4 ms·

> I'm signalling interest in product X as hard as I can, and you've AB tested that this is a great time to jangle your keys over there instead? If I may... I h

by Jenk 4y ago

> I'm signalling interest in product X as hard as I can, and you've AB tested that this is a great time to jangle your keys over there instead? If I may... I have seen data from a big retailer that shows any user that doesn't immediately purchase an item, is actually not that interested in the product on the screen. If a customer is going to buy something, they will do it promptly. Anyone else is just browsing. YMMV, grain of salt, context dependent, etc, etc.

jerf 4y ago
In this case, what I'm referring to is: 1. Clicked on page. 2. Took maybe 10 seconds to take in what is "above the fold". 3. Scrolled down to see what else there is. 4. BAM! Popup triggered by scrolling down. While I understand what you're getting at, they do not yet have the info to know that I'm browsing or whatever. They were so excited about their stupid popup that they didn't even get that far. I will say, generally, when I'm to the point that I'm entering credit card info, I've put up with it, but I have been chased off of sites by this use case before. Especially if that popup also crosses with some other popup and now I'm chasing down the tiny little 6pt light-grey-on-white little "x"s to click away the popups in the right order. Actually, let me add that to my touchstone list. OF COURSE hiding the dismissal icon for the popup increases "engagement" with the popup. You don't even need to run a test for that, because what other result could it have? "We shrank the close icon, moved it to the lower right corner where nobody expects it, and made sure to kill the constrast even harder, and customers dismissed it 2.5 seconds more quickly on average"? Of course that's not possible. But... that's the wrong question! And AB testing is really good at answering the question you're asking, it has no mechanism in and of itself to see whether you're asking the right question. If you're getting down to this you've overoptimized.
- Akronymus 4y ago
  Or a popup that triggers for moving the mouse towards the top bar. I constantly highlight text for reading purposes (A habit I have) of course that moves the mouse. Not a reason to annoy me with that shit.
- dpe82 4y ago
  In fact, you want the dismiss button to be easily discovered and used. Dismissals are an important signal about the quality of the content; just as important as clicks. When you make the button impossible to use you rob yourself of that signal while simultaneously making click data far less reliable.
  - b112 4y ago
    Unless you're a manager, not getting the results desired. Then the problem is people, and "they're just clicking close out of reflex!". Cue hiding this, and results you wanted appear! Success! Raise! Promotion! Or, maybe more funding, due to signs of greater engagement.
    - dpe82 4y ago
      Sure; until a company that actually understands this stuff comes along and eats that company's lunch. In the long run, reality eventually wins.
- Jenk 4y ago
  They know you clicked on a page that is for a given (set of?) product(s). They know you stayed on that page for longer than a moment, then scrolled down. They may also have data that >90% of customers who make a purchase choose/click in <10 seconds, and never scroll. Or may even take a different path entirely or similar. They could interpret all of that as you inspected the product(s) on the page, didn't choose/click one, and _now_ is the best time to prompt you with suggestions to maintain engagement in >75% of instances. You could also be one of the lucky few customers in a sacrificial control group unknowingly testing their new shitty popup to measure its impact on sales. Whilst I can't say for certain that any of this is your case, I absolutely guarantee there are many retail sites that do this - I've worked at several now - and this is bread-and-butter material to data teams working with customer engagement.
sharemywin 4y ago
The number to figure out is how much time do you wait to interrupt. Also wonder if it's person dependant. Some people aren't impulsive buyers.
axus 4y ago
Could the popup be a punishment for reading the fine print?
InCityDreams 4y ago
>I have seen data from a big retailer that shows any user that doesn't immediately purchase an item, is actually not that interested in the product on the screen. Fuck that. Unless it's an emergency (in which case I'll go to a shop), anything i purchase online is carefully considered, sometimes over several weeks. My revolving user-agent, vpn etc may give the illusion I'm not interested....but i am indeed, just browsing...

by Jenk 4y ago

jerf 4y ago

In this case, what I'm referring to is: 1. Clicked on page. 2. Took maybe 10 seconds to take in what is "above the fold". 3. Scrolled down to see what else there is. 4. BAM! Popup triggered by scrolling down. While I understand what you're getting at, they do not yet have the info to know that I'm browsing or whatever. They were so excited about their stupid popup that they didn't even get that far. I will say, generally, when I'm to the point that I'm entering credit card info, I've put up with it, but I have been chased off of sites by this use case before. Especially if that popup also crosses with some other popup and now I'm chasing down the tiny little 6pt light-grey-on-white little "x"s to click away the popups in the right order. Actually, let me add that to my touchstone list. OF COURSE hiding the dismissal icon for the popup increases "engagement" with the popup. You don't even need to run a test for that, because what other result could it have? "We shrank the close icon, moved it to the lower right corner where nobody expects it, and made sure to kill the constrast even harder, and customers dismissed it 2.5 seconds more quickly on average"? Of course that's not possible. But... that's the wrong question! And AB testing is really good at answering the question you're asking, it has no mechanism in and of itself to see whether you're asking the right question. If you're getting down to this you've overoptimized.

Akronymus 4y ago
Or a popup that triggers for moving the mouse towards the top bar. I constantly highlight text for reading purposes (A habit I have) of course that moves the mouse. Not a reason to annoy me with that shit.
dpe82 4y ago
In fact, you want the dismiss button to be easily discovered and used. Dismissals are an important signal about the quality of the content; just as important as clicks. When you make the button impossible to use you rob yourself of that signal while simultaneously making click data far less reliable.
- b112 4y ago
  Unless you're a manager, not getting the results desired. Then the problem is people, and "they're just clicking close out of reflex!". Cue hiding this, and results you wanted appear! Success! Raise! Promotion! Or, maybe more funding, due to signs of greater engagement.
  - dpe82 4y ago
    Sure; until a company that actually understands this stuff comes along and eats that company's lunch. In the long run, reality eventually wins.
Jenk 4y ago
They know you clicked on a page that is for a given (set of?) product(s). They know you stayed on that page for longer than a moment, then scrolled down. They may also have data that >90% of customers who make a purchase choose/click in <10 seconds, and never scroll. Or may even take a different path entirely or similar. They could interpret all of that as you inspected the product(s) on the page, didn't choose/click one, and _now_ is the best time to prompt you with suggestions to maintain engagement in >75% of instances. You could also be one of the lucky few customers in a sacrificial control group unknowingly testing their new shitty popup to measure its impact on sales. Whilst I can't say for certain that any of this is your case, I absolutely guarantee there are many retail sites that do this - I've worked at several now - and this is bread-and-butter material to data teams working with customer engagement.

sharemywin 4y ago

The number to figure out is how much time do you wait to interrupt. Also wonder if it's person dependant. Some people aren't impulsive buyers.

axus 4y ago

Could the popup be a punishment for reading the fine print?

InCityDreams 4y ago

>I have seen data from a big retailer that shows any user that doesn't immediately purchase an item, is actually not that interested in the product on the screen. Fuck that. Unless it's an emergency (in which case I'll go to a shop), anything i purchase online is carefully considered, sometimes over several weeks. My revolving user-agent, vpn etc may give the illusion I'm not interested....but i am indeed, just browsing...