My 5-year-old daughter is smart, savvy, and technologically adept for her age (and yes she is only 5 years old). The main point is she is only 5 years old, and when she creates pictures or plays on my computer, I-Pad, or I-Phone she still creates non-structured garble. I am used to her creations as most parents are when interacting with their childrens latest creations. So, imagine my surprise when I have to log into a microsite for business, and have to use a site that looks and operates like my 5-year old daughter built it. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I cry, or at times I just completely checkout never to return.
My frustrations are legion
Slow navigation, occasional page pauses, irrelevant content, too much content, a look that says I put this site together at 3am after a few drinks at the local bar, too much open text, bad carrousel navigation, bad page to page navigation, buried relevant content, graphics that are awkward or out of place for this decade, not being able to have customization or add-users or user groups, and finally awkward cart experience.
The Questions?
- Was my daughter contracted to build this site without my knowing?
- Did the owner run out of money to pay his staff, and had to resort to hiring circus chimps to build this site?
- Is the IT Manager a family relative, who is in desperate need hustled his uncle Joe for a job?
- Was this just a vanity project for some middle manager gone awry?
Microsites are all about the customer centric experience. You need people in charge who understand this. You also need a platform that is easy to use, modern, and is dynamic with its content management functions. You also need people bright enough to engineer a buyer centric experience. What good is a tool if no one knows how to use it?
The two biggest problems with these sites are web bad platform, no insight into customer centricity. A good platform will enable you to create an experience that is tiered to the specific audience you are trying to communicate with. This in turn will increase sales and visitation to your sites.
In closing, I love my daughter but I do not want her building microsites for me any time soon even with the best tools available. I would think most people who own microsites would not want my daughter designing sites for them either. Why is it then that I keep encountering these sites, that look like my daughter had designed them then?
