Jul. 2000 Issue of
WebBusiness Magazine
A Closer Look Index
BY LOU ROSENFELD
 Louis Rosenfeld is president of Argus Associates, which specializes in providing information architecture consulting to Fortune 500s. He is coauthor of the best-seller, Information Architecture on the World Wide Web. Read previous installments of "A Closer Look." |
e put the words "Information Technology" together as a phrase for a reason. But it's all too common for IT players to emphasize the technology and ignore the information that the technology exists to convey. Take my friendly local cable provider, MediaOne.
MediaOne's slogan "This is Broadband. This is the way." fixates on the wire they stuff into our walls. OK, fine: it's just a slogan. But their site is equally guilty of de-emphasizing customers and the services they seek in favor of technology for technology's sake.
An Applet Fetish
About 50% of the site's main page is dominated by a Java applet.
This applet is the key to the guts of the site, providing all the significant navigational options. And there is no obvious reason for MediaOne to use a technology that doesn't provide any real value for such a critical part of the site. Consider these issues:
- It takes unnecessarily long to download. On my 28K modem, it takes about 40 seconds.
- It hides critical information and might prevent users from finding the information they need. Yes, in this day and age, there are still many users won't know to mouse-over the main options to reveal subcategories. But what value does this feature provide in the first place?
While we're discussing main page space waste, it's also worth noting that MediaOne devotes about 25% of this prime real estate to the logotypes of "MediaOne Digital NexTV", "MediaOne Group", and "MediaOne iN DEMAND". The goal here is to feature these three items, which is fine; the problem is that MediaOne relies on logotypes to convey meaning. Unless you're Coca Cola, you can't expect anyone besides a corporate insider to recognize your logotype. But MediaOne somehow expects users to realize that "MediaOne Digital NexTV" is different than its other television services solely based on its logotype. This is clearly a situation where descriptive text is preferable to an image. The same is true for the logotypes "MediaOne Group" (MediaOne's parent) and "MediaOne iN DEMAND" (the pay-per-view service); why use up so much space when text would convey meaning more efficiently? User testing with someone other than the MediaOne designer at the next cubicle would likely confirm that there are better ways to use this chunk of screen space.
We'd Be Glad to Serve or Not Serve You…
OK, maybe the main page would have loaded better if I'd already taken up MediaOne on their cable modem service. But what when I tried to sign up via MediaOne's website, a strange paradox emerges: despite its technology-centric mindset, MediaOne doesn't have the technology to successfully sign me up on their site.
Fumbling my way through the Java applet menu on the main page, I select "Internet" from "Products and Services". I read through a block of text to learn that, as a resident of California, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Ohio or Wisconsin, I need to check whether MediaOne's RoadRunner service is available at my address (for some reason Illinois residents get a separate option). As directed, I enter my address to find that…
…the service may be available where I live. Not is or isn't. May be. And I can call one of their helpful humans to learn more. Or, incredibly, I can enter a zip code for a friend to see if they may or may not be able to take advantage of MediaOne's service. As if I'd do that to a friend! For kicks I did try five other metropolitan Detroit zip codes, and found the same results.
For my troubles, I learned that:
- I can't learn whether or not I'm eligible for MediaOne's RoadRunner service.
- Therefore I can't sign up for MediaOne's RoadRunner service.
- I can extend that same level of uncertainty to my friends and family in the area.
- MediaOne's telephone-based customer support is my only remaining option.
MediaOne over-uses technology on their main page, for no apparent benefit. And it oddly squanders a good opportunity to use it in the process of signing up customers. For all their broadband wizardry, MediaOne can't nail the basics of designing a well-functioning website; Mom and Pop ISPs do a better job of signing up users than does this publicly-held (NYSE: UMG) information technology player. MediaOne would do better to start concentrating on the information (how it's going to be used, and who's going to use it), and taking more care to use technology effectively.
Read previous installments of "A Closer Look."
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