| Lesson 5 | Products and services |
| Objective | Define your products and services. |
Once you have chosen a site name, you need to focus on the product or services you are selling. That product or service will largely determine
the site's front-end and back-end design. For example, if you decide to sell books, as Amazon.com does, you will probably want to allow users
to search by items such as title, author, ISBN, and subject.
To this end, you will need to develop certain back-end solutions, such as a searchable database. You will also have to find a way to make the database and the Web server communicate with each other. Using the table below, categorize your product or service to get a better idea of exactly what you need.
To this end, you will need to develop certain back-end solutions, such as a searchable database. You will also have to find a way to make the database and the Web server communicate with each other. Using the table below, categorize your product or service to get a better idea of exactly what you need.
When designing your site, consider who the users are, what tasks they will perform, and the environment in which they will operate. Users can
include not only customers but also administrators and internal users. Business design goals are meant to support:
The user's modem speed and browser compatibility might dictate a number of factors. If most users connect using 56 Kbps modems, you might be
able to use more graphics, for instance. Do you want to take a middle-of-the-road approach for maximum browser compatibility and forgo most of
the more visually ornate features, or can you afford to exclude part of the market to have that highly customized site?
The user experience
Consider the fact that the average Web surfer is not interested in a large number of options that require multiple decisions. Furthermore,
most Web surfers wish to spend as little time as possible on one page. Give them what they want, then let them move on to another page. This
is how you convince users to stay with and return to a site.
In the next lesson, you will learn how to meet your customers expectations with archetypes.
Product Services - Quiz
In the next lesson, you will learn how to meet your customers expectations with archetypes.
Click the Quiz link below to take a multiple-choice quiz about ecommerce products and services.
Product Services - Quiz
Product Services - Quiz