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E-Commerce Design Patterns

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Subject:  E-Commerce Design Patterns
Author:   DeriJones:   view profile | all posts by this author | add to favourites
Date:   19:20:04 12 May 2006
 
I wish you were right saying 'they're used lots in software design'.

Unfortunately, in the course of the work I do testing web sites, it seems to me that the ecommerce sector is quite happily bumbling along without much re-use of patterns in software - as well as in interface design.

A silly example - just the simple task of getting credit card details. The variation across web sites is enormous; the naming of fields (security code has a silly variety of names) - the default values offered.  The software coding - not infrequently do sites complain if you have space between your credit card digits.

Looking at the real software under the bonnet - the only 'patterns' people seem to follow are the silly top-down ones: 'lets upgrade to .Net form asp coz it'll be faster'... then implemented without understanding how .Net differs, end result, a slower site.

We did a survey of the search functions on government web sites for the SOCITM local govt IT folks.  You't think search interfaces would be a pattern by now (errr - just copy google!).  But there was huge variety in implementation - in terms of how multiple words were handled etc. The worst sites, you could crash if you used the right punctuation mark!  Some you could get a 3Mbyte page back if you searched for common words.

I'm still coming out of shock this week, from having discovered that one (high street retailer)'s web site was offering one visitor in 20 a special offer, that it explicitly said were valid only until the end of Novermber 2005...

For 6 months they've been confusing 5% of their visitors...and they can now explain the 'funny' calls to the call centre.

Phew, sorry, Friday rambling...

Anyway, I'd really love to see more thinking going into eCommerce -whether software, UI or whatever.  But it just seems to be a sector that isn't ready for that yet.

Like when I heard a Mktg Mgr say that their new nearly high-six-figure eCommerce platform was up and live, but the web analytics for it won't be ready for another few months... someone pinch me and I'll wake up....

Deri
SciVisum  web site ROI testing
 
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  • E-Commerce Design Patterns, MikeBaxter, 9 May 22:43
    Okay you may think I over-stated things slightly when I predicted that "in 5 years' time the major online retailers will have defined what best practice means to them using design ...
    • E-Commerce Design Patterns, TimLeighton-Boyce, 10 May 14:18
      I've just spent this very morning running through the mock ups for a proposed new checkout process for a client of one of the companies specialising in ecommerce sites. Several ...
    • E-Commerce Design Patterns, DeriJones, 12 May 19:20
      I wish you were right saying 'they're used lots in software design'. Unfortunately, in the course of the work I do testing web sites, it seems to me that the ecommerce sector is ...
      • E-Commerce Design Patterns, MikeBaxter, 13 May 12:11
        Deri reckons that e-commerce is a sector that isn't ready for the idea of design patterns yet ... On the one hand I'm very tempted to agree - some of my discussions so far have ...
        • E-Commerce Design Patterns, DeriJones, 15 May 13:28
          Mike - your last sentence was interesting: "So often, it is the things that make particular sites distinctive (either visually or functionally) that breach good practice princip ...
      • E-Commerce Design Patterns, textor, 13 May 12:45
        I think what Mike has in mind is that software people are big on reusable code, so that they don't re-invent the wheel every time they sit down to create a piece of software.   ...
        • E-Commerce Design Patterns, JonBov, 15 May 12:03
          Mike, your document focused heavily on FMCG/Low margin-high volume business, with a couple of exceptions in the form of John Lewis which is 'middle of the road' in terms of brandin ...
          • E-Commerce Design Patterns, MikeBaxter, 15 May 15:05
            Hi Jon - the difference between mainstream and hi-end luxury e-commerce is an interesting one. First, I'd say that, at a certain level of analysis, the differences don't matter and ...
        • E-Commerce Design Patterns, DeriJones, 15 May 13:08
          You're right Bob, software people like to reuse code.  But that often means that they want to reuse their own code; whereas can be nervous about 'reuse' of using someone elses code ...
        • E-Commerce Design Patterns, TimLeighton-Boyce, 15 May 14:41
          On 12:45:48 13 May 2006 textor wrote: I can give you one design pattern that i see over and over again (including our sites.).  You hit checkout and you get a form that asks if ...
          • E-Commerce Design Patterns, textor, 15 May 17:16
            I have made that exact mistake (nearly that anyway) myself.  It wasn't until I hit the wrong button I realised the problem.  Is anyone up for forming some sort of special inter ...
    • E-Commerce Design Patterns, ianjindal, 16 May 20:49
      Mike - you know I'm a fan of patterns, so rather than just agree with you (temptiing!) I thought I give a complementary perspective.... There are three main types of 'thinkers' ...
    • RE: E-Commerce Design Patterns, JamesSaunders, 26 May 10:54
      A very interesting discussion and one in which I'm sure there'll be much more debate. Having developed software applications for a number of platforms and also a number of doma ...
    • Re: E-Commerce Design Patterns, Ashley , 31 May 13:35
      Hi Mike As you know, I'm a big fan of Design Patterns and we're going to be pushing them over the coming months to try and drum up further interest.  Having worked for a big ...
      • Re: E-Commerce Design Patterns, JamesSaunders, 31 May 13:41
        Hi Ashley, Sounds great. With regard the design pattern(s) to start with, I agree that the checkout process and site search are the most important for any ecommerce site (and th ...
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