Ecommerce User Journey

The next #EcomChat will be on “User Journey”, on Monday 3rd February at 1pm UK time.

As ever, there will be 3 conversation starter questions, and anyone is welcome to chip in live on Twitter using the #EcomChat hashtag. Here’re the questions:

1. How important is it to understand the user journey?
2. What techniques can/should you use to do this?
3. What are the key difference in user journeys across devices for ecommerce sites?

Here are the questions & answers neatly summarised by the great @JackSaville1

 Q1 – How important is it to understand the user journey?

 

• @OptimiseOrDie  :Also – sign up for your newsletters, get your emails, order the product, send it back, be difficult, screw things up, phone/email

@aattias: Commit to going through processes on website regularly. Often problems surface when you see it with your own eyes.

• @OptimiseOrDie  : I call this ‘Immersion’ but it’s really eating your own dogfood. Try it from their angle a bit more often eh
• @OptimiseOrDie  : I’d add browser and device testing. My last one found 110+ pages of bugs/fixes they didn’t know custs had. #Ecomchat
• @DanielJAustin : device is a good one. I always find issues there. #EcomChat
• @OptimiseOrDie  : Always worth spliiting traffic on site by device category (GA) to identify weaknesses in experience.
• @JamesGurd  : Amazing how few companies have a proper suite of devices to play with or access to emulators #EcomChat
• @DanielJAustin : location is another good one as people from different country’s behave so differently #EcomChat
• @OptimiseOrDie  : Cross Browser Testing Resources : https://linkli.st/optimiseordie/33SAd …@JamesGurd

@JamesGurd : RT @aattias: throw in personas to the mix and try to marry journey/user experience to customer types #ecomchat

• @sarahjanewalker  :really couldn’t agree with this more.
• @JamesGurd  : Yep important to try and understand key types of people you are targeting/who visit and map their needs #EcomChat
• @sarahjanewalker  : just had this exact conversation with a prospect today, building websites & campaigns – focussed by persona so critical.

@AndrewGirdwood : I think aiming for a personalised experience is the future and that raises some interesting discussions for user journey studies #EcomChat

• @JamesGurd  : Agreed. Flexible page templates based on user type – don’t show same content to everyone, use data wisely #EcomChat
• @markrlilley  : agree, becomes difficult to implement when same class of user requires cultural differences (global) #EcomChat
• @OptimiseOrDie  : #Ecomchat Wondered when we’d mention segmentation. Average journeys are shit data. Groupings shows exploitable differences.

 

@danbarker : RT @markrlilley depends on goal? For conversion – checkout funnel, then depends on rank of issue, then ability to implement #EcomChat

• ?@aattias : Good point Dan, should factor dev cost/time to fix vs potential gains #EcomChat
• @OptimiseOrDie  : I normally prioritise based on things like dev resource, time to market, risk and most importantly – opportunity!

 

@carmenmardiros : In analytics I try and distinguish between compulsory steps and optional steps. #ecomchat

• @JamesGurd  : And is the aim to remove optional steps? Or to address issues with compulsory steps first? #EcomChat
• @OptimiseOrDie  : Guess it depends on numbers.

 

@danbarker : Useful side-question: How do you decide which points of the ‘user journey’ you need to pay attention to & which to ignore? #ecomchat

• ?@JamesGurd  : Exit pages useful starting point but then need to add context i.e. would i expect people to leave now? #EcomChat
• @DanielJTruman  : Completely agree. One of the least looked at metrics that tells so much of the story. eg. tech issues #EcomChat
• @MontseCano  : Definitely. It has helped me quite a bit in the past. #EcomChat

 

@danbarker : Useful side-question: How do you decide which points of the ‘user journey’ you need to pay attention to & which to ignore? #ecomchat

• ?@KevinWaugh  : I would rank based on the data you have. If cat pages are getting more traction than believed, then focus on them. #ecomchat

 

@danbarker : Useful side-question: How do you decide which points of the ‘user journey’ you need to pay attention to & which to ignore? #ecomchat

• @DanielJTruman  : What actions does analytics show users doing most? What brings in £? Optimise/analyse those first. #EcomChat
•  ?@OptimiseOrDie  : Also make a ring model – which layers of your site ‘shed’ most people, proportionally/compared. Very useful.
• @DanielJTruman  : Agreed. Think the key to this kind of analysis is context. Performance and user journeys are another “it depends” area.
• ?@JamesGurd:  campaign landing pages – where is big exit/bounce? Then look at attribution to see if people are coming back or not #EcomChat

 

@danbarker : Useful side-question: How do you decide which points of the ‘user journey’ you need to pay attention to & which to ignore? #ecomchat

• @JamesGurd  : using a wild stab in the dark by asking the CEO? #EcomChat
• @MontseCano  : Sometimes, that’s the only way… #EcomChat

 

@danbarker : Useful side-question: How do you decide which points of the ‘user journey’ you need to pay attention to & which to ignore? #ecomchat

• ?@sean_d_burton  :. Drop out, 2. Error rate, 3. Duration, 4. Click/heat map #ecomchat
• ?@sean_d_burton  : 5. Voc

 

@danbarker : Useful side-question: How do you decide which points of the ‘user journey’ you need to pay attention to & which to ignore? #ecomchat

• @aattias  : follow the money, what’s a stumbling block to orders, leads etc. Start there #EcomChat
•  ?@OptimiseOrDie  : Agreed – know the flow of money and delight and where it is weak in your real customer flow. Leaks and disappointments
• ?@JamesGurd  : Yes and for B2B, what’s blocking lead gen? Is there a path where people disappear quicker that’s killing leads? #EcomChat

 

@AndrewGirdwood : How can you study that? No user has the same journey any more. #EcomChat

• ?@JamesGurd  : No but you can work at user group/persona level to map what you expect common requirements to be #EcomChat
• ?@AndrewGirdwood  : If you’re plastering in your own expectations doesn’t that undermine the point of doing study in the first place? #EcomChat
• ?@RichardFergie  : no. Done correctly, prior expectations can help in analysis
• @AndrewGirdwood  : Sure. You can see whether your expectations were met or not and that’s useful. #EcomChat
•  ?@AndrewGirdwood  : But saying “I expect most people to navigate via the sidebar” is less so 🙂 #EcomChat
• @RichardFergie  : if I was very sure people navigate using sidebar & data shows people don’t then I would double check my setup
• @RichardFergie  : and I expect we all would act similarly in that situation
• @AndrewGirdwood  : Yeah. I think @mcmillanstu nailed it with a “find the problem and work backwards to solve” approach. #EcomChat

 

@DanielJTruman : The user journey depends on the task completion destination; priority should be given to user journeys based on importance of task.#ecomchat

• ?@MontseCano  : Meaning campaign? Yes, I agree with that. it’s a question of time/ resource management too. #EcomChat
• @DanielJTruman : Meaning anything. If you had to analyse user journeys how would you group them? Based on user intent right? #EcomChat
• @OptimiseOrDie  : Goals and tasks are the key things – classic UX parlance for shorter/longer objectives.

 

 ?@OptimiseOrDie : #EcomChat A1 : In the last 12 months, many companies never ‘walked’ their key marketing flows on devices. No idea what it looked like!

• ?@Milsom  : yep they have to eat their own dog food! as some guy from facebook said #EcomChat

 

@OptimiseOrDie  : #EcomChat A1 : In the last 12 months, many companies never ‘walked’ their key marketing flows on devices. No idea what it looked like!

• @DanielJTruman : A lot of companies don’t. “Completion” forms that haven’t been tested, product examples searched etc. Criminal! #EcomChat
• ?@OptimiseOrDie  : Would you do this in retail? Why do it on a site that’s bigger than your Oxford Street flagship? Oh fuck it – it’ll work?

 

 ?@OptimiseOrDie : #EcomChat A1 : In the last 12 months, many companies never ‘walked’ their key marketing flows on devices. No idea what it looked like!

• ?@JamesGurd  : good example is sync of Bag – amazing how it’s not always a given but it’s a core part of many journeys #EcomChat

 

@OptimiseOrDie :A1 : In the last 12 months, many companies never ‘walked’ their key marketing flows on devices. No idea what it looked like!

• ?@JamesGurd: V true as often some core processes don’t align across devices so you get a break that customer has to mend #EcomChat

 

@peter_oneill : Reason I asked that is constantly asked for “customer journey analysis” but meaningless at granular level #EcomChat

• ?@JamesGurd  : For me a good starting point is defining key user personas, then looking at what their needs will be on site …. #EcomChat
• ?@peter_oneill  : agree on both points, wouldn’t call either “user journeys” #EcomChat
• ?@JamesGurd  : Why’s that? For me it’s part of understanding where people will go, what they’ll want at each stage… #EcomChat
• @peter_oneill  : I call that visitor information needs based on their stage of the consideration process – different question/approach to data

 

@peter_oneill : Reason I asked that is constantly asked for “customer journey analysis” but meaningless at granular level #EcomChat

• @danbarker  : though have been enjoying playing with content groups to make both high level & low level a bit more accessible. #ecomchat

 

 

@carmenmardiros : That’s simply not true, people will dip in and out of YOUR funnel at different stages of THEIR funnel #ecomchat

• ?@DanielJTruman  : Completely agree. 2 journeys in play. One business ideal and the other customer reality. #EcomChat
• ?@MontseCano  : How to best match both is a challenge some times.

 

@AndrewGirdwood : How can you study that? No user has the same journey any more. #EcomChat

• ?@KevinWaugh: The only idea is shooting for the mass. All these journey’s may have similarities we have to find. #ecomchat

 

?@danbarker  : My answer: It’s incredibly useful to understand the journey your users make through your sites/apps/marketing… #ecomchat

• @danbarker  :… and to understand how & why that matches/differs from their intent, and from your intent as a business. #ecomchat
• @sean_d_burton  : understanding is one part. Communicating is another. Visualisation is key #ecomchat
• @bradbox  : Perhaps for small websites, but for larger ones, visualisation would look like spaghetti!! #ecomchat #ecomchat
• ?@sean_d_burton  : depends in the visualisation – focus on key paths to reduce the noise. The aim is to aid comms across internal teams.

 

@AndrewGirdwood : I believe it’s hugely important to understand how/why users arrive on your site and how well you do at matching their intent. #EcomChat

• @JamesGurd  : Intent is key but also hard to interpret – what data do you use? And how do you rate each signal for reliability? #EcomChat

 

 ?@aattias  : vital to understand both user’s journey on your site but also where they are in their buying journey overall #ecomchat

• @MontseCano : Yes, so we definitely have two interrelated areas #EcomChat
• ?@aattias: throw in personas to the mix and try to marry journey/user experience to customer types #ecomchat
• @MontseCano  : Relates to psychology, which is so important for campaigns.

 

?@peter_oneill : What does the user journey mean? Individual paths? funnels? What are you trying to understand? #EcomChat

• @JamesGurd  : ‘What’ is a good question – need to define what you’re looking for, why & how you’ll use the info before setting off #EcomChat

 

@peter_oneill : Reason I asked that is constantly asked for “customer journey analysis” but meaningless at granular level #EcomChat

• @danbarker: I usually take as: can you use the analytics tools available to help us understand how people are using our site? #ecomchat

 

 ?@carmenmardiros : For most people the journey begins well before they turn to the web #ecomchat

• ?@MontseCano: Yes! That’s why a holistic approach to marketing is necessary, I think. #EcomChat

 

@OptimiseOrDie : #EcomChat A1 : Important to mention – your journey sketch is NOT what really happens.  Abstraction vs. real life…

• ??@MontseCano: We got sales to try and explain that too. #EcomChat

 

General Points

 

@pferron : Google ZMOT – zero moment of truth is an holistic view of on/offline journey is useful 4 framing a discussion for non pure plays

@pferron  : Eisenburg work in this area is a useful guide to persona and mapping / accommodating differing journeys / user states

@aattias : For some companies you could argue it’s important for the wrong reasons. Ryan air anyone? #EcomChat

@carmenmardiros : Look for journeys where compulsory steps are absent (checkouts without “add to basket”) – purchases in progress #ecomchat

@danbarker : 3 ‘how to decide what’s important?’ methods: 1. Gather *all* data & prioritise 2. Work back from biz goals 3. Work from user goals

@OptimiseOrDie : #Ecomchat You need to find the stuff first in the journey (pain points) then triangulate (find evidence) then triage (prioritise) then test.

@JamesGurd : I’m doing some UJ work at the moment on a new project – starting with “what questions will people ask when they visit 1st time?” #EcomChat

@DanielJTruman : #EcomChat User journeys are a 2 word way of asking “How do customers use my site?”. Now ask, how crucial is that as a business question?

@OptimiseOrDie : #EcomChat A1 : Important to mention – your journey sketch is NOT what really happens. Abstraction vs. real life…

@AndrewGirdwood : The wiki page for “user journey” is a stud. It’s so badly defined I’ve seen wasted effort done in its name https://j.mp/1bmRtOm  #ecomchat

@markrlilley : #ecomchat A1 a must! Plays a huge part in the to-do list for all things acquisition and conversion.

 

@OptimiseOrDie : #EcomChat A1 : That’s why you need to immerse yourself in journeys and product usage – you must wear the magical slippers of real CX.

@KevinWaugh  : #ecomchat A1: Important because not matter how much you think you know, you are not the customer, they will use your site differently.

@bradbox  : A1: Is there such a thing as ‘the user journey’ in a multi-channel digital world? – I don’t think so. #ecomchat

@OptimiseOrDie  : A1 : Diary studies (long UX study) are great at showing real journeys, from the start. What you think is not what happens!

@AndrewGirdwood : I believe it’s hugely important to understand how/why users arrive on your site and how well you do at matching their intent. #EcomChat

 ?@JamesGurd : A1) Crucial – not the only info you need but you should understand how customers are likely to interact/but with you and why #EcomChat

@OptimiseOrDie : #EcomChat A1 : Vital – not only the current journey but the universe of ‘possible’ and potentially improved journeys.

Q2 – What techniques can/should you use to do this?

 

@KevinWaugh : #ecomchat A2: 1 thing that helps is taking notes on every call that comes in, if someone says they are hung up in checkout, you have pattern

• ?@OptimiseOrDie  : That’s why the Cust Serv team are my buddies. They tell me truths about CX issues, over beers. Wonderful.
• ?@KevinWaugh  : Some customer stories are like fishing stories, they seem to grow everytime they are told. #ecomchat

 

@KevinWaugh : #ecomchat A2: never ignore a complaint or chalk it up as a fluke. If 1 customer is complaining about a pain point, then that is enough.

• @DanielJTruman : Dude, you’re using chalk in your ecom business customer services? That’s so retro it’s awesome! #EcomChat
• ?@KevinWaugh : It’s mostly for running nails across it when a customer complains, that way we pay attention. #ecomchat
• ?@DanielJTruman : Would love to see a job advert for position in your customer services 🙂 #EcomChat

 

@AndrewGirdwood : Not hearing many tech tools come out of Q2 for #ecomchat. User journey awareness seems to be a skill rather than technology.

• @danbarker  : part of the problem is too many tools. People paralysed by so many options & not knowing which will reap rewards. #ecomchat
• @AndrewGirdwood  : They should listen into #ecomchat then 🙂

 

@danbarker : Some great answers to #EcomChat Q2. Any other suggestions for understanding user journey without wasting masses of energy/time? #ecomchat

• ?@OptimiseOrDie : #Ecomchat A2 : @danbarker One last thing I’d add is session replay. Watching vids of customers struggling improves empathy + action <grin>
• @bradbox  : Our favourite online supermarket come to the house and watch my wife order online recently. #EcomChat
• ?@danbarker: which was the supermarket out of interest? #ecomchat
• @bradbox  : They asked why she didn’t use specific functionality (they already had the data) and she showed them. [1/2] #ecomchat
• @bradbox  : They were interested in what she **didn’t** do, not what she did do. [2/2] #ecomchat
• @OptimiseOrDie  : I’m an old grocery hand – helped set up first Waitrose service + helped make Ocado thing happen!

 

@danbarker : Some great answers to #EcomChat Q2. Any other suggestions for understanding user journey without wasting masses of energy/time? #ecomchat

• @OptimiseOrDie : #Ecomchat A2 : @danbarker One last thing I’d add is session replay. Watching vids of customers struggling improves empathy + action <grin>
• @bradbox  : Our favourite online supermarket come to the house and watch my wife order online recently. #EcomChat
• @danbarker  : very interesting! my other half occasionally does that for people – ‘real life journey analysis’. #ecomchat @OptimiseOrDie
• ?@OptimiseOrDie: #Ecomchat Continuous touchpoint diary studies have yielded huge insights for me in the past. +1
• @ChinaShopBull  : What is a continuous touch point diary? Are we talking full user experience research with ongoing contact?
• @OptimiseOrDie  : Yes – an ethnographic study or longditudinal diary study. Notes on every contact (with competitors/you)
• ?@ChinaShopBull  : Thanks Craig, sounds like you can gain a lot from that. Is it tricky to find participants who are willing but not “fans”?
• ?@OptimiseOrDie  : No – we even found people who hadn’t picked a service yet. Some of them came to us, some used competitors.
• @OptimiseOrDie  : I have some tools (ways to collect data for these studies) so do email me for more. Captures all the bits in the lifecycle.
• @OptimiseOrDie  : Most decent research recruiters can help you find participants (at various stages in buying cycle).
• @ChinaShopBull  : Thanks, I am a way off that level of research but will pick your brain more when we get there if that’s OK? BTW are you B2C?
• ?@OptimiseOrDie  :Both but mainly B2C (distinction less useful these days).
• ?@ChinaShopBull  : Depends on what you sell and the country but I understand your point 😉
• ?@OptimiseOrDie  : No worries – happy to help you set up something yourselves. Keep me posted!

 

 

@danbarker : Some great answers to #EcomChat Q2. Any other suggestions for understanding user journey without wasting masses of energy/time? #ecomchat

• ?@OptimiseOrDie : #Ecomchat A2 : @danbarker One last thing I’d add is session replay. Watching vids of customers struggling improves empathy + action <grin>
• @danbarker  : agreed. realtime analytics can be useful for that too – particularly if you use the filters to narrow down, etc. #ecomchat
• @OptimiseOrDie  : Indeed – realtime will be a bigger part of our future. I like seeing session replays just as I’ve launched a new site feature.
• ?@MontseCano  : True. Not generally fond of real-time, but I think it works well for things like this. #EcomChat

 

@danbarker : Some great answers to #EcomChat Q2. Any other suggestions for understanding user journey without wasting masses of energy/time? #ecomchat

• @hwjgage  : not sure if it’s already been mentioned but exit surveys (Qualaroo) #EcomChat asking what’s wrong at the moment it goes wrong.

 

@danbarker  : Some great answers to #EcomChat Q2. Any other suggestions for understanding user journey without wasting masses of energy/time? #ecomchat

• ?@aattias  : Tip for small biz is to look at bigger competitors with deeper pockets.who’ve already put effort into optimising #EcomChat
• @OptimiseOrDie  : Only prob with that is they might have f***ed it up. Best be careful about copying ‘better’ competitors
•  ?@aattias  : true, needs handling with caution #EcomChat

 

@danbarker : Doing simple stuff to make sure your team naturally gain awareness of user journey really useful. Builds intuition/gut instinct. #ecomchat

• @OptimiseOrDie: #Ecomchat -> Good point culturally – team needs to be able to explore data naturally so skills/tool setup vital.

 

@DanielJAustin : The Etsy Device Lab – https://codeascraft.com/2013/08/09/mobile-device-lab/ … #EcomChat

• @danbarker  : quite a few device labs around. @YardDigital has one I believe; Mozilla on St Martins lane have one too iirc. #ecomchat
• @MontseCano  : There are also a few agencies that specialise on this. #EcomChat

 

@danbarker : Doing simple stuff to make sure your team naturally gain awareness of user journey really useful. Builds intuition/gut instinct. #ecomchat

• @DanielJTruman : Also highlights the “output” of their input. It gives them focus and areas to work on. #EcomChat
• ?@danbarker : v good point. & builds in good decision making in future when they can see ‘this input will result in that output’. #ecomchat
• @OptimiseOrDie   : Agree. Most motivational technique for devs and team – connecting them with data/biz outcomes!
• @OptimiseOrDie  : #Ecomchat : Two articles on interviewing customers for you : https://medium.com/designing-for-results/8d8312230480 … & https://www.nngroup.com/articles/talking-to-users/ …
•  ?@DanielJTruman  : If company has departments based on products – segment the UJ analysis within the business #EcomChat
•  ?@DanielJTruman  : Those closest to their markets within the business will have a better understanding of data meaning #EcomChat
• @OptimiseOrDie  : Agreed – need holistic *and* drilldown views. People need ‘their data’ to run ‘their job functions’.
•  ?@OptimiseOrDie  : The UX of reporting and analysis is often under estimated in impact. Training/Invest
• ?@DanielJTruman : Business analysis for UX of reporting/analysis. Invest time to provide the right data #EcomChat
• @DanielJTruman  :https://usertesting.com  is pretty cheap and offers a non-technical test of site and anon user journey.

 

General Points

 

@KevinWaugh : #ecomchat A2: never ignore a complaint or chalk it up as a fluke. If 1 customer is complaining about a pain point, then that is enough.

@pferron : #ecomchat research is crucial & using all the tools of trade but not least “experience” & a good dose of scepticism of qualitative data

@OptimiseOrDie : Q2 : #Ecomchat : Start diary studies with potential customers and monitor across the entire lifecycle. VOC, Session Replay, Surveys, NPS,

@OptimiseOrDie : #Ecomchat : Two articles on interviewing customers for you : https://medium.com/designing-for-results/8d8312230480 … & https://www.nngroup.com/articles/talking-to-users/ …

@DanielJTruman : Share responsibility of user journey analysis across the team/company – different departments will find useful customer insight #EcomChat

@pferron : #ecomchat clarifying the “scepticism” comment I mean understanding those feeding back will have a large spectrum of abilities online usage

@OptimiseOrDie  : #Ecomchat Cross Browser Testing Resources : https://linkli.st/optimiseordie/33SAd …

 

 

 

Q3 – What are the key differences in user journeys across devices for ecommerce sites?

 

 

?@DanielJTruman: #ecomchat The desktop click and the tablet/mobile click are different actions – metrics haven’t caught up

• @markrlilley  :  agree, I’d say all 3 are different clicks. #EcomChat

 

@danbarker : #EcomChat A3: One thing people often miss about ‘mobile’ is that it opens up TV advertising possibilities where they didn’t exist before.

• @OptimiseOrDie  :  A3 @danbarker Agreed – response on mobile frighteningly accurate for Ad response. Sofa surfers on mobile.
• @pferron  : should be in ROI calculations esp via attribution models! #ecomchat
• ?@OptimiseOrDie  : Yes – Autoglass ads showed >50% of mobile post ad visits on home wifi!

 

@danbarker : #EcomChat A3: One thing people often miss about ‘mobile’ is that it opens up TV advertising possibilities where they didn’t exist before.

• @danbarker : #EcomChat ie. it extends the ‘user journey’ from the TV through phone direct to website where that didn’t exist so much before.
• @DanielJTruman  : If you’re going to do a TV ad, optimise site for tablet/mobile and segment to see the impact.

 

General Points

 

@pferron : #EcomChat the lower the visit on a device the higher propensity of less accurate data – but shouldn’t ignore just prioritise

@AndrewGirdwood : Q3. You have to know whether activity is a “distressed purchase” or not. Mobile is no longer always a distressed purchase. #EcomChat

@OptimiseOrDie : #Ecomchat A3 : Device, Context, User, Task, Goal, Intent, Performance

@pferron : #ecomchat site metrics are the first enlightening thing – ATOS, Bounce, Abandonment, Load Times, cross ref with physical visits key though

@OptimiseOrDie : #Ecomchat See slide 103 of this deck for Crowdsourced/Cheap UX testing tools/services : https://www.slideshare.net/sullivac/why-does-my-cro-suck-measurecamp …

@OptimiseOrDie : #Ecomchat : Those crowdsourced UX tools in one list : https://linkli.st/optimiseordie/0d1AY …

 

Join us at 1pm UK time on Monday, and do share this post either on Twitter or via email with anyone you think would be interested.

Dan & James.

p.s. If you’re wondering “what is this all about?” there is an about page to explain everything.