This is the final entry in the the Expectation versus Satisfaction arc, an arc spawned by regular reader Susan Prager sending me Site Development Lags Expectations. I offer in part 1 that I'm not shocked by the information in the article and asked "Why is expectation so low?" The rest of this arc offers answers from Reading Virtual Minds, Chapter 6, "Expectation versus Satisfaction" and is based on observing people browsing websites demonstrating minute anxiety responses even though they're in an (assumedly) safe environment.
Part 2 offered that unmet expectations is the reason for the anxiety. Part 3 dealt with people responding to new forms of information. In part 4 we dealt with the difference between expectation and satisfaction and in part 5 we discussed the fact that more plays into how visitors respond to your website than design issues. Part 6 posed a question and Part 7 gave an answer.
Here we round out the discussion about experience versus satisfaction.
As mentioned earlier, the question posed by the Bad Day at Black Rock chart and it's answer is an example of a report which NextStage use internally for research purposes. Our clients saw the same information slightly differently, as the "Visitor Experience" charts shown in here (10 April on top, followed by 14, 15 and 16 April). These figures show a good experience as green, a negative experience as red. 
This part of our discussion started by demonstrating the differences between expectation and satisfaction. What these figures demonstrate is that you can't control expectation but you do have a good chance of influencing satisfaction. Note that the satisfaction levels in these figures are fairly consistent. Maintaining a healthy satisfaction level is achieved by changing visitors' expectation after they've arrived at your website by making their experience on your website work to meet their goals (first) and yours (second). Don't meet their goals and you'll never get a chance to have them meet yours.
Please contact NextStage for information regarding presentations and trainings on this and other topics.
Links for this post:
- Blog posts about Reading Virtual Minds, Chapter 6 "Expectation versus Satisfaction"
- Blog posts about Reading Virtual Minds, Chapter 7 "Experience versus Expectation"
- Consumer Psychology posts
- Expectation posts
- Reading Virtual Minds
- Reading Virtual Minds, Chapter 6, "Experience versus Satisfaction"
- Site Development Lags Expectations
- Susan Prager
- The Site Development Lags Expectation blog arc:
- Site Development Lags Expectations, Part 1
- Site Development Lags Expectations, Part 2
- Site Development Lags Expectations, Part 3
- Site Development Lags Expectations, Part 4
- Site Development Lags Expectations, Part 5
- Site Development Lags Expectations, Part 6
- Site Development Lags Expectations, Part 7
I'll be speaking at the San Francisco April '07 Emetrics Summit on Quantifying and Optimizing the Human Side of Online Marketing on May 7, 2007. Come on by and say hello. (Information in this arc is from Chapter 6, "Experience Versus Satisfaction" of my next book, Reading Virtual Minds. Text and images copyright Joseph Carrabis and NextStage Evolution 2006-2007)
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