GB/SIGCHI September 2000 Meeting

                   What's Driving eCustomers Away?
                    Results from Usability Testing

                            Carolyn Snyder
                         Snyder Consulting

* Tuesday, 12 September 2000
* Refreshments at 6:30, meeting at 7:00
* Sun Microsystems, Conference Center
* Free & Open to the public

In January 2000, an international team of usability experts led by
Jakob Nielsen conducted a usability study of 20 business-to-consumer
e-commerce sites. The study identified the top 10 categories of
problems that either prevented users from completing a purchase or
caused them to say they wouldn't return to the site. In addition to
classic usability issues like poor search facilities and inscrutable
order forms, the study found other types of sale-preventing problems
such as unreasonable shipping costs and customer-unfriendly return
policies.

Carolyn Snyder conducted all of the U.S. usability tests and will
share the insights she gained from watching dozens of users attempt
to buy things from a variety of e-commerce sites, including giants
like eToys.com and relative unknowns like Baskethaus.com. Her
presentation includes many examples of designs that worked as well
as those that didn't.

SPEAKER

Carolyn Snyder has been an independent usability consultant since
March 1999, helping clients make their software and web sites more
usable. Prior to that, she spent six years at User Interface
Engineering where she led client workshops, taught courses and wrote
articles about usability. Carolyn is co-author of the book "Web Site
Usability: A Designer's Guide." She has a BS in Computer Science and
an MBA. You can reach Carolyn at snyder3961@mediaone.net or
603-890-2411.




Sherry D. Clay
Administrator
Sun Microsystems Laboratories
Tel.: (781) 442-0086
Fax:  (781) 442-1692
E-mail:  sherry.clay@east.sun.com