for improvements. I sent the report to Steve Pignataro, corePHP’s CEO. We discussed a few of the issues and he acted the way anyone should when they see the usability testing video: he got right to work and fixed 95% of the problems within three hours! I was impressed. Steve launched the new site that night. Usability testing doesn’t just improve ROI dramatically (research shows that usability doubles ROI) but it also gives visitors the gift of a smooth and easy experience. That turns them into happy customers who come back and refer others. The new site is now very well-designed. I would still change a few minor things here and there, but it’s working the way it should, and that puts corePHP way ahead of the curve. They’re going to enjoy a great conversion rate and a good reputation. Kudos to corePHP for caring enough about the user experience to perform usability testing and for fixing all the major issues before site launch! You can view the videos below to see the issues I’ve found and then you can go to corePHP’s site to see how they’ve improved it.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Video summary and suggestions:

Part 1:

Overall look and feel

1. Site is looking professional
2. Some of the slides look a bit busy
3. I like the "about us" slide
4. Product slide is a bit busy
5. Template slide is a bit confusing
6. I would use just one slide, if any, depending if your first priority is that people buy products or not

Buy a WordPress extension

1. What does MU stand for? Refrain from using lingo
2. J! - does the average user know what it stands for?
3. Subscribe now - looks like another information tab, but it's an action
4. Would like to see a button at the bottom of the tabs,
5. Call it " buy now" and not "subscribe" - many people don't udnerstand subscribe but understand "buy"
6. Maybe repalce the tab with a button
7. Anually - what does mean? Does it mean it's going to charge me again? Explain what it means
8. Addons - telling me I need to enter it below, enter what? If domain, there is no room for that, probably a mistake, wrong explanation
9. Remove the explanation on the Addons section
10. Domain or URL, what should I enter, maybe add an example? www.corephp.com or http://www.corephp.com, etc.
11. "Update cart" - wrong wording? Maybe just replace it with "continue"
12. On shopping cart - lots of red buttons, overwhelming
13. there should be only one obvious button on the page, the one you want them to click
14. Empty cart - do I need it? There is a remove button on top, you can get rid of it
15. Validate code - does it have to be this box? Maybe it can be black and little
16. What is the difference between "Checkout" and "Continue"? Just keep the "Continue"
17. Maybe the "continue shopping" should be black
18. When I click checkout, I still see the shopping cart, should I? Considering getting rid of this part
19. Do you really need me the enter my phone number?
20. Do I really need to enter a security question? The checkout process should be as easy as possible

Payment

1. Better if the terms opened in a pop up, rather than take me to another window
2. The security comment at the bottom, confusing, brings up too many question marks, keep it simple
3. After I submit the form, I expect to be taken to the payment page, but it's taking me to a support page?
4. Unpaid is red, looks clickable, but it's not. Nothing but links should be red
5. The payment is taking me to a white page that looks totally different than all the rest
6. It should be contained inside the template
7. The image is wrong for Amex customers
8. Secure icon, should be inside the box
9. Page was not secure, probably becuase it's still in development
10. 2 paypal buttons, what is the difference?
11. Would be nice if it took me back automatically from paypal to the site
12. Am I supposed to remember the order number?

Suggestion:

Download the extension

1. Doesn't show me the download link right away, I need to look for it
2. Asking me to Renew but won't let me download

Part 2:

1. Can't find a place to download the product

Open a support ticket

1. When posting a ticket. What is the chance I need to use the reset button? I should only see one button - the Next button
2. Contact# - what does it mean? Just call it Phone Number - clear labels are important
3. Why do i need to enter my phone and my domain again? I alredy filled it out
4. The format for the website field is missing, what do you expect me to enter?
5. Another reset button, no need for it.
6. Priority - low ? Who set it up? You either let me set the priority or don't show me that you set it up as "low"

Ask a question on the forum

1. I expect to see a the forum somewhere on top, at least in a drop down under "support"
2. Forum looks, probably not done, doesn't look like the site
3. Should be logged into forum already, but I am not
4. Trying to register, missing the captcha picture
5. Big terms and conditions, make it shorter with bullet points, nobody's going to read a big block of text
6. Had to re-enter the passwords and the captcha, and agree to terms again
7. I would probably give up at this point
8. There is no indication of what kind of password I need to enter on the form itself
9. The rules of the passwords are very rigid, it's not a bank, just a forum. Let them enter whatever they want.
10. Would have been nice if it logged me automatically to the forum after I activate my account

Ask us about our services

1. corePHP link doesn't take me back to home page, as it should
2. On services menu item, I expect to click on it and be taken somewhere
3. I like that the contact form is at the bottom of the service page
4. Auto-fill doesn't work on the forms
5. Contact# again, should be "Phone Number"
6. When I am done submitting, I get an empty page, maybe give me some other things to do

Part 3

1. The bar at the bottom is distracting, maybe turn the buttons to black/gray. Red buttons attract attention
2. Re-consider the social buttons at the bottom, do you really need all of them? Keep only the prominent ones (twitter, facebook, linked in, rss)
3. About corePHP - looks good
4. Site Map - good - but missing support channels (forum, support system)
5. Top menu, "careers" - does it have to be there? Only items that either increase your conversion rate, or improve customer experience
6. Newsletter sign up - under support? Should it be there? Should probably be on the left
7. Didn't see the product area on home page the first time, because of the big slider on the top
8. WordPress demo is weak, not impressive
9. The site logins look like Ad Sense, underlined = links, if it's not a link it shouldn't underlined
10. Missing a login button on WordPress demo
11. JomCalendar demo looks better
12. Why different demo sites for different products? I need to login to each one separately. Maybe consolidate all of them under one site, it will be easier to manage and also better user experience for the users.
13. Red buttons attract attention, use them only on buttons that you really want users to click at the moment.