Cross Rhythms Direct - Usability 報告（する）／憶測
Gervase Markham - 11th May 2003
Introduction
This 文書 is a 一連の comments on the general usability of the Cross Rhythms Direct (CRD) web shop. It concentrates mostly on the CD 味方する of the 商売／仕事, because that's where the greatest 可能性のある for growth is, but it also has some things to say about the 統合，差別撤廃 of the different types of 商品／売買する. I've also taken the 適切な時期 to 記録，記録的な／記録する thoughts that （機の）カム to me which were not 厳密に usability-focussed.
This 文書 is not まず第一に／本来 focussed on the look and aesthetics of the 場所／位置. The 言及／関連d mockups are for illustrative 目的s only and, while 示すing the sort of 簡単 and usability that is the 目的（とする） of the 演習, should not be taken to mean that, for example, 最高潮の場面d CDs should have a red 国境, or the search box 絶対 has to be in the 最高の，を越す middle of the page.
Why Cross Rhythms?
The first question to ask is: why would anyone ever buy CDs from Cross Rhythms as …に反対するd to any other CD shop, online or real-world? What does CRD have that the others do not?
You can't compete on price, and probably wouldn't want to given that part of the point is to 基金 CR. You can't compete on breadth of 目録 at the moment – and probably never will be able to, given that your 目録 is probably defined by that of your 供給者, CPO. You could encourage people to buy from CRD because it supports the 省, but sadly only a 限られた／立憲的な market care enough for that 推論する／理由 alone to be 十分な.
However, I do think Cross Rhythms Direct's has a number of unique features which could make it a 説得力のある 場所／位置 from which to 購入（する） CDs. They are:
1. Honest Reviews
CRD's most important hook, in my 見解（をとる）, is its reviews - a large databank of honest data about the 質 of each CD. On any other 場所／位置, because the 焦点（を合わせる） is on selling you stuff, every CD is generously reviewed (see Juice for the magazine 同等（の） of this.) CR can attract and keep punters because they know what they are getting when they buy something.
So, the reviews and the ratings need to be 目だつ in the interface. Changing the squares into a gold and silver 星／主役にするs is therefore a retrograde step, because it minimises this 独特の. Cross Rhythms has never been ashamed to say when something's mediocre, and should not be afraid to do so even in the shop interface. People 尊敬（する）・点 honesty. Taking this idea その上の, a “Hall of Fame” or “Our Reviewers Recommend” 最高潮の場面ing all the (利用できる) CDs to have ever got a 9 or 10-square review, organised by genre, would be useful e.g. for someone buying a 現在の.
2. 独立した・無所属 目録
The second 独特の CR has, or could have, is the 独立した・無所属 CDs in its 目録. 供給するing 施設s for unsigned and up-and-coming 禁止（する）d to 分配する their music both helps them in their 省 and 供給するs a unique visitation 推論する／理由 for CRD. On the 逮捕する, there is no 推論する／理由 why 禁止（する）d should need a 記録，記録的な／記録する 取引，協定 to appear in web 蓄える／店s; CR should make it as 平易な, as (a)自動的な／(n)自動拳銃 and as attractive as possible for 禁止（する）d to 調印する up to 分配する their stuff through CRD. The way to play this is to have both 独立した・無所属 and mainstream CCM CDs look 正確に／まさに the same in the interface (“Wow! My CD's there と一緒に The Newsboys!”), and to encourage the 独立した・無所属 禁止（する）d to link to CRD from their websites as the 権威のある web 購入（する）ing source.
3. The Experience CD
A third 独特の is the Experience CD – which is a 広大な／多数の／重要な marketing 道具 for CRD. The 跡をつける 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）ing on the 支援する of the CD should have the CRD ID numbers on it (and, on another usability 公式文書，認める, should use colour coding to distinguish 跡をつけるs from other content, rather than in the 現在の useless 補欠／交替の／交替するing way.) The listings from the 現在の and past CDs with 詳細（に述べる）s of each 跡をつける should be 利用できる in the interface, to make it as 平易な as possible for 使用者s to buy the music they've heard. One idea might be, if licensing 許すs, to make copies of just the CD from each 問題／発行する 利用できる for 解放する／自由な or a modest 料金 – people taking them up would be more likely both to buy music from CRD, and to subscribe to the mag.
4. Usability
The fourth way in which is could stand out, of course, is that it could have the easiest-to-use interface that made it a 楽しみ to browse through and buy from :-)
現在の 場所／位置 Usability
1. Reviews vs. CDs
The first usability 問題／発行する with the 場所／位置 is the 誤った dichotomy between the “Reviews” part of the 場所／位置, branded in blue, and the “Shop” part, branded in red. すぐに on visiting CRD at http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/direct/ (古記録d copy), one is asked to choose between the two 味方するs, and the 分裂（する） is 現在の throughout the 場所／位置 - everything seems duplicated. There are
The two halves are different enough (different 判型s, icons etc.) that it's jarring to move from one to the other. The two halves are crosslinked at 無作為の 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs, but the 影響 is to keep the 使用者 自信のない of やめる where they are.
現在／一般に, on the main URL, the 使用者 is 現在のd with two 選択s, depending on whether they “know what they want” or not. The two 選択s take them to either the red or blue sections - but the two 選択s are 基本的に the same from a 使用者's point of 見解（をとる）. The underlying idea of having a 仕事-oriented interface is a good one, but the point of 相違 for the two 仕事s is too 早期に.
This can be seen because clicking either link 現在のs the 使用者 with a choice of searching or browsing - it's just that in one 事例／患者, they are searching CDs, and in the other, they are searching reviews. There's no real difference here – in a more usable interface, the 使用者 would have the 選択 of searching for an artist or CD they know the 指名する of, getting a 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of search results, and only then have to choose between buying the 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）d items すぐに or reading reviews.
推薦: The 場所／位置 should be 統一するd - there should be a 選び出す／独身 search, with an 選択 to search either “CDs 利用できる to buy” or “all reviews”, a 選び出す／独身 判型 of results, and a 選び出す／独身 page for each CD.
現在／一般に, an 選択 is 利用できる to browse alphabetically by Artist or 肩書を与える. However, 使用者s do not arrive at the shop and think "Hmm. I'm going to buy a CD whose 肩書を与える begins with the letter T today." If they know the 指名する of the artist in question, they'll type their 指名する into the search box.
推薦: 許す instead browsing by genre, sorted by number of squares. CRD should not be afraid to plug better music more prominently – selling more good stuff means happier 顧客s, and happier 顧客s come 支援する.
2. 小売/独立した・無所属
The second major 問題／発行する is that CRD has two separate parts - the 独立した・無所属 CDs and the CDs from artists 調印するd to major labels. This produces an unfortunate usability 障害物 to cross because CDs can be sent out in one of two ways, which 現在／一般に 要求する different 支払い（額） and checkout 機械装置s. This is harder to solve, because it 伴う／関わるs elements not under your 支配（する）／統制する. The best 解答 would be to 除去する the distinction and have a 選び出す／独身 point of 支払い（額） – this could be done by having a 小売 partner which agreed to take 独立した・無所属 orders as any other CD order but then pass the 詳細（に述べる）s 支援する to Cross Rhythms to pass them on to the artist. However, if this is not possible, then the differences between the two 大勝するs should be minimised.
推薦: the shop should 扱う／治療する all 購入（する）s as a 選び出す／独身 basket up until the moment of checkout. At the point of clicking "Checkout", if the 使用者 has selected all items from a 選び出す／独身 shop, the 使用者 would be taken to the checkout for that shop. Only if the 使用者 had selected items from both shops would something else happen. In this 事例／患者, the 使用者 would go to an 中間の 審査する, where all the （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） ありふれた to both checkouts would be entered. Then, the 使用者 would be led through both checkouts in turn, with as many fields as possible pre-filled from the first 審査する. This way, the inconvenience is kept to a 最小限. The two checkouts would look and feel as 同一の as possible.
In 実施 条件, this would probably be done by 持続するing the Cart on the Cross Rhythms 場所／位置 throughout, and then transferring the item numbers and （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） for the 小売 CDs in one big chunk to your credit-card-taking partner 場所／位置 just before you take the 使用者 to their checkout.
3. 航海
Websites, unlike e.g. 調書をとる／予約するs or 目録s, have no physicality to give you a spatial でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる of 言及／関連, and so 航海 has to be carefully designed so the 使用者 never feels lost, and can always get where they want to go from where they are.
航海 should also be omnipresent and 一貫した. Consistency makes the 使用者 feel like they know what's going on, and means that when they want something, it's always in the same place.
The 現在の 場所／位置 has very little 航海; you can 見解（をとる） (one of your) carts, and check out, but さもなければ each page doesn't fit itself into a 使用者's mental model of how the 場所／位置 is 建設するd. It's also inconsistent – it's いつかs the sidebar, いつかs text links, いつかs little green buttons.
推薦: I have 用意が出来ている a mockup of what the 前線 page of the CD shop might look like.
This 明白に doesn't 含む／封じ込める all the elements that the real thing might 含む／封じ込める, 特に in the main content area, but it 具体的に表現するs many of the 推薦s in this 報告（する）／憶測, 特に those on 航海, and 努力する／競うs for the sort of 平易な 簡単 that makes a 場所／位置 usable and 理解できる.
The new 前線 page design has the に引き続いて features:
- いっそう少なく space wasted on logos; space more efficiently used
- Simple and uncluttered visual design
- 一貫した and omnipresent tabbed interface for switching between departments.
- 目だつ search interface, with 選び出す／独身 search box (see 4.)
- 決裂／故障 into 部類s by genre rather than alphabetically
- The Experience CD 跡をつける listings 利用できる
- Hall of Fame 利用できる for recommending particular items
- 選び出す／独身 cart (see 2.)
- More informative 撤退s (see 6.)
A page like the mockup above should be what you see when visiting http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/direct/ . The page 現在／一般に at that URL wastes a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of space; it uses one third of the 審査する to 陳列する，発揮する a logo, and only has two links “above the 倍の”. The one at is a little better, but it doesn't seem to be linked from anywhere.
4. Search
The heart of any web shop is its search interface. In an ideal web shop, every page should have a 選び出す／独身 search box in a 一貫した 場所, which should Just Work - that is to say, the ideal search interface consists of a 選び出す／独身 text box and a 選び出す／独身 button which, when 圧力（をかける）d, produces 正確に／まさに the result you want. If it's not as 平易な to search as Google, which usually gives you the 権利 result from all the pages on the web using only a 選び出す／独身 textbox and button, then it needs to be made easier.
The ideal 現在のd above may not be 全く achievable in the real world; it is 許容できる to have one or or perhaps two other widgets, as long as their default is the most sensible 選択. For example, on the mockup, to を取り引きする the problem that CRD does not sell all the CDs which CR has reviewed (which, in an ideal world, it would do), we have a dropdown to choose whether the search should be 制限するd to CDs 利用できる to buy. The default for this dropdown would be different depending on which part of the 場所／位置 the search box was 据えるd.
推薦: there should be a 選び出す／独身 search box, which should search for the given text in both artist and album (or, if all digits, as a 言及／関連 number). If there are 攻撃する，衝突するs in 多重の 部類s, it should 現在の them all.
Additionally, it shouldn't place any 制限s on how the 使用者 判型s the search - so a search for "Sara Groves" or “SARA GROVES” should produce 正確に／まさに the same results as a search for "Groves, Sara". 除去するing the 現在の 制限s means that you don't need three paragraphs explaining how the Search 機能（する）／行事 作品. 使用者s don't read 指示／教授／教育s anyway.
If you search on a number which is a CD ID number, there would be only a 選び出す／独身 result, and you should be taken straight to the page for that CD, rather than to the search results page.
5. Search Results
The 現在の search results (the ones you get from the shop search rather than the review search) are not too bad but, as discussed above, they minimise the CR 独特の of reviews and ratings, and also 現在の artist 指名するs in a “computer” 判型 rather than a human one.
推薦: I've done a redesigned 見解／翻訳／版 of the search results (without the surrounding 航海, which is mocked up at the other URL).
The new search results design has the に引き続いて features:
- 除去 of unnecessary info on which shop the CD is 利用できる from
- Search results are across both artist and 肩書を与える
- 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）s artists' 指名するs as people 推定する／予想する them
- Gives a short 抽出する from the review
- Gives the 十分な 率ing （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） (see “Why Cross Rhythms?”)
6. 撤退s
The 現在の 場所／位置 has the web 同等（の） of 撤退 引用するs in a magazine – boxes 最高潮の場面ing particular CDs. These are a good idea. However, each CD should have its own potted synopsis which is not just the first 宣告，判決 and a half of the review. There's no way you can automatically summarise a review using a computer; but it's not a hard 仕事 for a human. It may take a little while, but it'll sell each CD so much better if the two 宣告，判決s which summarise it are a proper 要約. E.g. for Sara Groves, “Past The Wishing”:
"Catchy pop one moment, gentle piano-driven balladry the next... a good listening experience."
rather than:
"After the success of Sara's last album 'Conversations', this is somewhat of a retrospective in that this 2000 US 解放（する） 含む／封じ込めるs nine songs that Sara wrote between 1990 and 1997."
推薦: See the mockup; it gives some examples of 改善するd 撤退s. 公式文書，認める that they don't have a “Buy” button – this question is open for 審議, but I think not having one fits with the ethos of the 使用者 making an 知らせるd 決定／判定勝ち（する） about each 購入（する） – the usage シナリオ would 伴う／関わる them clicking the “more...” link to go to the page for that CD, and then clicking Buy from there.
7. Checkouts
These comments relate to the CPO checkout, not the 独立した・無所属 one (which I 港／避難所't used), but would also 適用する to the 連合させるd checkout 示唆するd above. 陳謝s for the 欠如（する） of a mockup of a better interface; there wasn't time. This 分析 is not exhaustive.
Basket: I （機の）カム 支援する to my basket after a week or so, and the contents were still there (good.) However, it only gave the 肩書を与える of the album and not the artist. “The Life and Times of 絶対の Truth”? Who's that buy? Why did I 追加する it?
推薦: 追加する the artist to the album 指名する in the “肩書を与える” field. Make the 肩書を与える a link 支援する to the page for that CD.
It's very rare that a 顧客 will want more than one of any CD. Therefore, an interface which assumes that buying 27 is as likely as buying 1 will be unnecessarily 複雑にするd.
推薦: dispense with “量”, “部隊 Price” and “Subtotal”, and just have:
| Quench: Afterglow | &続けざまに猛撃する;13.99 | Another One | 除去する |
| Andy Hunter: Exodus | &続けざまに猛撃する;12.99 | Another One | 除去する |
| ... |
Then, you can 溝へはまらせる／不時着する the “Update” and “Reset” buttons (no text boxes any more), and just have “Empty” and “Checkout”, and the whole interface gets a lot simpler.
Login: It asks for a username. That makes the 使用者 think “what on earth did I choose for my username?” What it 現実に wants, and should say it wants, is an email 演説（する）／住所. For most 使用者s, who only have one email 演説（する）／住所, that 除去するs all 不確定.
Checkout: The CD 指名するs are now linked – but the links take you to a 複雑にするd and seemingly pointless 審査する about that CD, which has links like “catalog” which take you to the CPO catalog, and not the CRD one. 災害! The 使用者 shouldn't be able to wander off like this into the CPO 場所／位置 and get horribly 混乱させるd. As far as they are 関心d, they are buying from CRD, not CPO.
推薦: if CRD is to continue partnering with CPO, it needs to 得る more 支配（する）／統制する over the 使用者 experience its 顧客s have – to style the 場所／位置 more like its own, and to 妨げる them 存在 able to wander off into the bowels of CPO.
証拠不十分s
Moving その上の away from usability, the 現在の CRD shop has two major 欠陥／不足s which need to be 修正するd or minimised.
1. Small 目録 Size
The small size of the 目録 could be 修正するd, in the short 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語, by linking through to WesleyOwen.com for CDs you don't sell. You aren't going to get the sale, so you might 同様に 選ぶ up the referral （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限. It also makes CR more of an 権威のある source for CDs. If someone comes to buy something and finds they can't, they are いっそう少なく likely to go 経由で CRD in the 未来. Conversely, even if they buy it from another merchant, they will hopefully still have 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がるd the CR reviews and will therefore use CR as an 接近 portal for their next 購入（する）, which might be something you do 在庫／株.
Hopefully, as the 目録 拡大するs, you can 取って代わる Wesley Owen links with CRD/CPO links transparently.
2. 欠如（する） of Music 見本s
存在 able to listen before 購入（する）ing is one of the 重要な 独特のs of a web shop as …に反対するd to a bricks-and-迫撃砲 one. This is one of the 推論する／理由s why “listening 地位，任命するs” have become so much more ありふれた in 記録，記録的な／記録する shops recently. Therefore, a web 蓄える／店 needs this ーするために compete.
However, it's やめる possible that this is an 絶対の nightmare to 交渉する, organise and 治める. On the other 手渡す, you could have the 機械装置 already in place for the magazine 味方する of things – I don't know. It's arguable whether 30-second excerpts could 落ちる under the 鮮明度／定義 of “fair use for review” under copyright 法律. Maybe you could 協議する a lawyer on that point. But, さもなければ, the 欠如（する） of 見本s could be 修正するd by linking to 禁止（する）d' websites, or 深い-linking direct to their 見本s, or 申し込む／申し出ing Cross Rhythms Experience CDs by 地位，任命する.
結論
CRD has the 可能性のある to become an 権威のある source for Christian music CDs in the UK. However, to 達成する that position, it needs to てこ入れ／借入資本 its unique selling points and take steps to minimise its 証拠不十分s.
Time 強制s have meant that this 報告（する）／憶測 is briefer, and the mockups いっそう少なく polished, than I would ideally like. It also 含む／封じ込めるs what appear to be unsupported 主張s (e..g “使用者s don't read 指示／教授／教育s”) which are 現実に usability 原則s 井戸／弁護士席 supported by 研究. Therefore, I would be happy to be 接触するd to discuss anything in this 報告（する）／憶測 その上の, and (a)手の込んだ／(v)詳述する on my ideas and suggestions.
My hope is that this 報告（する）／憶測 will 間接に 促進する the growth of the Cross Rhythms 省 by helping CRD to become more successful and profitable.
Gervase Markham