Recent Posts
- Simplicity over Complexity?
- Car Talk
- Subject to Change
- In the Loop this Week
- Inform and UX Workshop
- In the Loop this Week
What’s In The Loop
- Nokia Mobile
- Reading Online
- UX Pioneers
- Am I Seeing Python Everywhere?
- Lazy mom pushes stroller while on a Segway
- The antithesis of usability...
- Secretary with lightning quick hands
- Cooper | Insights | Journal of Design | Articles | About Face 3: Foreword
- Orange Cone: An unusual addition to the UI collection
- National Design Awards | Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
- Read More…
Archives
Categories
RSS – The Loop
The Loop
Amazon Sign Out Woes?
Have you ever noticed that it is almost impossible to figure out how to sign out of Amazon? The other day I tried in vain to sign out of Amazon. I looked for a sign out link or button throughout the page I was on. I even went back to the home page and looked. Then I remembered, I had been down this road before, there’s a sign out link in the help section of the site—at least there used to be. When I found the “Signing Out” page—it took a few minutes—the sign out link was no longer there. Instead Amazon gives detailed instructions: click on the “If you’re not Kevin Silver, click here” link and then submit the sign-in form, but be sure to leave all of the fields blank. On the “Signing Out” page Amazon states, “We recommend that you sign out only when you feel that you must. If we can't identify you, it will be difficult for us to identify items that might be of interest to you.” “Oh, that’s great,” I thought, “nice way to empower your users, never ever allow them to figure out how to sign out, unless they find and read the three step process.”
After I finally signed out, it dawned on me that there is also no explicit Sign In button or link anywhere to be found on the home page, I did find a link on the “Cart” page. On the “Signing Out” page Amazon recommends that you “Click the ‘personalized recommendations’ link that appears just under the tabs on our home page” to sign-in. Why does Amazon obfuscate the whole sign-in/sign out process? I understand that they assume most users will sign-in once and never have a need to sign out, but there are times when you don’t want to remain logged in, especially when using a public terminal, even at work, or in my case signing in with the wrong account.
To remedy my woes, all Amazon needs to do is add a simple sign-in/sign out link somewhere noticeable on all of their pages and the problem will be solved. Instead, I have to do the most unintuitive thing, sign-in with a blank form to sign out. Amazon has always been a stalwart example of a compelling user experience, generally leading the pack in the e-commerce realm. As with any site that grows, usability issues are expected and typically resolved over time, i.e. Amazon’s tab navigation, nicely fixed, or having a sign out link right on the help page for “Signing Out”, though inexplicably removed. Not only is Amazon’s signing-out process or lack thereof a major usability issue, it is also a chink in the armor of their overall user experience.
Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entryComments
Same story here. Except once I bought some romance novels for my Grandmother and some children’s books for my ex-girlfriend. Whoo-boy, does it recommend some weird stuff for me sometimes.
I can’t think of any other site that has been this frustrating!! I got so annoyed that I have now disqualified this site from any potential purchases from me, I’m still fuming.
I think it is really stupid, creating a website for purchasing stuffs without the logout button. when everyone nowadays are worried about online security.
Leave a comment?
An issue that I have felt more directly has to do with Amazon’s vaunted recommendation system, based on data from not only purchases, but simply stuff you have looked at. I find myself questioning whether I want to look more closely at a product because I don’t want whatever it is cluttering up my history and spawning weird recommendations.
As hard as it is to sign-out of Amazon, it’s even harder to clear stuff out of your history. It makes sense, in a way. Amazon wants as much data about you as possible so they can do their best to persuade you to buy even more stuff from them. The irony is that their system is keeping me from exploring the site as much as I might otherwise.