> From: Steven J. Owens[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>
>
> Gill, Kathy writes:
>
> Perhaps I wasn't as clear as I could be in my post. proper
> usability identifies the users and their tasks and prioritizes
> accordingly.
>
i think we're saying the same thing ....
> > My pet peeve is national sites, like United Airlines or NW Airlines,
> > that don't have their bloody 1.800 reservations number on the top page
> > -- or Outpost.Com, whose 1.800 number is in a bloody GIF that has no
> > ALT tags! Grrrrr. People DO sometimes want to talk to a person at the
> > corporation!
>
> Yes and no... I think it's a good idea to have the 1-800 number
> easily accessible. But you have to balance that with the tendency to
> drive users towards using the phone instead of the web page.
>
sometimes i'm going to the web site to FIND the phone -- and United does NOT have an
easily accessible "about us" page. Please, ya;ll go visit http://www.ual.com/ -- grrrr.
> > > The ultimate would be real-time
> > > chat response for lost & confused users, where the chat service
> > > would have knowledgable "tellers" who know and understand all the
> > > material and are responsible for helping formulate site refinements
> > > to cut down on future questions. It'll never happen, but it's nice
> > > to dream...).
> >
> > THIS is cool! Wow -- great idea -- how is this different from 1.800
> > phone lines?
>
> I'm not sure if this is tongue-in-cheek or not.
>
No - what I meant was -- companies "staff" 1.800 lines -- so why not have them "staff"
the online chat area. That's what I meant from "how is it different" -- ie, it
requires staff.
> Second, if you start this early on and let it grow slowly, as the
> site grows, you can probably balance the growth in traffic with the
> development of "boilerplate" answers. The trick is to then apply
> those answers without making it too obviously a form reply.
>
Yes - like standard e-mail responses based on standard letter responses based on
having someone with a clue who analyzes requests looking for most common ones. IE,
FAQs <g>.
Kathy
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