John Lewis - Making Technology Simple?

I was sent a link to this John Lewis Brochure which offers me the promise of "technology made simple".

But is it?

Reading the simple instructions I am told that I can "Click on the corners of the e-brochure to turn the pages".

Can I? No I can't. If I click on any of the corners other than the one in the bottom right I zoom in on the brochure rather than turn the page.

The next bullet point tells me that I can "Click on any product to see full details and to make a purchase".

Can I? No I can't. If I click on any of the products on this page I zoom in on the brochure rather than see details of the product.

So, the promise to provide "technology made simple" isn't even kept on the cover. Why didn't John Lewis spend a little bit of time usability testing this e-brochure mort thoroughly.

This is the sort of problem that occurs when you customise a standard product but forget to check if your specific customisations affect the user experience in a negative way.

Perhaps John Lewis have just taken their eye off the usability ball:

"Usability testing before launch allowed us to make sure our new site was fast, friendly and easy to use. Usability by Design helped ensure that customers can quickly find the products they want and purchase them easily, helping the new John Lewis site maintain the high quality that
customers expect from John Lewis."
John Phipps, Vice President Commercial, John Lewis

Quote taken from Usability By Design

PS. It looks like J60 might be "doing usability" for John Lewis.

Comments

[nate]

it is simple... it should have said click on the small arrow at the top of the e-brochure but it does not seem that hard to figure out. also the 2nd point is true once inside the brochure just not on the cover.