“If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell six friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000. User-friendly marketing isn’t just a strategy; it’s survival”
-Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon)
What do you think when using mobile apps or websites? Is it easy to use? The safety? Or maybe the features and what it can do?
Many developers and marketers often think that features and functionality are the most important, so they focus on making advanced features. But let’s think from the user’s point of view when they try apps or websites for the first time. Is functionality really the main thing that matters?
According to Don Norman, a user experience expert, what users notice first is actually how easy it is to use. So, even though features and functions are important, a simple and user-friendly experience is the real key, especially to keep users coming back. In today’s world, where mobile apps and websites are everywhere, companies need to focus on creating an experience that is not only useful but also easy to use if they want to stay competitive.
This idea is also very important in affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing has grown a lot in recent years. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, the industry has grown by 83% since 2017, and global spending on affiliate marketing is expected to reach $15.7 billion by the end of 2024. In Indonesia, affiliate marketing is also growing fast. A survey by GoodStats in 2023 showed that 7 out of 10 Indonesians have shopped through an affiliate link.
The highlight was the importance of making things easy and straightforward, whether you’re developing an app, building a website, or planning a marketing strategy.
This growth is even expected to increase by 11.10% from 2024 to 2029, reaching a market size of around USD 380.80 million by 2029. The high growth has attracted many people to join. However, in a survey we did with 20 affiliates in various programs in Indonesia, we found another reason why so many people are interested in affiliate marketing. According to our survey, the main reason people join affiliate marketing is because the websites and apps of affiliate programs are easy to use. They feel that this makes everything simpler, like checking commissions, joining campaigns, and more.
Ecomobi and Its Challenges
Ecomobi is a platform that helps influencers and creators earn money from their content through affiliate programs with big brands like L’Oréal, Adidas, and others. Ecomobi has become one of the top social marketing platforms in Southeast Asia, with more than 2,000,000 creators in the region. But despite Ecomobi’s growth, many competitors are offering similar ease, benefits, and convenience, especially in their apps and websites.
In a survey we did with 30 Ecomobi creators in Indonesia, most of them said they like Ecomobi for the services of its programs, not because of the ease of use of its website. 20 Ecomobi creators in our survey said they find it difficult to use the Ecomobi website. As a result, most of the respondents, 25 out of 30, said they prefer the Ecomobi app over its website. Here is a comparison of the survey results:
Based on the survey above, only 20% of users feel comfortable using the Ecomobi website, while 80% prefer the Ecomobi app. This is a challenge because many competitors already offer websites with designs and navigation that are liked by Indonesian creators. Therefore, it is important to evaluate and improve the Ecomobi website.
Why the evaluation matters:
In a business, one of the things that must be done is evaluation to improve processes and outcomes. The trend that emerged after the pandemic is that companies have realized the crucial role of digitization and are enhancing the quality of online customer experiences.
Are you a Google user? Amazon? Alibaba? These are examples of brands that prioritize online experiences for their customers. The rise in mobile phone usage and digitization has given customers unlimited access. To understand this, there is a method for further analysis:
To demonstrate how to evaluate an interface that meets customer desires, there are three contexts to explore further: User Needs, and Contexts and Affordances
- User Needs
Customer needs are the most crucial element in developing an application. Identifying these needs requires direct observation and involvement. As users, there are expectations placed on the brand to fulfill their desires. From the brand’s perspective, it must find ways to effectively align these expectations and needs. Through this process, user needs can be categorized into four types: Functional, Social, Temporal, and Hedonic.
- Functional: Refers to satisfaction with product quality, feature convenience, and ease of use.
- Social: Refers to the aspect of influencing personal or others’ experiences.
- Temporal: Relates to the efficiency of time in meeting needs.
- Hedonic: The desire to use a product for personal pleasure, including emotional and aesthetic experiences, and overall user enjoyment.
- Contexts
User experience with interfaces on websites and other digital platforms heavily depends on context. In the context of UX, there are three key factors to consider: the user, the platform, and the environment. These three aspects are dynamic, meaning they can change rapidly to adapt to needs. Because it is more likely that users have several devices, so the interface must run smoothly without affecting what device is used (e.g., mobile or desktop)..
- Affordances
Regarding accessibility, it essentially involves how easily users can understand the symbols displayed.
Evaluation Results of Ecomobi Mobile App vs Website
This evaluation is conducted by comparing several key aspects, such as UI/UX design, ease of use, available features, and access speed. Data is collected through direct testing and surveys from several Ecomobi Passio users.
- UI/UX Appearance
- Interface Homepage
Mobile App: Mobile applications typically have a more user-friendly interface, with designs optimized for touch screens and more intuitive navigation. Users can enjoy simpler and more interactive features, as well as tailored to the characteristics of mobile devices.
Web: This extended web version tends to focus more on data details with a less interactive display. The UI in the web version is not as intuitive as in the mobile app, especially if users access it from devices with small screens.
b. Display in providing guidance
Whether from the mobile app or website, guidance will be directed to a separate website (https://academy.ecomobi.com/id/), which has a less attractive blog-like appearance.
Suggestion: Make the display look simpler, more organized, and easier to understand.
c. Lack of Detailed Information Sentences
Creators often ask what the differences are between each Commission. The notes in “Details” are still not enough to explain according to the creators’ needs.
Suggestion: each commission process in the Passio application can be added with notes or a short explanation regarding each process.
- Features and Functionality
Mobile App: Mobile apps are more limited in features than the web version due to screen space and device resource constraints. However, Passio’s mobile app already includes the main features that users need to run their affiliate program. Mobile apps often come with additional features such as push notifications, offline access, and integration with hardware such as cameras, which are not always available on the web version.
Web: Web apps are more comprehensive in features, ranging from deeper analytics to more complex campaign management. Advanced users may prefer the web version to maximize their performance. The web version is usually easier to access because it does not require installation. All core functions of the app are usually accessible from the web version, except those that require direct camera access to take pictures/photos.
- User Problems:
- Bug from the system
Bugs are a common occurrence in an application, including the Passio application. There are several obstacles that occur causing Creators to become confused and uncomfortable. Some things that often occur and need better improvement:
- Account Efficiency
Creators often complain about applications that easily exit themselves without prior notification. This causes Creators to be confused and uncomfortable, not to mention if they forget their password.
- Account Blocked Without Notification
Some Creators reported that their accounts were suddenly blocked without any prior notice, either by notification or via email. The solution that Ecomobi can do is to always provide notifications or notices to Creators whatever happens in the application, either through pop-up notifications or emails to provide user involvement/consent.
- Tracking Order
As explained in User Needs, one of the interests of functionality is the efficiency of time when using the application. In tracking orders, Creators can do it by clicking on each order that is made. But unfortunately, this is considered ineffective.
Creators need more time to open each order detail, just to find out which product sells the most and is liked by their followers. The solution for this case is to provide product information on the initial dashboard, without having to click on order details. This will provide time efficiency to creators when they do tracking.
3.Access Speed
Mobile App: Based on testing, Passio’s mobile app tends to have better access speeds than the web version, especially when used on devices with high specifications. This is because mobile apps are usually optimized for these devices.
Web: The web version, accessed via a browser, depends on the quality of the internet connection and the performance of the device. However, loading times can be longer than mobile apps because they involve more data that needs to be downloaded each time a new page is opened.
Conclusion:
From the evaluation results, it can be concluded that both mobile and web applications have their own advantages and disadvantages in supporting affiliate marketing activities on the Passio platform. The mobile application is more suitable for users who want fast access and ease of use anywhere. Meanwhile, the web application is ideal for those who need advanced features and deeper analytics. What must be ensured from these two versions is that they both provide the features needed by Creators, data that is in accordance with performance, and time efficiency. The Passio application provides many features for Creators to track their affiliate results with Ecomobi. However, there are still some features that need to be improved in order to meet the expectations and needs of Creators.
