TechCulture

Microsoft has struggled a lot in internet space. Google with its innovative ideas and amazing speed in launching a product has been far ahead in the key Search Engine market.

So, it is like a breath of fresh air to see Microsoft get a product right, the first time itself. And that too a web product! I am talking about Microsoft’s New Cashback program for web users. Cashback is program under which Microsoft lets you search for best prices for products online. In this post I am basically talking about the UE aspects of Cashback program, and not the business model behind it. From a business standpoint it is an aggressive and very interesting move by Microsoft Live.

There is a simple, non intrusive promo for Cashback on Microsoft Live homepage (see below, the orange arrow in mine!). Note that there are only two graphic icons on this screen – the Windows Logo, and the Cashback $. A very nice and clean way to direct user attention.

The homepage of Cashback is given below. The direct URL is http://search.live.com/cashback

What do you see in the page below?

• Search bar at the very top – to the users searching for products they wish to buy. The bar is big, clean and very apparent.
• No ugly unnecessary graphics on the page. No glassy style images. Again, there are only two icons on the page – the Windows Logo and the Cashback Logo. The latter one is quite big to promote the recall. Could be a bit smaller, but fine.
• A small gray box in the left column to get the first time users started, containing links to FAQ etc.
• 4 distinct categories with associated product graphics to get first time users to try the service with one click. Simple. Brilliant.
• For users to explore other items, there are a bunch of links below these 4 product categories.

The page above looks simple but the amazing amount of detail has gone into it to keep it like that. Lets take a closer look!

• Only Arial font is used throughout the page. This keeps a clean, consistent style. Note: the footer does use Verdana font (“Advertise | Webmasters | etc”), and this doesn’t make sense especially because the blue header uses Arial, but let’s forget this for now.
• There are no irritating mouseover effects. I dreadingly took my mouse over the Zune graphic, expecting it to grow like MSN Live Image search results, but to my surprise it stayed the same size. Simple. Great. The only mouseover effect the page has is on the “Compare Prices” buttons, and that is done in a very classy manner.
• Lets look at the colors users. The golden on the dollar coin and simple green on the “Compare Prices” buttons are the major colors. Again simple and great. If you look closely below the Zune image you’ll see that the price is in bold red. Its not actually red color but RGB: #F15D25. The color is not as bright as Red and is quite nice. Look at text “at 4 stores” below Zune. It is a shade lighter than the other gray. Very good use of color and typography to keep the page simple and yet convey the information in a nice, readable, friendly manner.

Lets click on Zune Image now! The following page appears. It is again a treat for the eyes.

• The page, like the previous one, fits in my first scroll.
• The page has a slightly bigger image of the product (Zune) which makes sense. The Cashback logo is smaller, on the right. No other major graphics on the page.
• This page is not meant to provide you detailed information on the product. If you are research for Zune, then you may be better served elsewhere. There is only one product image, and only a small blurb on the Zune. However, if you already know that Zune is what you want, then this works perfectly. I feel that “more” link at the end of the blurb which could take user to the manufacturer’s detailed spec page would be helpful.
• Again only Arial font is primarily used, with nice reuse of green in product title.
• The URL is somewhat SEO friendly with no query strings – http://search.live.com/cashback/products/offerings/5057/9508994 Although I think it could be made simpler, by taking out “offerings” and one of the numbers in the end (you basically need a unique product id, right?)
• The remaining portion of the page is a treat. It combines a tab interaction model with a spreadsheet like design look. The stores are listed in the order of Bottomline Price. This is the price that the product is basically going to cost you. The right side shows the price and discount information in a simple spreadsheet-like manner. Very easy to grasp. The cashback is red in color. I assume that since I am not logged in right now, the Tax and Shipping is showing $0. Some information about the selected store (NewEgg) is given below the pricing information.
• There are only two things a user can do on this page. One, select an alternative store, and two click on the “Go to Store” button. Simple? Great!

Clicking on “Go to Store” brings up the following signup/register page.

• Note, how cleanly the small icon of Zune and the store log is presented on the left side.

At this point, I sign up for Cashback, and then click the “Go To Store” button. Sign up is a breeze! Just need to verify my email address, but need to have a Windows Live ID (something that Microsoft could avoid).

I see the following page for a few seconds before being directed to NewEgg.com.

In the page above, I wish that the important note that the bottom of the page could be much larger and clearer. Next I am on NewEgg.com. I see a cookie named “ForeseeLoyalty_MID_F9hkVI8gwR” which is set to expire at the end of session. Assume this will be used to track the source and cashback savings on NewEgg.com.

Well, as I try to complete my purchase on NewEgg.com, I am unable to find the “Proceed to Checkout” button. And then I notice that Zune is out of stock!!

Cashback Team: You need to fix this – the first merchant of your first product does not have it in stock. Either the Cachback program is working too well, or you have overlooked something basic. Replace the Zune with an Xbox or something for now.

Some more thoughts:

• I did a couple of book searches, but did not find Amazon as a listed store. As I tried to compare prices, Amazon still wins hands down.
• There was one book I was trying to search on Live Cashback and did not find any matches. This seemed strange. I then copied the ISBN number to Live Cashback search, but again nothing, nada. I found this quite strange.
• I searched for “Jeffery Archer” and got no results. Expected the system to work like Live.com and suggest me alternate search on the correct spelling “Jeffrey Archer”.
• I searched for “ipod” on Live.com, and 2 of the top three sponsored ads up top had a Cashback button (see below). When I clicked on the second ad, I went to eBay results page for IPod. At this point, I don’t know if the Cashback is on or not? All I see is a small notification at the top – “Buy It Now with PayPal and you may get cashback. See conditions”. As a user, I would rather just know if I am getting Cashback or not without having to read the 500 page conditions document.
• Cashback program seems to be somewhat at odds with the Live Products site – http://search.live.com/products. At the bottom line, both offer best prices on searched products, but work differently.

This is a first look at Live Cashback. I didn’t delve too deep to explore its categorization and search features. Overall it is good to see a superbly designed and clean web product from the Microsoft Camp. This product team has got it right.