Usability Study

Newsletter Sign Up

Visibility of CTA’s• Users took considerable time

(e.g. up to 1 minute) in locating the ‘email alerts’ tab in the RH column: they said “it’s not prominent enough”

“In normal circumstances I wouldn’t go looking for the link”

Design • “why are there so many

options for newsletters”

Contents• Confusion over terminology,

‘newsletters / email alerts’ users questioned: “which do I click on?”

Call To Actions (CTA’s) - WatersTechnology

Visibility of CTA’s & Contents• Refer to previous slide for

comments

Call To Actions (CTA’s) - PostOnline

Call To Actions

Recommendations

Do Now

• Use of consistent terminology to market newsletters / email alerts (site wide, forms) Most of our testers prefer and are accustomed to seeing ‘email alerts’ across the web

• For WatersTechnology, optimise the ‘Email alerts’ component in the RH column (below the fold) with relevant content e.g. Provide an explanation of what to expect to better inform users and help entice more click throughs

• For WatersTechnology, summarise which newsletters users can sign up to in the RH column and get them to sign upDiscussion: should we replace ‘sign up’ with check boxes so users can select which newsletters they want to sign up to which is then reflected on the form

Do Later

• Redesign the RH email component and carry out further testing / analysis

Call To Actions Recommendations

Design • “This form is more intuitive than

the Trial form. Tells you what you’re subscribing to and only has relevant items.”

• “The form is compact and I have more control over what I want to click on”

• “Privacy policy is easy to read and located in a good place”

Design • “Would be helpful if in ‘Country’

drop down ‘United Kingdom’ was at the top”

• “The keywords on the privacy statement should be highlighted”

• Some user’s didn’t appreciate addition of Incisive newsletters on this page – it seemed ‘sneaky’ and ‘abrupt’.

Newsletter Form - WatersTechnology

Design• “Newsletter logos are

confusing as the 1st one suggests that it encompasses all of them…”

Content• “Newsletter sign up should

be quick, providing company details is not necessary”

• Users wouldn’t mind being followed up with a request for additional info.

“I’d prefer giving out as little information as possible”

Newsletter Form - WatersTechnology

“I like that I’m told about the Insurance Insight products unlike the Trial page”

Design • “White space isn’t optimised,

it’s little confusing”

Newsletter Form - PostOnline

Content• “Was immediately drawn to

Post logos rather than personal details section.. It needs to be more prominent”

• “I was overwhelmed by the number of options (Post, Insurance, Incisive), and would have to take time to make sure I only opt in to the ones I want”

Newsletter Form

Recommendations

Do Now

• Include only relevant newsletters from the brand itselfDiscussion: Can we display more newsletter options from associate brands on the confirmation page instead?

• Remove any ‘Company’ related fields and just show Name and Email fields in a linear format (e.g. Post) Users stated they wouldn’t mind providing these details at a later stage with for e.g. a follow up email /survey

• For WatersTechnology, in the ‘Country’ combo box provide the United Kingdom and United States as the top two options in the list, with a line break followed by all other countries

• Highlight the keyword do not in the privacy statement to make this more prominent

• For PostOnline, give the ‘Your Details’ section design more prominence

Do Later

• Consider redesigning both forms to allow users to make a more informed decision about which newsletter suits them bestUsers aren’t currently sure which one to sign up to

Newsletter Form Recommendations

Content• “This page gives

enough to confirm my newsletter sign up”

Content • “I expected to see info. on

when the next newsletter will be sent out”

• “The text is a bit harsh, I’d expect to receive a confirmation email”

Content• “It is lacking info. on next

steps”• “There’s no link back to the

Homepage to view articles and / or do other things on the site”

Newsletter Confirmation - WatersTechnology

Content• “…I don’t mind even mind the

Insurance Jobs ads which is useful”

“You could cross-sell / promote the Trial sign-up on this page”

Newsletter Confirmation - PostOnline

Design• “The confirmation message is not

so prominent and hard to notice between the blue logo and panels. The 1st thing I noticed is the Insurance Jobs ad”

• “I’d like some indication on when the next newsletter will be sent out”

Newsletter Confirmation

Recommendations

Do Now

• Could we including info. on when the next newsletter will be sent out? Discussion: Nearly all candidates we tested expected to see this info. on the confirmation page

• For WatersTechnology, include a link back to the Homepage or re-direct automatically This will help keep them on site and give access to content - currently they’re left in ‘no mans land’

• For PostOnline, include a separate sentence for a link back to the Homepage or re-direct automatically.

• Add some content for ‘next steps’, (e.g. on what the user should / can do now that they’ve signed up)Discussion: We can promote links to relevant content or products and services, cross sell the Trial sign up?! If so, we cannot re-direct automatically

• For PostOnline, give more prominence to the Thank You message (e.g. bigger font / more white space)

Newsletter Confirmation Recommendations

Follow Up Questions

Thank You For Your Time