Barnes & Noble bn

1. Barnes & Noblebn.com A Test of Usability By Shannon Johnson

2. Bn.com • What is the site’s purpose? • In their own words: “Barnes & Noble.com leverages the power of the Barnes & Noble brand to offer online customers the Web's premier destination for books, eBooks, magazines, toys & games, music, DVD and Blu-ray, video games, and related products and services.” • Provide an easy and convenient online store for purchase of books • Provide support for issues with purchases or products • Work with local stores to provide quick access to desired product • Who is/are the target user group(s)? • Consumers of print and digital media • What is/are the target user group trying to achieve on the site? • Purchase desired items • Download content and media for nook devices • Receive support for wrong, damaged, or digital items

3. Tasks for Online Shoppers/Browsers • Task 1 • Locate if a copy of Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman is available in a local store • Task 2 • Locate the upcoming music CDs/titles that will be released March 6th • Task 3 • You have a (hypothetical) Barnes & Noble membership card, locate your number online

4. Task 1 • Locate if a copy of Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman is available in a local store

5. Task 2 • Locate the upcoming music CDs/titles that will be released March 6th

6. Task 3 • You have a (hypothetical) Barnes & Noble membership card, locate your number online *This task can be called an impossible one as there is no way to do this online. Having dealt with the frustrations of this myself I wanted to see how others would react. Thus I cut everyone off after 5 minutes.

7. 3 issues with Usability Severe Less Severe Links to music are hidden in obscure places, with user 2 claiming to not want to use the site ever again because of the confusing manner it took to find music, or to go to the advertisers linked on the side of the page Customers with the paid membership card have no way to look up their number to connect it to their online account The locate in store button is not prominent enough to make a customer’s online to instore experience smooth. Some products lack it completely

8. 3 Positive Points on Usability The convenient search box on the top left of the sight is prominent and even tries to complete the search, making it easier to find popular titles. All users would start their search there for any task given The filters offered to narrow a search are helpful in finding what you want. User 2 completed a task using solely filters since the front page tabs failed The bottom of pages and the site map offer simple paths to what you are looking for based on product, membership, or support

9. Change 1- Make Music Easier to Find It can also be found under electronics in the same manner Where music currently rests

10. Music’s Home I know that physical cd sales are decreasing, but I feel hiding the link to it is just alienating those customers from your company If you don’t want a music tab in you main bar change DVDs to something like entertainment that includes both categories

11. Change 2 Improve Membership Accessibility Customers who have the membership card are in a sense VIPs, because they pay for the benefits. In store their number can be searched by email, phone number, address, and name and zip code. There are no options to search online

12. There are 3 Screens you Loop when looking for your Membership number Join! Sign up today! But you already have one, so this doesn’t help.

13. 2nd Screen Manage your profile, which you can’t do without the number

14. 3rd Screen Log in to manage your account which simply takes you to a point where you can add your membership number if you know it

15. What they tell you in FAQs The only support they give is a number to call to get your number. I don’t know how hard it is to implement a search option to find your membership number by your phone number but as they already use this service in stores I feel they should extend it to their online customers for convenience across the board.

16. Change 3- Make it Clear what is available in Store Make the locate in store link larger, allowing customers to decide which method would be more convenient for them

17. In Store Availability State that textbooks are only available online Nothing alerts that this is an online only item and thus many customers are frustrated to arrive in store to find there are no textbooks

18. Make it Easy These changes would make finding these categories or specific information as easy as searching for a single item in the main search box The website is very easy if you know what you want to buy but lacks in its browsing features