Change behavior and increase conversion

Commissioned by CanalDigitaal, Validators researched the canaldigitaal.nl website with a completely new usability research set-up based on Persuasion Design and the Behavioral model. The goal for CanalDigitaal was to increase the conversion rate and optimize the website. In addition to user friendliness (Ability), research was conducted into the motivation and triggers with regard to taking out a television and/or internet subscription. Based on the results, insights were given and the resulting advice made visual and concrete by means of mock-ups.

The approach
Traditional usability research focuses mainly on the usability of the website. Previous research already showed that a user-friendly website is absolutely no guarantee for a high conversion rate. A user has to be tempted to make the conversion. In the past two years Validators has been inspired by the Behavioral Model of B.J. Fogg. This model deepens the preconditions for a successful website or application, namely:

  • Motivation level web visitors (Motivation)
  • Easily show the desired behavior (Ability)
  • Presence of (purchase) incentives (Triggers)

The basic philosophy of B.J. Fogg is that when Motivation and Ability are high enough there is a chance of conversion. If then the right Triggers are offered in the right place, then the chance of conversion is maximal. This innovative way of UX research also requires an entirely new methodology that consists of eye-tracking with Retrospective Thinking Out Loud interviews, Facial Coding (N=20) and Usability Online research in the communication target group (N=100).

The result
The study revealed a number of learnings with regard to conversion.

Some learnings are:

  • Appreciation and navigation on the website was fine and therefore the basic setup was sufficient.
  • Banner messages on the homepage were too fast making them difficult to read.
  • From the emotion measurement (Facial Coding) most pages were positive except for the important product page where negative emotion prevailed.
  • The targeted search for subscriptions, products or information was complicated. This could be solved by simple adjustments on the website.
  • Displaying important content with a higher contrast to the background colour ensures better legibility.

By combining elements from the Behavior model it becomes clear which adjustments are important. A quick win for CanalDigitaal was for example the receipt:

Ability: communicate more clearly what the costs are.
Motivation: discount on the subscription is very important.
Triggers: various triggers close to the CTO button.

Mock-ups: Improved versions of web pages
Most of the results have been realized in mock-ups. Simply put, the results of the research are directly applied to original pages edited by Validators. These mock-ups are used as input for A/B testing, making it immediately visible whether a change in design, content or navigation results in a higher conversion rate.

Original

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Mock-up

 

Would you like more information?

Contact mer Bart.Massa@validators.nl