Comments on: 8 Characters That Could Make Amazon.com Millions

By: 8 Characters That Could Make Amazon.com Millions

8 Characters That Could Make Amazon.com Millions — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:52:36 +0000

[...] because the item descriptions on the left all take up at least 3 lines.Learn more…Read more: http://www.bryaneisenberg.com/2009/12/8-characters-that-could-make-amazon-com-millions/ blog comments powered by Disqus var disqus_url = [...]

By: turisuna

turisuna — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 15:25:34 +0000

It’s interesting, so far I don’t have any problem to buy something from amazon because I only use one address, so I don’t pay attention about the multiple address problem. Maybe amazon use the drop down menus for the simplicity reason, but to solve the multiple address problem, maybe they can add some words like ‘Which address do you want to use’ etc so the buyers will realize that they have more than one choices.

By: thegrok

thegrok — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:32:35 +0000

Mgseely – that would also be a nice simple remedy.

By: Josh Powell

Josh Powell — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:01:49 +0000

Instead of a drop down, one options is to have the default shipping address in there as text and a button or link next to it that says “Ship to a different address” which then replaces that single text address with a radio selection of addresses from the address book with the last option being “Add a New Address” and when that gets selected adding a form beneath it with the appropriate fields.

By: mgseeley

mgseeley — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:11:57 +0000

Rather then displaying the first address as the default selection on the pull-down menu, would it be more helpful to have instructions such as “click here to select an address”? Then have validation further prompt/instruct the user if an address is not chosen.

By: Linda Bustos

Linda Bustos — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:03:34 +0000

I’d like to see all addresses with a radio button for each item…this may make it more accessible to disabled users also.

By: Patrick Sullivan (@editweapon)

Patrick Sullivan (@editweapon) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:30:11 +0000

Interesting. The drop-down control was probably selected because it’s the least amount of clicks. But this is not a “high frequency of use” situation, and therefore, the design should learn towards being *easier* to use, not *quicker* to use.

I like the idea of first showing the full address in 3 lines (like Bryan recommended) and then a large blue arrow pointing to the left *if* the user has more addresses. When they click it, a new address slides in from the left. A nice flash or AJAX-thingy.
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By: Dr. Pete

Dr. Pete — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:53:44 +0000

The techie in me hates to admit it, but I completely agree about the pull-downs – I’m amazed how many people stumble over them in testing. I talked one of my clients into a “brilliant” design simplification a few years ago involving pull-down menus, only to reverse soon after when we realized that our visitor base completely missed that there were multiple options (suddenly, it looked like we sold a much smaller variety of products).

I share Carrie’s concern, though – sometimes, whatever window you show becomes the visitor’s whole world, even if it’s 3+ options. I’d love to see them test (1) A 3-entry pull-down, (2) A 1-entry or 3-entry version + “View Your Full Address Book”, and (3) A series of 3-5 radio buttons.

The other thing I’d like to see is some kind of “Set As Default” link (or maybe something friendlier, like “Make This My Main Shipping Address”) on that first Shipping Address page. I don’t understand the logic of how Amazon picks which address shows up first, and it always seems to be some relative who I’ve sent a gift to once. The 1-entry pull-down would be a lot more effective if that 1 entry was actually what I wanted it to be.

By: thegrok

thegrok — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:26:54 +0000

One possible solution would be to use Flash for this part of the experience. Imagine being able to drag each product to a box with the right address on it.

By: Carrie Requist

Carrie Requist — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:34:05 +0000

This is an interesting challenge. If Amazon puts 3 addresses there, it could be just as confusing to your Aunt (and others). It might look like three copies of the item will be shipped (one to each address). It might also look like those are the only three addresses she can ship to when her entire address book is available. Probably the most user-supportive design would be to have a design like they use for simply changing the address on the entire shipment, where they put all of your addresses on the page with radio buttons. This would require a separate page for each item in the cart. However, this would be annoying to more advanced users who want to get it all done on one page.

I think a general rule for the drop down arrow is that the information found there should either be non-critical or have a more obvious other way to get to it. Here, below the drop down box, amazon could add a button titled ‘view address book” that would take the user to the 1 page per item view. That way both advanced users who get the drop down arrow and those that don’t can get it done.