You never get a second chance to make a first impression : meet your users’ expectations regarding web object placement in online shops

Knowledge about users’ expectations and mental models is a key aspect of interface development. By meeting users’ expectations, errors may be prevented and interaction quality enhanced. In the case of online shops, this means that it is crucial to know where users expect to find the most common Web ob- jects such as the search field, shopping cart, or navigation. In this chapter, we show how users’ mental models of an online shop can be analyzed and validated empirically. The resulting model shows where users typically expect to find the most common Web objects within an online store. This knowledge can be used to improve the first impression, orientation, and usability of your website.