Possibly the worst website ever
I love my day job. I review and comment on my company's websites, looking for ways to make the sites more user-friendly and up to design standards. Call it a gift or a curse, but now I look critically at almost every website I encounter. I recently came across possibly the worst website ever, so bad in fact that I refuse to use their services in person anymore.
One evening my DH and I were lounging around the house when we thought it would be a brilliant idea to order pizza online. My laptop was conveniently within arm's reach so we figured it would be easier than getting up to grab the telephone or using our precious cell phone minutes. We typed in www.dominos.com and found what we thought was a really interactive Gen-Y-geared site. They even list 68 creative reasons why you should order online. Homepage is good - engaging, easy buttons, quick.
Once you click on the order page it's a totally different ballgame. First they require you to enter in your full address - not just your city/state or zip code. I don't see why when it just brings up a list of stores to pick from. So you pick one and then it tells you need to sign up. The site doesn't even remember the information you've already given them.
So fine, I enter in my address and my e-mail and proceed to the sixth page of pre-ordering sign-up screens. Then it tells me "Sorry, you're store is not currently available for online ordering." Give me a break! I just gave you all this information about my name, my address, my e-mail, my preferred store location, and all I get is an error screen? Can't you at least give me the number to call my order in? Uggh.
Oh, and if they do serve your area, the site gets even worse. You have to indicate how you will pay (why the heck does it matter when I'm gonna go pick it up) and if you change your mind it will erase your whole order. Bad implementation Domino's!
Note to websites trying to tap into the Gen-Y market - the site better be pretty slick or it could quickly discredit not only your site but your brick-and-mortar store too. We frankly don't have enough time to sit around waiting for slowpokes to figure out technology - we'll go to the place that has.
