3 Things That Drive Me Crazy…About Websites

If you are like me, chances are you’ve done some online shopping. If you are really like me, you make 80% of your purchases online. Why? For me it’s easier, quicker, often cheaper, and usually provides you with more options than traditional shopping. Of course there are some downsides of online shopping. Shipping charges, identity theft, return hassles, and the inability to hold the product in your hand are just some of the reasons why many people hate online shopping. Despite some of these inconveniences, I still prefer to conduct business on the ol’ net web.
Now with all of this experience, I’ve come across several things that completely ruin my shopping experience. I’ll narrow it down to 3 just for the sake of keeping this a short post.

1. Shipping and Billing Address – It seems so simple, yet many sites still require you to type in both your shipping and billing address. How difficult is it to add one of those little checkboxes that says “my billing address is my shipping address”? It saves time and frustration.
2. Saving Account Information – How many times have you filled out what seems like pages of online forms only to have missed the one little drop down that says “how did you hear about us?” only to have that annoying red line of text say “ooops, you missed something”? What’s even worse is how 90% of the time your information isn’t saved.  Yes, even I make mistakes but please don’t compound my embarrassment by making me enter my info twice.
   

   Say what???

3. Captcha – Ugh, this is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to filling out forms online or submitting personal information. I get why we have to do it but is it possible to make it just slightly easier to understand? Is that a “b” or an “l” and an “o”? Is that a “6″ or is it a “b”? And whats with all of the grid lines? As if deciphering this text wasn’t hard enough, you had to go and make it like one of those 3D posters popular in the mid nineties. Figure out a better system that protects my info but also doesn’t frustrate me to no end.