How Spam has deteriorated the web User eXperience
For the past three weeks I’ve been getting spam email with the subject “greeting card sent to you..” Of course, as soon as you open the email, it’s evident that it’s an IP address link (HIGH ALERT FOR PIRATE ATTACK!) So, I’ve been ignoring them, and guess what, the byproduct is that I’ll be ignoring all greetings cards including the legit ones. So, I know, you’re saying, but that’s not fair! Darn right! It’s no wonder email will be replaced by IM or by some other text messaging environment(s). Some people have become downright suspicious about the email they get and ignore almost all of it. Here’s a quote from a friend of mine, “I get all this spam with names that are the same as my friends, so I often ignore and delete my real messages by mistake.”
eMail is very closely tied in to the overall web experience, by which I mean: browsing the internet, and buying stuff from companies. (I know, there’s more to the web than that!) Unfortunately, eMail is often a component of the transaction, typically there’s a confirmation of the transaction by email. eMail is part of the transaction which is part of the entire cUstomer eXperience. If the customer experience has any real weakness it will stem from dealing with eMail. Spam deteriorates the customer’s overall view of what is trustworthy on the internet. This one weakness with a single communication application can affect all business online. Further, a large and wealthy demographic have already stopped using eMail.
Banks have been targets of email spam and phishing for such a long time now that it’s a wonder they can still do business with their customers online. I never interact with my bank using eMail and I think this is an excellent practice for businesses to follow.
Even the best of us sometimes get caught off guard. No wonder email is being rejected and services such as Facebook are being adopted. For some older people, using Facebook is far more frightening than email. This unfortunately, is reinforced since Facebook interfaces with email. You’d think more features would be a good thing, but in this case, I think it’s hurting adoption rate for some older folk. Yet, you know as well as I do, parents won’t be far behind in picking up on what their children are using. For sure, grandparents are now getting hip with web 2.0 Goodbye eMail!
eMail will no doubt continue to exist, but when it comes to doing business with your customers online, spam must not be part of that experience. This might sound like an impossible hurdle to overcome, but it’s actually easily solved, don’t use email as part of the transaction. Instead, provide the user interface which you (the company) can control and guarantee to be a safe experience.
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