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Toycity.com is hard to use for users who don't know exactly what they want.
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This article comments on the usability of Toycity.com (English version no longer in operation, KB June 2001). Toycity is a multi-language online store selling toys and games to European customers.
Before anything, Toycity.com is designed for users who know exactly what they want. These users are supported by advanced search functionalities enabling them to find products by words in the product title, child age and gender, toy brand, bestseller, etc.
However, users who don't know exactly what they want have a hard time using the site. The lacking ease of use has three main sources: (1) Content is close to useless, (2) navigation is tough, and (3) response times are slow.
Product detail pages do not add new information compared to overviews (that users already saw). So, product detail pages may in most instances be completely removed without affecting the site. In a note to this article, it is discussed how product overview and detail pages may be improved.
Even the homepage is not designed for use. First, users need to look at an animated truck that distracts and slow down page response time. Second, users going to the dot com site must select language before content is shown. Even national Toycity sites require language selection before actual content is presented. This is highly annoying to users visiting the site frequently.
It would be more appropriate to present products on homepages using English as default language on the dot com site, while using national languages as default on national sites. Users can then change to another language as needed.
Non-standard link colors: Users are used to click on blue links. For some strange reason this behavior is not supported at Toycity. Instead, non-standard link colors are used (black, no underline) making it difficult to see where to click to proceed. In fact, the use of link colors is inconsistent - on the homepage links are blue and underlined, while other pages use non-standard links.
Lack of navigation support: Once users have been on the site for more than a few minutes, they are likely to be lost. They loose awareness of where they come from and where they are relative to the site. This problem could be removed by providing navigation support and informative URLs.
General navigation bar is used on all pages. The options on the bar are very unclear. What is the difference between super search and word search? Or, why are games promoted in a navigation bar, while other toys such as dolls, cars, and construction toys are not? In any case, only very few users will ever learn how to use the bar, so it should be removed and replaced by good navigation support.
Hidden and complex URLs: The use of frames hide URLs, so kids cannot mail the URL to their grandparents. Bookmarking pages with favorite products is also hard due to the use of frames. If pages are bookmarked, it will not show correctly when visited again. Finally, all URLs are complex (e.g., www.toycity.dk/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=106116&prmenbr=2000).
Most of these navigation problems could be fixed with relatively few efforts.
Sites should care very much about slow response times (more than one second) because users' attention drift away from the content and makes it more likely that users will leave the site without buying.
Toycity provides an option make download speed faster for product overview pages (show 40 products per page without pictures). However, users don't waste their time learning how a site works. They simply leave to more usable services on the Web.
Graphics and animations also contribute to slow download times: A landscape background used on all pages (white backgrounds don't need to download). Animated balls and rabbits are used next the navigation bar on all pages, which both slow down response time and distract users. Remember, every new piece of content reduce user attention to other content items such as products.
Toycity has too little incentive to change things. They are too locked-in to their technology and deep changes would require too much effort and too many resources. Further, it is unlikely that they buy into the simplicity agenda.
The true value of understanding sites such as Toycity.com and Boo.com is to learn from their mistakes.