Jared Spool: Revealing Design Treasures from The Amazon

Revealing Design Treasures from The AmazonJared M. Spool (@jmspool)User Interface Engineering

UserInterfaceEngineering

#JaredRamblesOnAndOnAndOnAndOn

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

“I like how Amazon does it.Why don’t we do it just like

Amazon?”

What makes Amazon so attractive?

Visitors in December, 2009:

85,943,873

Revenue in 2009:

$24,509,000,000Increase over 2008: 24%

2009 Foresee Customer Satisfaction Rating:

87

Unique Customers Since Launch:

76,000,000Ranking in World Population: 17

Orders placed in 2008:

175,000,000Orders processed every second: 24

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Engage Through ContentAmazon Treasure #1

Amazon

Amazon

Reviews:3,532Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Reviews:5,591Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Amazon

The Helpfulness Question

Amazon

CautionBe Careful When Emulating Features

Target

319Barnes & Noble (BN.com)

Walmart.com

331

Harry Potter 7 Reviews One Month after Release

1805Amazon.com

Target.com

3

Harry Potter 7 Reviews One Month after Release

Ratio of Reviewers to Purchasers:

1 in 1,300Purchases required for 20 reviews: 26,000

Viewers required at 2% conversion rate: 1,300,000

Treasure #1:

Engage Through Content

User commentary enhances the experience

Brings an air of authenticity to the content

Putting in a system to “bubble up” the most interesting or useful content can dramatically improve the experience

Only a small percentage of visitors will participate

Amazon has millions of visitors a day. Do you?

You need to ensure you’ll have the traffic to make this happen

Don’t FearNew IdeasAmazon Treasure #2

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

CautionSome Experiments Don’t Pan Out

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

If every customer spent $5 more per order,it would make Amazon an additional

$875,000,000

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Treasure #2:

Don’t Fear New Ideas

Experimenting with new ideas is a critical part of innovation

Risk averse organizations produce crap

Sometimes experiments don’t quite turn out the way you expect

Amazon is very comfortable with ideas not catching on

They have clear metrics of success (orders, revenue)

Risk is critical, but you have to minimize it at every chance

Eliminate Tool Time While Delivering ConfidenceAmazon Treasure #3

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon’s Security Levels

Level 0: Amazon doesn’t know who you are (no cookie)

Level 1: Amazon knows you from a cookie

It’s how they know what books to recommend or if you’re a 1-click customer

Level 2: Amazon wants to reveal something only you should know

Such as your address or shipping history

Amazon

Goal Time vs. Tool Time

Goal Time: When the user is improving the outcome of the experience

When the user is considering the product they wish to purchase

Tool Time: When the user is moving forward without any improvement in the outcome of the experience

When the user is struggling with the security system

When the user is dealing with redesigned elements

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Facebook

Facebook

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon 2007 NavigationPhase-In Plan

Phase 1: Non-cookied visitors - 5,000 per day

Phase II: Non-cookied visitors - 1 per every 5

Phase III: Cookied customers - 5,000 per day

Phase IV: Cookied customers - 1 per every 5

Phase V: Everyone

Total time: 12 weeks

CautionNot All Use Cases Are Equal

Items Easy To Find with Search

The Princess Bride

Books by Tom Clancy

Movies with Téa Leoni

A Canon SD1100

Mario Kart for the Wii

Items Difficult to Find with Search

The first Tom Clancy book featuring Jack Ryan

An inexpensive, but high quality SLR camera

A good toy for my six-year-old niece

Novels written by Nobel Prize for Literature winners

Amazon

Amazon

CD Baby

UMass Amherst

BLS.gov

Westlaw

iwbank.it

Wachovia

Treasure #3:

Eliminate Tool Time

Decreasing tool time increases user satisfaction

By shortening steps and removing obstacles, users are happier

Redesigns create massive tool time for users

Avoid redesigns completely by making all changes small and incremental

Not all use cases are the same

Search works on Amazon because of their data

Match functions to your use cases, not the other way around

Never Forget the BusinessAmazon Treasure #4

Apple

BestBuy

Target

Site

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Amazon’s “Negative Operating Cycle”

Amazon turns its inventory every 20 days

Best Buy turns its inventory every 74 days

Standard retail payment terms: 45 days

Best

Buy

Day0 44 74 76

ProductOrdered

ProductPaid For

CustomerBuys

CustomerPays

Cash Debt

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Am

azon 20 22 44

ProductOrdered

ProductPaid For

CustomerBuys

CustomerPays

Cash FloatDay0

Treasure #4:

Never Forget the Business

Amazon’s business model is deliberately designed

The site is designed to fit the business

You have to start with a great business model to produce a great experience

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Revealing Treasures from The Amazon

Engage your users by delivering great content

Don’t fear trying out new ideas

Eliminate tool time while delivering confidence

Never forget the business

Caution is warranted

Be careful when emulating features

Some experiments don’t pan out

Not all use cases are equal

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