Talk to Me, Baby
By Jodi Bollaert
Chat is one of the most popular forms of online collaboration. While chat may not be a direct source of e-commerce income, savvy Web site owners will take advantage of the ancillary sales opportunities it provides. Because content on active chat systems is always fresh, visitors are more likely to return. That is, as long as the application is user friendly. If your chat application isn't intuitive, your investment in building it will have been wasted.
Common Usability Problems. Some common problems that make chat difficult to use include:
- a chat area that's hard to find within a site,
- complex registration and login processes,
- no status messages,
- unclear labels within the chat,
- delays between interactions,
- no context-sensitive help,
- no privacy information.
Define the Purpose of Your Chat Application. Before you write a line of code, you should first determine why you want to include chat. How would it support your site's business objectives? Perhaps it would draw more people to your site and increase your affiliate advertising revenues. Maybe user registrations would provide a source for potential customers.
After you've determined your goals, figure out who your target audience is and whether it even makes sense to have a chat application. Once you've determined that your audience will benefit from it, the following steps will help you build one that's worth your investment.
Get to Know Your Audience. While you may have fantasies of a chat application that appeals to the masses, your chances of success are greater if you focus on attracting a particular population segment.
