How Satisfied Are Consumers With Web Site Experiences In 2010?

Forrester recently asked US online consumers to rate their satisfaction with Web site experiences at companies they've done business with across multiple industries. When the results were tallied, retail and financial services dominated the top 10 rankings. But satisfaction levels vary widely across competitors within some industries. And despite the fact that many companies focus heavily on improving online experiences, most didn't see a significant change in satisfaction levels from last year. Only five firms grew Web site satisfaction scores by 10 or more percentage points. Several factors limit a company's ability to boost overall Web site satisfaction scores, including rising consumer expectations, Web site projects that don't actually address customer needs, and failure to follow basic usability standards. To satisfy Web site visitors, online customer experience professionals should find and fix known usability flaws, use personas to understand what people really want from their site, design emotionally engaging experiences that go beyond functional design, and begin planning the online experience of the future.