You may or may not be familiar with the concept of tropes; according to the website devoted to such things, www.tvtropes.org, Tropes are “devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members’ minds and expectations.” In other words, tropes give viewers a reference point – some sort of familiarity within a story that the viewers can relate to, which underpin the rest of the story’s more explorative elements.

Web sites and apps also use conventions to root the user in tried-and-tested, familiar surroundings; enhancing and streamlining the user-experience; re-calling stored and understood data from the memory banks to minimize the amount of cognitive overload when digesting new information.

Introducing new conventions

As the web is still in its relative infancy, new conventions are being created all the time. Consider iPad apps, such as Twitter, where you drag the timeline down to refresh with up-to-date entries – thanks to its intuitive nature, this was quickly proven successful and became a standard UX element for touch devices.

Even the dusty old floppy disk icon for saving files was once a brand new convention that was quickly adopted by UX designers back in the day (although they were probably called something much less cool back then). As with many conventions, a previously understood metaphor was used for transferring a user’s understanding from a traditional environment to a digital one.

Speed is not always the end-goal

Sometimes conventions are artificially inserted, in order to make an interface match the user’s expectations. Loaders are a perfect example, whereby users are so accustomed to seeing their actions greeted with a ‘thinking’ response from the machine that faster loading times may negate the need for a dedicated loading graphic; therefore, they may be artificially displayed for a short time to reassure the user.

A similar concept is the page turn transition in iBooks. Calling on a real-life metaphor, it uses a very visual example of reassuring the user that they’re moving to the next page of content – eschewing the worry of slowing down the experience for instead encouraging familiarity and understanding.

So, conventions can enhance a user’s experience of a website or app, but is this always the case?

There’s an argument that in certain specific cases where information-retrieval is not the primary goal, that bucking the trend can lead to more exploration making the experience more engaging and immersive. As ever, the key is to understand your users and their goals, and build an experience that’s appropriate to them. We’re not quite talking Mystery Meat Navigation here, but

if the user is expecting that a degree of exploration will be a key element of their visit, they’ll happily persevere without the usual pointers; as long as the experience is intuitive, there should be no frustration on their behalf and, as mentioned above, new conventions may even be created.

The gulf of expectation

The upshot is, whether conventions are followed or flouted, the interface must be intuitive enough to retain the user’s attention. What happens when a user completes a command must closely resemble what that user was expecting to happen, also known as the gulf of expectation. According to the Godfather (aka Jakob Neilsen), most usability problems come from a mismatch between a user’s mental model and the application they are using, so ensure there are no nasty surprises and your users will love you for it.

“A consumer is not a moron. She’s your wife. Don’t insult her intelligence, and don’t shock her.”
-David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising, 1981

David Ogilvy was a fairly clever chap. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that most of his views were so prophetic he may have been some kind of wizard.

It’s tempting for online retailers to skew the data that reflects how their customers perceive them – product reviews, service ratings, testimonials etc. The minor matter of questionable morals aside, their web presence is their own personal domain and they feel they have the power to choose what is said and how it’s presented through this channel.

This is of course, based on the assumption that the balance of power lies with the retailer. The fact is, there’s been a seismic shift in this balance over the last 15 years; the convenience of shopping on the web means that consumers hold all the aces in terms of quickly sniffing out best price, best product offering and best service.

So, surely this is an argument for tweaking the facts and figures (ever so slightly!) – in this competitive environment you’ll need every little bit extra you can get your hands on, right? Not quite - a consumer is not a moron. Your users are looking for authenticity. They crave an honest, open shopping experience. In an ideal world they’ll give you their credit card details. If they get a whiff that all is not as it seems, they’ll run away as fast as their virtual little legs will carry them. In a world of transparency, people avoid the opaque. Besides, the shop next door on Google will probably offer what you don’t.

Is there a direct link between transparency and improved conversions?

What does this mean in measurable terms? Can we say that an open approach is more likely to generate sales? Well, if we want to encourage positive purchase decisions (we do) then we have to make the process simpler by giving the ratings context – if all products are rated 4 or 5 stars there is no basis for comparison, no solid footing for a purchase decision and, as a consequence, a probable lost sale. There is no light without darkness. Oh and don’t worry about being swamped with absolute stinkers of reviews – satisfied customers are a lot more likely to oblige you with their time in providing a review/rating, meaning that on average, positive reviews will outweigh the negative at around 7 to 1.

However, there’s even more benefits that negative reviews can bring to your business.

Unsurprisingly, allowing consumers to avoid poor or unsuitable products will increase satisfaction meaning greater likelihood of repeat business, and lower returns and all the pesky administration and costs that are associated with them.

If you’re still not convinced, here’s the really good news. Studies show that customers are twice as likely to purchase products with 4 or 5 star average ratings, meaning that any niggling doubts about the negative effects of the odd poor review is far outweighed by the positive, tangible bottom line of encouraging a sale from a good review.

The very fact that good reviews have such a powerful effect on user-behaviour shows there is still an unsettling lack of trust when buying online – surely all the more reason to nurture a culture of transparency and honesty in your enterprise?