Web

[Steve]

The Web Usage Paradox: Why Do People Use Something This Bad?

Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox for August 9, 1998


The Web is bad; really bad. 

My estimate is that at least 90% of all commercial websites are
overly difficult to use due to problems like: 

--bloated page design that takes forever to download

--internally focused design that hypes products without giving any 
real info about them

--obscure site structures that either have no logic or are based on 
the company's org.chart

--lack of navigation support, making it very hard to find things when
combined with an obscure structure

--narrative writing style optimized for print and linear reading; not
for the way users read online (they don't; they scan) 

As discussed in my previous column on user testing of websites, the
average outcome of Web usability studies is that test users fail
when they try to perform a test task on the Web. Thus, when you try
something new on the Web, the expected outcome is failure. 

Even when the site works, the total user experience often remains
miserable. For example, I recently had to buy a new PC and tried to
do so through Dell's website, following my own rule that you must
live a "Web lifestyle" yourself if you want to be an Internet pundit.
The Dell site had some weaknesses, but it was reasonably easy to use
and allowed me to order the desired high-end machine. Three days
later I received a confirmation email stating that the machine was
expected to ship 6 weeks later. This was obviously not satisfactory:
when you order on the Internet, Amazon.com has trained users to
expect a confirmation email within a few minutes and the product
within a few days, unless the website has warned them about shipping
delays. 

When I called up Dell, I was told that the late delivery was because
my requested tape drive was out of stock. How about integrating your
inventory system with your website, folks? Customers need to be told
about delays and inventory problems while they are still researching
their purchase online and can consider alternative options. Outcome:
Dell lost a $3,035 order because their website delivered poor
customer service. 

Why Do They Like It?

There are several reasons why people keep using the Web despite its
many problems: 

Even though 90% of sites are bad, users don't spend 90% of their
time at bad sites. People only visit a bad site once but become loyal
users of the good sites. Thus, any individual user may spend 90% of
his or her time at good sites and only 10% checking out bad sites.
For example, Yahoo! is the most-visited site on the Web, partly
because they have one of the fastest and most minimalist designs.

Most people don't know how much better the Web could be. Think back
to the age of the Ford T: people bought this car in droves since it
was better than riding a horse. But if you had to chose between a
Model T and a Mercedes E430, you would pick the Mercedes. To me,
using the Web is like having to drive a Model T every day when I used
to drive a Mercedes: I know how much better hypertext systems can be,
based on all the research we did back in the 1980s and early 90s.

Sometimes the Web does work and is better than reality. For example,
it is much easier to bookmark a list of stock quotes at a website
than it is to look up the stock price in the newspaper. It is even
easier to search for company-related news online than to scan the
business pages.

Because they do get good service on the web every now and then,
users behave somewhat like Skinner's rats who would keep pressing a
lever in their cage as long as it gave them a food pellet at rare
intervals. In fact, the rat would keep going longer if the food
pellets came at random intervals: with randomness, there is always
the hope that next time will bring the reward - exactly as when you
click a link on the Web. 
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