Jump to content
  • Checkout
  • Login
  • Get in touch

osCommerce

The e-commerce.

Testers required for store in development


Carbon

Recommended Posts

wow.. my entire post was just ignored.

A great place for newbies to start

Road Map to oscommerce File Structure

DO NOT PM ME FOR HELP. My time is valuable, unless i ask you to PM me, please dont. You will get better help if you post publicly. I am not as good at this as you think anyways!

 

HOWEVER, you can visit my blog (go to my profile to see it) and post a question there, i will find time to get back and answer you

 

Proud Memeber of the CODE BREAKERS CLUB!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 64
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Hi Lindsay,

 

Apollogies for missing your post, it was an oversight on my behalf.

 

well, i would take that first line out of your index page where it explains about the security of the page. the reason the lock is there is so you DONT have to tell poeple that it is secure.

What percentage of visitors to the site know that the padlock in the browser's address bar means the site is secure? I don't know, but I bet it isn't 100%, plus the span also reminds them to check for "https" and points to the Geotrust button (to check the site's SSL certificate) when the cart is empty (or points to the "Place Order" button when cart isn't empty). Also, another purpose is to educate visitors about SSL and the fact that a lot of other sites (not mine obviously) only encrypt payment pages so pages that handle registration or account details are left unprotected so, in my opinion it's worth it.

 

I was also very much confused by the optional button.. i'm not sure what it was telling me when i clicked on it..

If you're refering to the custom pc configurator (Index > Customise > Configure) then the "Optional" button is actually more of a label than anything else as it says "Optional" for parts that are optional (mouse, keyboard etc) and "Required" for parts that cannot be omitted (case, cpu etc). If the user does click it, it opens a small window that displays the most relevant components and wether they're required or not so you can see all of the requirements in one go.

 

It also took me a while to figure out that i needed to scroll down to see the individual parts of the cpu to customize them. I am pretty sure it took me a while because the arrows are not ovbious and the main content does not say anything about scrolling.

In my opinion it's obvious (but there again, I did design it), here are the cues that are presented to the user upon entering that page that there is more content below...

 

1: A browser UI scrollbar appears on the right edge of the content window.

2: An animation flickers a "Click here to navigate the page" label around the cell jump buttons at the top right of the cell.

3: There is a series of step "1" "2" and "3" labels with step "1" on the "Next" button.

4: Clicking anywhere on the parts list scrolls to that item.

5: Every element has a mouse tooltip that explains what it does.

 

... I'm not sure what else I can do to make it obvious that the page is bigger than the content frame although this page will be getting a quickhelp overlay as part of the current code pass.

 

Instead of ADD TO ORDER and NEXT, whicha re both VERY confusing..i had to hit both to see which one would bring me to the check out page.. i would use ADD PACKAGE TO CART and NEXT COMPONENT or something more descriptive

You say potatoe... Semantics really and I do have to watch the length of the label as the buttons are of a uniformed size. Based on your suggestion, I'll change the "Next" buttons to "Next Item".

 

When you click add note, there is no BACK TO ACCOUNT INFO, instead it says SUMMARY.. i didnt know what summary was so i clicked it HOPING.. but not knowing.

Index > My Order > Place Order

 

The cell at the top of the page is a summary of all of the information entered in the page. Each (top/right) button in the summary cell scrolls the content to another part of the page. There you will usually find a "Summary" button with an "up" arrow symbol and a "Next" button with a "down" arrow symbol. Just think of them as "Back to top" and "Continue".

 

when you put your ordering info in like NAME and ADDRESS, it is unclear how to complete the order.

If you were unsure I would suggest clicking the "Next" button, it would have lead you through all of the cells returning to the summary with the ubiquitous "Confirm Order" button.

 

it was definitely confusing, mostly because of where your buttons were places and what they said. Also, my brand new computer here at work almost crashed i THINK because of the links or something.. not sure, but there was too much for my cpu.

CPU usage should be almost nil as all of my javascript is fairly simple and is only invoked (on a one time basis) though the unload event or user interaction. There are no listeners, ajax, java or anything fancy either and 99% of the code is hard coded into the source file instead of included so I don't know why your pc was stressed.

 

 

Thanks for the feedback

 

 

Carbon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, you seem to have an answer for everything and are really good at making people feel stupid for not being able to navigate your site.

 

You are making too many assumptions. Just because you have little things there that hint that it should be this way, people are NOT going to get it.

 

And i was using a brand new Macbook pro that has never had an issue with even the heaviest sites. I dont know what to tell you.

A great place for newbies to start

Road Map to oscommerce File Structure

DO NOT PM ME FOR HELP. My time is valuable, unless i ask you to PM me, please dont. You will get better help if you post publicly. I am not as good at this as you think anyways!

 

HOWEVER, you can visit my blog (go to my profile to see it) and post a question there, i will find time to get back and answer you

 

Proud Memeber of the CODE BREAKERS CLUB!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know, but it just seems to me that if you have to do so much explaining to people how to navigate through checkout, then you are going to lose a lot of sales. You can have the coolest web app in the world, but that doesn't ensure you sales. It may ensure frustration in a percentage of your customers, who may just decide to click away instead of trying to figure out how next to proceed.

 

Just my 2c. Take it or leave it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know, but it just seems to me that if you have to do so much explaining to people how to navigate through checkout, then you are going to lose a lot of sales.

 

This is the biggest point that he doesn't want to accept and understand.

 

A customer doesn't want to learn how to use a shop. He want the products. Nothing else. Simple, isn't it? :rolleyes:

I love oscommerce and OS software! I'm not a programmer, I'm only a learning boy and a translator :) I love full contribution packages!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is the biggest point that he doesn't want to accept and understand.

 

A customer doesn't want to learn how to use a shop. He want the products. Nothing else. Simple, isn't it? :rolleyes:

 

Seems simple to me, but what the hell do I know :blink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

exactly.. what do we know.. we are ALL obviously idiots who can not figure out how to navigate such a SIMPLE site..

A great place for newbies to start

Road Map to oscommerce File Structure

DO NOT PM ME FOR HELP. My time is valuable, unless i ask you to PM me, please dont. You will get better help if you post publicly. I am not as good at this as you think anyways!

 

HOWEVER, you can visit my blog (go to my profile to see it) and post a question there, i will find time to get back and answer you

 

Proud Memeber of the CODE BREAKERS CLUB!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Design is cool, tried to figure out how to change quantity from 1 to 2 -- got 21 tried to change to zero, put in 1 zero -- still 21 put in 4 or 5 -- still 21! On the user items, ie return warranty etc -- seemed awkward to me. Liked the color scheme and design, but all in all needed a bit of dumbing down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Very very nice site, you may have realy used ALOT of time on this site :) with some small visual modifications this site worths a lot of money.

 

Some of my personal meanings:

 

The site is heavy, cut down the images and use more css

I don't like the fixed height, many people don't se the scroller and they miss some stuff

I don't like the colors very much, it's a lilttle boring (use web 2.0 colors)

 

Make the graphics and stuff a little shiny (it's web 2.0 time) :)

 

Best regards

Adam

?,???`???,?? God must love stupid people, he made so many ??,???`???,?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I suggest Carbon to read a great book: Call To Action, written by the Eisenberg brothers. :rolleyes:

I love oscommerce and OS software! I'm not a programmer, I'm only a learning boy and a translator :) I love full contribution packages!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Welcome to Microbuild’s new look. We’ve been listening to your feedback and have heard your requests for improved visuals, simpler navigation and a fullscreen layout...

 

newlook_before.gif

 

MICROBUILD IS EXPANDING

 

Regular readers of our news articles will notice that for the first time we have created a news feature that is larger than the content viewing frame. One reason is to show off the brand new Fullscreen feature which can toggle the whole site between fullscreen and framed so that users with widescreen monitors can take advantage of all that extra space, go on... give it a try, just click the button in the breadcrumb navigation heading above.

 

newlook_after.gif

 

QUICKHELP OVERLAYS

 

On pages where the content cell features buttons, text input fields and other items of interest an additional “Question Mark” icon will appear in the breadcrumb navigation heading above. When clicked the content is faded down to 15% opacity and a help overlay is faded up to 100% opacity featuring bullet-point labels and important notes to help new visitors navigate the website’s interface. The user can still interact with the content displayed beneath the overlay and at any time can toggle the display back to its original state by clicking the question mark icon again, here’s the feature list...

  • Fades out content to 15% opacity and places content in background.
    Fades in Quickhelp overlay to 100% opacity in the foreground.
    Content retains focus and is fully interactive.
    Completely fluid layout which can be dynamically resized.
    Degrades gracefully if user has Javascript disabled.
    If content is dynamically changed in realtime, so is the overlay.

newlook_oldnewcell.gif

 

REAL TRANSPARENT CELLS

 

When we first designed the the Microbuild website one of our goals was to use content cells that were transparent however, our ambition was far greater than our expertese so we cheated! What we came up with was a checker board image with alternating blue and transparent pixels... not pretty, but it did the job. With this upgrade we are proud to present our latest iteration of this effect which was entirely coded in house, here’s the feature list...

  • Seamless content cells with full alpha channel transparency.
    Anti-aliased rounded borders and complex shapes.
    Cross browser compatible without any application sniffing code.
    Completely fluid layout which can be dynamically resized.
    Does not require any server or client-side scripting.
    Styled using remote cascading stylesheet for easy maintenance.

This is a major update for the Microbuild website that affects nearly every page and included not only the intergration of the new transparent cells and Quickhelp overlays but also required substantial recoding of many pages to allow the fluid resizing of content that was previously confined within a fixed dimension frame. It was also a good oportunity to restyle and improve certain pages and features to improve the experience for the visitor...

 

Removed navigation audio cues (based on feedback).

 

Left panel navigation buttons remain clickable when pressed in (in case there is a network hiccup).

 

Second cell’s “Previous” jump button now active (continuity).

 

Tumble effect in Details page no longer waits for page to fully load (prevents long waits).

 

Website help page updated to reflect changes.

 

Compare cells now feature a horizontal highlight when the pointer is rolled over.

 

Forum avatars now feature a styled border (presentation).

 

Restyled forum profile page and removed Captcha authentication (Own system used instead).

 

Restyled forum user profile view for better presentation.

 

Restyled forum avatar gallery for better presentation.

 

Last 5 systems ordered list in Order System now displays preconfigured, customised, designed and bespoke systems previously ordered.

 

Configurator summary cell (Configure, Design and Edit) has been de-cluttered (based on feedback).

 

Write a review system has been restyled for presentation purposes.

 

Rename system now hides unrelated buttons to avoid confusion (based on feedback).

 

Optional/Required button in configurator replaced with corner label (based on feedback).

 

“Next” buttons in configurator replaced with “First Item” and “Next Item” (based on feedback).

 

Changed quantity input field in My Order (shopping cart) page to avoid confusion (based on feedback).

 

Added individual instructions panel to each cell in the Place Order page (based on feedback).

 

Buttons in Place Order summary cell now display prompts when the pointer is rolled over.

 

Component notes added to a user Design are now intergrated into the parts list in the online invoice.

 

Payment instructions are now highlighted in the Order History page.

 

Selecting a user specified item in the “Specify” page hides un-needed buttons (based on feedback).

 

“Are you sure you want to disconnect from the secure server?” page is displayed when attempting to return to the home site from the Online Order System.

 

 

We hope you’ll enjoy using all the new features and look forward to your continued support.

 

Visit the main website

 

Visit the Secure Online Order System

 

 

Cheers

 

Carbon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Hi,

 

I have just finished the first draft of the Order Help page which I'm hoping will go some way towards answering any questions a user may have when using the order system.

 

I would be very grateful if you could test it for me...

 

1: Go here and mess around... order site

2: Click the HELP button in the left navigation panel.

 

Looking for constructive feedback and material for the FAQ section.

 

Cheers in advance.

 

Carbon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

 

I have just finished the first draft of the Order Help page which I'm hoping will go some way towards answering any questions a user may have when using the order system.

 

I would be very grateful if you could test it for me...

 

1: Go here and mess around... order site

2: Click the HELP button in the left navigation panel.

 

Looking for constructive feedback and material for the FAQ section.

 

Cheers in advance.

 

Carbon

 

Hey Carbon,

I could be way off here, but I wonder if you've considered doing up some "test scripts" for people to use to test your site. I looked and didn't really know where to start. I used to work in a Systems group, and when we wanted people to test our systems, we did up step by step instructions of different scenarios with what they SHOULD find, and let them put in the ACTUAL result, as well as their reactions, confusion, etc. You have obviously done a ton of work here but seem to be having trouble getng people to test it the way you want them to.... Just a thought...

 

Cheers,

 

Nicole

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Carbon,

I could be way off here, but I wonder if you've considered doing up some "test scripts" for people to use to test your site. I looked and didn't really know where to start. I used to work in a Systems group, and when we wanted people to test our systems, we did up step by step instructions of different scenarios with what they SHOULD find, and let them put in the ACTUAL result, as well as their reactions, confusion, etc. You have obviously done a ton of work here but seem to be having trouble getng people to test it the way you want them to.... Just a thought...

 

Cheers,

 

Nicole

 

Hi Nicole,

 

You're right, it is very difficult to get people to test. I think part of the problem (with ref to this site) is that unless you have been following a thread then it can be a lot to wade through to get up to speed when the topic has a lot of pages.

 

I would start a fresh topic each time there was something new to test but I think there is something in the posting rules about starting multiple posts about the same site.

 

I understand your scripted testing method but would prefer data that doesn't prompt or guide the person testing, that way they tend to do unexpected things that bring bugs to light that might go unnoticed if everyone followed the same set of instructions.

 

I was thinking of setting up a form for testers to fill in and provided they didn't cheat and completed it all I would then credit their PayPal account with £5.

 

 

Cheers

 

Carbon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Nicole,

 

You're right, it is very difficult to get people to test. I think part of the problem (with ref to this site) is that unless you have been following a thread then it can be a lot to wade through to get up to speed when the topic has a lot of pages.

 

I would start a fresh topic each time there was something new to test but I think there is something in the posting rules about starting multiple posts about the same site.

 

I understand your scripted testing method but would prefer data that doesn't prompt or guide the person testing, that way they tend to do unexpected things that bring bugs to light that might go unnoticed if everyone followed the same set of instructions.

 

I was thinking of setting up a form for testers to fill in and provided they didn't cheat and completed it all I would then credit their PayPal account with £5.

 

 

Cheers

 

Carbon

 

Well that sounds crappy. I doubt if people expect to get paid. It's just that most people probably go to the store and buy a computer, not put it together themselves online. So maybe people aren't sure where to start.

 

You would not believe the stuff users used to come up with in testing, because they will always deviate from the script anyway and find new horrors for you, no matter what you tell them to do! I quit that job because I thought it would be more fun to open a website and sell jewellery. :P

 

A form, a script... Something to guide people along in the process. I will do it, and if you put $5 in my PayPal account, I'll sic my dog on you! (He's only 2 inches tall, but he can be annoying)

 

Nicole

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...