The New Intimacy

Is Delivery Date Calculator a clear and simple tool?

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Contributor: Neuron Geek Neuron Geek
We are considering whether the existing Delivery Date Calculator is clear and simple enough for customers.

Please take a look at Delivery Date Calculator at the top right corner on this page, and try to play with it and let us know if it is clear and easy to use. Are all fields and labels are easy to understand?

Let us know how we can improve it.

Thank you!
Answers (private voting - your screen name will NOT appear in the results):
Yes, it is pretty clear and simple
90  (97%)
No, it takes time to figure out how it works
3  (3%)
Total votes: 93
Poll is closed
05/21/2010
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Contributor: Sir Sir
It's simple to me, always has been. But for some reason, these past few months, it's been wrong - things are not shipping on the date stated.
05/21/2010
Contributor: Neuron Geek Neuron Geek
Quote:
Originally posted by Sir
It's simple to me, always has been. But for some reason, these past few months, it's been wrong - things are not shipping on the date stated.
How many days of a delay do you usually experience?
05/21/2010
Contributor: Sir Sir
Quote:
Originally posted by Neuron Geek
How many days of a delay do you usually experience?
Two, generally.
05/21/2010
Contributor: Tuesday Tuesday
Now its clear, but as you know, until you and Sir explained it to me, the 'order until' column confused me. I don't know if it would be more clear to label that column 'will ship at.'

Almost all my orders go out when the shipping calculator says they will. An order I placed early last Friday morning however didn't ship until Monday even though I think I was well within the 'order until' time.
05/21/2010
Contributor: removedacnt removedacnt
I use it every time I order something. And it has been quite accurate.
05/21/2010
Contributor: Angel deSanguine Angel deSanguine
Quote:
Originally posted by Sir
Two, generally.
Same here, it's usually a day or two off as of the past few months. Before it was on point.
05/21/2010
Contributor: Sammi Sammi
I think it's simple and clear to use.
Where I notice it's off sometimes is it will say "the shipping date is xxxx" if ordered by whatever time is listed, but sometimes I order by that time and it doesn't ship till the next day.
05/21/2010
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
I've never used it itself before, I normally just go by what the email tells me when I place an order. Things used to come in 2 or 3 days, but they seem to be taking a bit longer lately. Like, an order I placed that should have been here yesterday still has yet to be seen. Although it is possible that someone in my house brought it in and put it somewhere I didn't see. But as far as using the calculator in the corner goes, I found it to be pretty simple and straightforward.
05/21/2010
Contributor: Sir Sir
Quote:
Originally posted by Angel deSanguine
Same here, it's usually a day or two off as of the past few months. Before it was on point.
Yeah, it used to always be exactly as listed until recently. So I don't know.
05/21/2010
Contributor: Kynky Kytty Kynky Kytty
It does not work for a postal code outside the United-States...
05/21/2010
Contributor: Kyra Saunders Kyra Saunders
Here's a list of my feedback (I spent over a decade as a software tester and now I work as a programming writer, so forgive what might be a bit of overkill.)

1. There is nothing that gives the user a clear view of what to expect. A simple note saying that the calculator is intended to assist the user in determining which shipping option to use and what delivery date to expect for each might help.

2. The icons across the top that show the four different shipping options look like they should be links. They appear to be there to say when things will ship but the name of the tool is "Delivery Date Calculator" not "Shipping Date Calculator" and the information shown under them (like the date things will ship) is repeated when you enter a zip code and click Go anyway. I'd suggest removing them to reduce confusion.

3. I'd rename the column "order until" to be "place order before" and instead of just a time, put in the date and time needed to get the delivery date estimated. I think this will help clarify the fact you must order by (for example) 6:00 PM EST 5/21/2010 in order to get the delivery date in the next column.

4. I'd rename the column "delivery date" to be "estimated delivery date" to further indicate it's an estimate, not a guarantee.

5. If you want to make it more logical, you might consider rewriting it to allow the user to select a delivery date and then use the formula for estimating delivery dates and work backward so you can tell them that if they want to receive their order by (for example) June 1, 2010, they can pick Ground shipping and place their order by May 23, 2010 at 6:00 PM PST or they can pick 2nd day shipping and place their order by May 28, 2010 at 10:00 PM PST, etc. This would be a refactoring, though, so might be something for the future.

6. The field for zip code doesn't report invalid zip codes, it merely says "not available". It will take zip codes where the first 5 digits are valid but if I use Zip + 4 and make up alpha characters for an invalid 4 suffix, it takes the first 5 and doesn't report an invalid zip. You might want to just allow the 5 digits and no more but it's not earth-shaking.

7. I would recommend NOT using "tom." as an abbreviation for tomorrow.

I didn't go through a whole scenario for SQL injection or XSS. I'm pretty sure that's a lot of overkill for what you were looking for.
05/21/2010
Contributor: El-Jaro El-Jaro
Quote:
Originally posted by Kyra Saunders
Here's a list of my feedback (I spent over a decade as a software tester and now I work as a programming writer, so forgive what might be a bit of overkill.)

1. There is nothing that gives the user a clear view of what to expect. A simple ... more
wow. good ideas!
05/25/2010
Contributor: ~LaUr3n~ ~LaUr3n~
I have never had a problem in the 3 years I have been here.
05/27/2010
Contributor: *Ashley* *Ashley*
Even though I’m new, I’ve made quite a few orders, and haven’t had a problem YET. My last order was shipped separate because they ran out of an item; but they sent the last item out the following day. The Delivery Date Calculator has been clear and straight forward. Seems to be right on track for me, depending on when the item was shipped
05/28/2010
Contributor: Hannah Savage Hannah Savage
I have never used the calculator before, as everything I order arrives in 2-3 days, but I find that the fields and labels are easy to understand.
06/01/2010
Contributor: El-Jaro El-Jaro
I usually just go by email for delivery windows. I don't really use the calculator.
06/01/2010
Contributor: Spicy Sunday Spicy Sunday
Like some people, the calculated delivery day has been off by about 1 day for me on recent orders.
06/01/2010
Contributor: Crystal_Rose Crystal_Rose
I've never had a problem, even on recent orders. Everything has shipped when it said it was going to be shipped and it arrived on the day that it said it would arrive.
06/01/2010
Contributor: Trashley Trashley
Quote:
Originally posted by Crystal_Rose
I've never had a problem, even on recent orders. Everything has shipped when it said it was going to be shipped and it arrived on the day that it said it would arrive.
Same here. It's worked great for me, even when I looked online at USPS and THEY said it was going to be off schedule. Still came right when the delivery calculator said it would. Impressive, veryyyy impressive haha :]
09/20/2010
Contributor: Selective Sensualist Selective Sensualist
Yep, it has always worked like a charm for me, too! I love it. And it's very, very easy to use!
10/04/2010
Contributor: trios trios
I don't know how it can be made any simpler than it is now....
10/04/2010
Contributor: Owl Identified Owl Identified
Quote:
Originally posted by El-Jaro
I usually just go by email for delivery windows. I don't really use the calculator.
Same. Although I'm usually told that my stuff will arrive a day later than it does. If I order on a Monday before packages for the day go out it'll generally arrive on Tuesday because it only has to ship from NJ to NY. But by now I generally know when to expect a package, so unless something goes wrong en route I don't need a calculator.
10/07/2010
Contributor: Owl Identified Owl Identified
Quote:
Originally posted by Kyra Saunders
Here's a list of my feedback (I spent over a decade as a software tester and now I work as a programming writer, so forgive what might be a bit of overkill.)

1. There is nothing that gives the user a clear view of what to expect. A simple ... more
Wow, these are awesome! I hardly think they're overkill, I'm sure the staff at EF was only grateful to have such detailed and thoughtful feedback.
10/07/2010
Contributor: clp clp
I also had not used the calculator before, but I found it to be very easy to use. If it is accurate, I see it as being very helpful for when I need a gift delivered by a certain time.
10/08/2010
Contributor: Love Buzz Love Buzz
it's really simple to use and understand, but i hadnt really noticed before.

It would be nice if there were some international options, but I guess as there are so many links in that kind of delivery chain that it would be hard to estimate a date
10/08/2010
Contributor: Jobthingy Jobthingy
Quote:
Originally posted by Kynky Kytty
It does not work for a postal code outside the United-States...
yep. For me it doesn't work. But I just go by the UPS tracking number on their website
10/08/2010
Contributor: LikeSunshineDust LikeSunshineDust
I absolutely love the Delivery Date Calculator
10/09/2010
Contributor: ToyGeek ToyGeek
It's simple enough to understand, but it's not accurate. I've tried using it to avoid grief with incoming orders, it's been wrong all three times, and it's missed badly enough to cause me significant stress twice. I realize that's mostly the fault of the post office, but yikes, I'm not sure a false sense of security is a plus.
10/09/2010
Contributor: namelesschaos namelesschaos
I find it clear and accurate from my experience I've used it a few times to try and have packages come when I would be the only one in the house.
10/11/2010