Which industry sector has the most difficult to use websites?
From September 2009 - December 2009 we asked you, 'Which industry sector has the most difficult to use websites?' 1006 of you responded with the following results:
- Retail/ecommerce 133 votes (13%)
- Financial services 164 votes (16%)
- Local authority/government 342 votes (34%)
- Travel 91 votes (9%)
- Utilities 116 votes (12%)
- News/media companies 69 votes (7%)
- Other 91 votes (9%)
Why you voted this way
A big thank you to all of you that took the time to tell us why you voted how you did. Some of our favourite comments from you, divided up by how you voted, are:
Retail/ecommerce
Many retail and commercial websites are rubbish not simply in terms of appearance but in terms of use. Furthermore they often have inaccurate pricing information or merchants fail to keep them current.
Anon, Canada
Financial services
I feel financial services websites tend to use too much jargon, often forgetting who their audience is.
Samantha, Dorset, UK
I find these confusing to navigate and the information given is often conflicting.
Ruth Gower-Smith, Hampshire, UK
Local authority/government
I have seen a lot of government sites that are annoying and hard to navigate through.
Dharmin, India
They are difficult to navigate and particularly difficult to find out how much anything costs if you are not in receipt of any benefits!
Jane, Lancashire, UK
I find that government websites are outdated and cumbersome. The search engines fail to narrow down accurate results. The design of the websites are not inviting or friendly. The IA reflects the government characteristics - unorganized, slow, and confused.
A. Gordon, Washington DC, USA
You can never find what you need.
Dan, Leicester, UK
Travel
Almost everytime I wish to make a reservation I have to ring the service provider prior to booking to make sure that they cater for disabled people. Most websites fail to state what provision is being made for disabled people, I've not found a site yet which sates whether they provide a room equipped for a wheelchair user with appropriate roll-in shower provision. They will state they have accessible rooms, sometimes on the ground floor but very often the accessible room has a bath not a shower.
Jerusha, Halstead, Essex, UK
Utilities
A utility company, for the most part, have customers based on a demographic area. Hence, the customer base is already encompassed in there service area. The need to advertise by way of internet is not only unnecessary, is wasteful. As a result, the websites are usually bare-bones with very little information. They know the only thing the customer will be looking for is a customer service link.
Gino Bernier, New Hampshire, USA
I find it difficult to reach the most useful pages directly from the homepage.
Anon
News/media companies
They're overcrowded and cluttered. Try finding something on a pro7 or a commercial news site fast!
Sarah Dutler, Switzerland
Other
Websites about games generally use dark or patterned backgrounds with very small white text which can make it difficult for users to see text. Users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6.0 browser cannot enlarge text on these sites.
Anon
What next?
Please contact us by phone on 0870 242 6095 or by e-mail at info at webcredible.co.uk. We'll discuss your user experience research & design needs and requirements with no pushy sales pitch and no obligation to you.
See also
- Uncover your users' needs and goals with our comprehensive user research offering
- Get a new website through our user-centered design and accessible CSS web design expertise
- Get our accessible and usable CMS so your site offers outstanding accessibility
- Attend one of our 15 fantastic Internet marketing training courses
