The 20s Website Evaluation

Evaluation Template

This evaluation is especially for business websites which present a downloadable product. You can apply it to larger scale companies, too.

• If possible, use a slow Internet connection (e.g. 28k)
• Contact the website you like to test
  
• Twenty seconds should be enouth to solve those tasks:
  • Company - Get a quick overview.
  • Product - Get a quick overview.
  • Evaluation Version - Initialize the download.
  • Printable Brochure - Initialize the download.

• Evaluation is finished here.

Website Goals

• Product evaluator (who possibly opens multiple windows from a search) should download and evaluate your product.
• A visitor contacting your website 'on the fly' should download something to his local space.
  • the visitor reviews the downloaded files (hours, days, weeks, ... after the visit).
• A visitor should get / print the product-brochure and reads it off-line / off-machine.
• An evaluation-version user should come back, even after months.
• ...

Initial Requirements List

• Home page contains a free-choice-download for the products evaluation version.
  • "one-click-download" link
    • without any registration
  • "register-and-download" page
    • for visitors which like to hand out full data

• Home page contains a one-click-download link for a printable product brochure

• Home Page contains the most important information:
  • a few words about the company.
  • a few words about the main product.
    • focuses on main functionality and strong points
    • focuses on points which distinguish the product from the competition
    • states a pricing information (e.g.: prices starting as low as...)
      • ideally: $0,- for the fully functional standard version.  
        

Extended Requirements List

[The visitor has downloaded something from your website and will possibly come back one day - Small details can influence this.]

• Descriptive File Names
  • Avoid non descriptive filenames ("install.exe" or "brochure.exe")
  • Use descriptive filenames
    • "company_product_evaluation.exe" or
    • "company_product_brochure.pdf"
    • [...]
• Functional Evaluation Versions
  • Keep Evaluation Versions whenever possible fully functional.
     
  • Limit Evaluation Version e.g.
    • in functional quantity (e.g. limited to 25 pages for an authoring tool).
    • in speed (e.g. using low end databases)
       
• Lasting Evaluation Versions (no time limit, e.g. 30 days).
  • This way your product installation 'survives', even if the potential customer interrupts evaluation.
• Potential Customer will possibly come back to the installations after months.
  • Many competitors evaluation versions have expired.
  • Your companies evaluation version is still working.

   

 

Switch Role to Overcome Yourself

If you have problems to apply the changes, you may have to switch the role for a while.

• Think like a product evaluator, who looks at many other competitive products.
  • He has to invest much time to evaluate all companies/products
  • He likes companies/products which reduce his workload.
     
• Think like a visitor, who contacts your website 'on-the-fly' by some lucky circumstances.
  • He is possibly interested in your product.
  • Use his little attention to increase his attention, to increase his interest.
     
•  Think like a potential customer.
  • Why should he hand out his personal data?
  • Forms can be filled out with false data.
  • Anonymous emails can be used to obtain licence key's etc.
  • If he purchase your product, he will likely handout his personal data.

This is best achieved whilst visiting other competitions websites (or whilst remembering own negative experiences with comparable websites).