Stop releasing websites that don’t work
Four reasons why A/B testing and QA testing jobs should never end
I couldn’t wrap my mind around how one web task became a two-week project. But let’s back up so you understand my frustration. I tried to update my email address on one particular website. I’d click on “Account Information” and “Contact Information,” and sigh when the error messages continued to show up. Calling the company resulted in a COVID-19 alert and anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour of elevator music. I tested the website on various browsers on my laptop.
Then I tried testing the website on my tablet and smartphone. I even tried the mobile app. No dice. Even worse, whenever I logged in, the company put up an alert that they could not reach me because my email address was outdated. Then I got a letter via snail mail telling me to go the company’s website.
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If this were a small mom-and-pop shop, I would’ve been able to write the tech error off as a small business struggling to contact its web designer or web editor. But this was a $1.8 trillion company: Citibank. And even now, after finally getting ahold of a customer service rep, the customer service rep responded with a verbal shrug and said she updated my email address manually. I didn’t hear one word about contacting their tech department.
Big fish. Little fish. Either way, if your website does not work efficiently, you can frustrate a customer so much that (s)he won’t want to do business with you. And there are some web glitches that are entirely too easy to fix before the public even knows about them. Here are four of the easiest ones to resolve on any website right now — whether you’re selling certificates of deposit or iron-on T-shirts.