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The Skeptical Internet User Does Not Search
Sim D'Hertefelt, 22 November
2000
Our exploratory user study on the use of a major portal
site in Belgium shows that a category of "skeptical Internet users"
has abandoned searching the web. The skeptical Internet user has made a return-on-investment
evaluation of his Internet experience, and has come to the conclusion that the
return on some sites is just not worth the investment of his personal time and
energy. What about your site?
Now Visiting Your Site: The Skeptical Internet User
Our exploratory user study points to the existence of a category of "skeptical
Internet users". Here's a profile:
The skeptical Internet user did not come to the Internet because of his innovative
attitude. His motivation is not to learn and use the Internet. Instead he
is motivated by the Internet's promise of offering value: comfort of
living, entertainment, getting things done in a more convenient way. While he
did get some of that, he also got a lot of discomfort: long download times,
navigational and structural complexity, inconsistency, unpredictable behavior,
disappointing value.
The skeptical Internet user made a return-on-investment evaluation of his Internet
experience and came to the conclusion that the return on some sites
is just not worth the investment of his personal time and energy.
Search engines did not survive the return-on-investment evaluation
of the skeptical Internet user. He had to invest a lot in mastering
complex search interfaces. And the search results proved to be very unsatisfactory:
"the usual soup" as one of the participants of our study called it.
Another participant compared the Internet with the pile of junk mail in his
mailbox, "the only difference being that the Internet box is much bigger
and the whole world drops its garbage in there".
Instead of actively searching for new websites, he prefers to learn
about new sites through magazines, e-zines, other Internet users, friends, family
and colleagues. In his experience, these qualified references proved
to be more useful.
The skeptical Internet user regularly visits a limited number of websites.
He is very loyal to these sites which are often thematically specialized, corresponding
to his personal interests: cooking, travel, restaurants, music, news...
We tend to think of him as a "novice user" because his Internet repertoire
and skillset is limited, but this term is misleading. Although he is certainly
not a first mover, he may have used the Internet for a year or more. The term
"novice" supposes a user who just started to use Internet and who
will consequently learn to become an expert user. The skeptical Internet
user is neither a beginner nor will he learn to become an expert.
He blames the website for a bad user experience. One of the
participants of the study compared it to visiting a restaurant: "If my
wife and I visit a restaurant and we're not satisfied than my wife will complain
to the manager. I will not. But we agree on one thing: we're never going back
there."
He is an unforgiving Internet user: when a site does not live
up to his expectations, he immediately goes to another site or goes back to
offline user experiences. This is how participants formulated it:
- "I can live/surf the Internet without this site."
- "I prefer human and qualified advice from magazines, friends, collegues..."
- "When it's frustrating, I use another service (from international
competitors)."
- "When it's frustrating, I use my encyclopedia or the phone directory."
Interpretation: Locating the Skeptical Internet User on the Innovation Curve
We hypothesize that the skeptical attitude towards Internet usage we observed
in our study is not an isolated case. Instead, we think it is a very common
attitude among early majority Internet users. Here's how we locate the skeptical
Internet user on the innovation curve.
The early adopter is a technology enthusiast. He adopts new technology first
and then wonders about the use of it. He intrinsically likes technology, irrespective
of the effect it has on his life. The current generation of web designers and
programmers consists mostly of early adopters. As a result they design the websites
they would like to use: loaded with technological gadgets, features, and cool
design. The problem is that the early majority of Internet users has very different
motivations and needs: "get something out of it with as little learning
and usage effort as possible". The current e-business challenge is designing
solutions that offer value in a usable way.
Coming Soon to Your Site: the Scared Internet User
The coming years will provide an even bigger challenge to e-business strategies
when the late majority of users will go online. They will start using the Internet
not because they like the Internet nor because they think they will get something
out of it. They will connect reluctantly motivated by the fear of being left
behind, losing their job, being unable to understand their children, being ridiculed,
or simply feeling old-fashioned.
E-business will soon have to discover ways to design for reassurance.
Read more about Sim's current activities: Copywriting by Kwintessens | Information architecture by Kwintessens (in Dutch)
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