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Product managers have a lot on their plate. Their daily demands include knowing the requirements of the product/website, understanding their end users' backgrounds and motivations, acknowledging the pain points in the customer experience, and making timely updates to improve conversion rates. When the customer meets your landing page for the first time, only a smooth experience is likely to make him or her return, and particular emphasis is placed on the payment process. In order to improve the bottom line, product owners and web developers must comprehend how people use their site, which presentation will then match the way they use the site, and how to optimize that flow for each differing device a customer may utilize.
Navigating Customer Needs
User testing is a beneficial method for finding out the customer experience (cx) that people take away from the website. Project and program managers assemble to strategize and organize test questions that guide each tester through places where people are dropping out of the funnel. The group of testers is selected based on how they match up with current users, as far as age or employment status. A mix of active users and non-daily users is employed because it helps to see where they compare and contrast. Current user data comes from web analytics and surveys to materialize the background and usage rate of users. During the actual test procedure, the product team will observe from another room while the test lead guides the user through the flow. Heat maps are used to explain where customers moved their mice and even where their eyes move. Receiving these valuable inputs helps to get the big picture of gaps in the checkout process and ways to improve.
Remapping the Customer's Journey
The customer journey is the process of how an individual converts from uninvested user to paying customer. It starts with them discovering the landing page for the product, browsing the website, selecting a good or service to buy, and finally going through the checkout process. The most important part of the journey is that it comes to a pleasant, non-aggravating end. Based on the results of user testing, business analysts work with lead IT developers, web designers, and an information architecture team to reorganize the presentation of information on the site that supports a user-centered design approach. They may, for instance, decrease the amount of content one is required to read prior to checkout, which will then shorten page length. Perhaps user testing illustrated that folks were intimidated by having so much to do on the final payment screen. Also, allowing potential payees to checkout as a guest is a luxury these days that many can afford as email registrations are saturating the market.
Utilizing Responsive Design
Since the expansion of broadband internet and a sales surge of laptops, tablets, and smartphones, many people are accessing the internet far away from their bulky personal computers. Especially the teleworking individuals and those with remote businesses: these persons rely on making payments and purchases digitally and, often, away from home. The formation of a smooth payment process is incomplete without considering how the layout will look on alternate devices. One example of this is seen in the nature of smartphones. If there is an issue with payment, users should have the opportunity to call someone directly. The designers would also consider making their phone number into a hyperlink so users can easily call straight from their phones, if needed. This method of coding the format of pages based on screen size and device type is known as responsive design.
The customer journey starts before they even get to your site and ends after they’ve completed their purchase. The most important thing that a product team can do is provide a streamlined checkout experience because this will ensure more sales come back again in the future. By listening to your valued stakeholders and leveraging qualified professional resources, checkout could become the easiest thing about your site.
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