What a Waste

A tub of Cool-Whip. That was all that I had to buy.  My wife had sent me a text message shortly before I left work asking me to pick up some delicious whipped topping goodness to adorn a pumpkin-pie that she had made.

The dessert Gods had spoken.  Supermarket, here I come.

Anxiety in the Self-Checkout Lane

My single item in hand, I headed to the self-checkout aisle.  I scanned my Cool Whip, placed it on the belt and watched it roll away towards the bagging area.  Another shopper entered the lane behind me just as I touched ‘Finish and Pay’ on the register’s screen.

I always feel rushed when someone is behind me at the self-checkout.  Without a normal cashier, I feel all the pressure to checkout quickly on my shoulders alone.  This time was no different, but I was almost done.  All that was left was my receipt, which had just begun printing.  And printing.  And printing. When it was finally finished, the receipt measured just shy of 17 inches long – about half the length of my arm.  For a single item purchased.  One tub of Cool Whip.

Too Much Information

I’ve marveled before at how incredibly long supermarket receipts seem to be, but I typically purchase multiple items, so the length of the receipt doesn’t usually seem as disproportional to the amount of items I am buying as this transaction did.  As I walked away from the self-checkout lane, a plastic bag containing my Cool Whip in one hand and my scroll-like receipt in another, I wondered what the hell could be printed on that receipt that would necessitate it being so lengthy.

Besides details on the single item I purchased, the receipt also included a wealth of information I did not ask for, need, want or even find remotely helpful.  Kind of like a lot of Web sites I see.

More is Not More

The tendency to try to do too much with a Web site is a common one.  Site owners want to give their users as much information as they can or they attempt to gather as many details as possible on those users so they can better serve their needs.  The best of intentions, but usually, a wasteful effort.

I often hear from clients who are not getting many submissions from their site’s lead generation forms.  Almost every time, when I take a look at their site, I find a voluminous form that is asking for an unwieldy amount of information. It is a waste.  A waste of the time spent developing that sizable form, a waste of the space it takes up on the site, and a waste of any user’s time who decides to fill out a form that is collecting data that is not essential to the task at hand.  Want to do more?  Trying wasting less by removing the fields that are not critical and are simply ‘nice to have.’

The thoughtful reduction of asking only for data that is absolutely necessary will make the form easier to use and less intimidating for users to complete.  More people will actually use the form and more leads will be generated.  Doing more by wasting less.

The same holds true for the information you give to your users through your site’s content.  The natural tendency is to generate as much content as you can since more is better, right?  Not in the case of the Web.  While certain instances require lengthy, detailed presentations of content, most do not and all content should be edited as aggressively as possible.  Waste less of your users’ time and they will read more of your content.

Checkout My Receipt

So what vital information did my receipt contain that it needed to consume 17 inches of register tape for my single, tub of Cool-Whip purchase?

• Store Information The details of the store itself were first on the receipt, including the address, phone number, URL, etc.  Not sure I’d need these details, but if there was a problem with my purchase, that contact info may come in handy, so I’ll let that one slide.
• Item/Price Info/Transaction Details The details of the item itself belong here, as does the transaction information. Next?
• Savings Summary Excellent, I saved 75 cents on my tub of Cool-Whip.  I also can see I’ve saved just over $800 so far this year.  Nice info, but I didn’t ask for it, and I’m not sure I need it on every register receipt, do I?
• Rewards Details The market has rewards programs.  That’s great, but I don’t need a breakdown of my rewards every time I checkout, especially when I have accumulated zero points for most of those programs.  This massive receipt details 3 rewards programs offered at this time, one for gas rewards, one for coffee and one for sandwiches.  While I am a big fan of all three of those items, I don’t buy the brand of coffee being promoted, nor do I buy my sandwiches from the supermarket, so not only do I have zero points accumulated now, but I will always have zero points for those programs.  Waste.
• Thank You Next, there’s a short message thanking me for my patronage, along with the store’s contact information listed for a second time. I imagine most shoppers don’t even get this far into the receipt before they ball it up and toss it away, so that thank you message is likely missed most times.  More waste.
• Store Information…Again The store’s contact details that started the receipt are repeated again.  In the case of some of this info, this is the third time it appears on the receipt.  I’ll buy that having that information available once is possibly useful, but three times?  Maybe I should use that contact info to reach out and let them know how wastefully long their receipts are?

Information on Demand

Information is a wonderful thing, but too much information is, simply put, too much.  Whether we are referring to register receipts or Web sites, we need to make sure that the content we deliver to our audience is not only useful, but also timely.  Giving users the information they need, exactly when they need or request it, and not flooding them with additional information is the quickest way to make for a better user experience by elimitating waste.