Sales: Call 877.832.5289 (N America)Magento Behind the Scenes: My Account Dashboard
Welcome to Magento Behind the Scenes, a new series on the Magento blog that will take you behind Magento and give you insight into why we're making the design and functionality choices that we are, as well as giving you a sneak preview into what you'll be seeing come August. We're kicking off Behind the Scenes with an introduction to the My Account Dashboard. Below is the wireframe we are basing the design on:
(click on the image to see it full size)
Magento's My Account Dashboard is a streamlined approach to presenting your customers with all of their account and sales information in one place. Our goal with this feature was to remove the frustration that comes with the text links that are found in many sites' Customer Accounts. Instead, we've made Magento's My Account Dashboard easier for your customers to browse without having to drill down into multiple pages, making desirable information the first thing that the customer sees.
We know how important it is for customers to be able to conveniently access their information. As our designer, Minu Oh, put it when asked about the Dashboard's structure:
"Customers need to find information pertaining to their orders or account information without having to go between multiple pages. We understand how customers scan web pages and what graphical elements give a page's content precedence. Web pages are read left to right and large, consistent bold headings give the contents visibility. This makes it easier for [the customer], and they are simply more open to further offerings of the store when all of their experiences are positive."
The My Account Dashboard is divided into two areas - the main customer account area, and the smaller shopping section on the right. When a customer accesses the Dashboard they can immediately see detailed recent order information and individual customer information at a glance. They can also see Recent Tags and Reviews in an easy-to-view format - we've capped them at five so that the Dashboard remains uncluttered. This gives the customer an intuitive layout that provides what they need to know at a glance, making the experience much smoother and, in the end, more positive overall.
We wanted to add to this positive experience with the account's shopping section. In it, the customer can find their Shopping Cart, Wishlist, and Last Viewed Items, keeping all of the products shown on the Dashboard tailored to the individual customer. For the customer's convenience, both the Wishlist and Last Viewed Items are also accompanied by product thumbnails to help influence a sale. The Wishlist and Last Viewed Items allow the customer to add products to their shopping cart without leaving the Dashboard. We also included a small marketing Callout area, allowing the Store Owner to post a banner advertising sales and specials.
This is only the beginning. In future, we plan to add even more features to the My Account Dashboard, including:
- Personalized recommendations
- Notifications of price-drops and specials on previously viewed items
- Gift registry information
- How many people used a user's tags
- How many people found a user's reviews helpful
Watch this blog to see the design decisions as we fit these elements into the dashboard.
Love it? Think we're forgetting something? Leave us a comment and let us know!
1Mike |posted July 17 2007
This looks really great. I really like that sidebar. Since you have talked before about shipping to multiple addresses, perhaps an address book where customers can store the info for alternate shipping addresses would be useful.
2christina |posted July 17 2007
Oh...yummy! Our first sneek peek at the frontend - GORGEOUS!
Keep up the absolutely wonderful work people!
(Yes, I’m so excited that I found myself trying to click around on the image itself....I wanna play)
3Ian |posted July 17 2007
Yeah, looks nice and simple, but customer accounts are not a priority for me so i look forward to images of the front end store, i’m sure they are just around the corner
4Ian |posted July 17 2007
Oh btw, i received no email notification about this blog, but have in the past!
5Dave |posted July 17 2007
This looks excellent so far, great work!
6roy from Los Angeles, CA|posted July 17 2007
Ian - email notifications are only being sent if you subscribe to them after posting a comment. You can subscribe to the blog via the RSS feed to be updated when new topics are posted. Thanks!
7Magento Details - My Account Dashboard » Magento eCommerce - XTCommerce Blog |posted July 17 2007
[...] hat heute ein paar Details zum Account Dashboard veröffentlicht, also der Konto Zusammenfassung für den Kunden. Ich bin einfach mal so [...]
8Magento: Kundenkonto |posted July 18 2007
[...] Magento: Auf der offziellen Seite gibt es nun einen Screenshot sowie eine Funktionsbeschreibung vom My Account Dashboard. Mittlerweile hat sich ein netter kleiner Hype um und über das System entwickelt (ich meine das [...]
9zoid |posted July 18 2007
The full size picture is smaller in Firefox but looks fine in Internet Explorer.
10Nick Howell |posted July 18 2007
zoid - That is because you have to click on the picture in Firefox to zoom in first…
11zoid |posted July 18 2007
Thanks that worked
12Danny Foo |posted July 18 2007
Hmm, I’m assuming this is the interface a buying customer would view when logged in. I can understand the ‘all-in-one information’ approach but would make these suggestions:
1. I’d remove My Recent Reviews and use the 2 columns for My Recent Tags because to me, I see this as a tracker to inform me of products I’ve been wanting to buy.
2. I don’t necessarily want to know my Wishlist and Last Viewed Items when I log-in. I would rather want to see a list of items which are in my shopping cart.
3. I would arrange Your Cart (3 items) | My Account | My Wishlist in a single line. (Move Checkout button to the callout area)
I would personally modify the UI this way. Anyway, that’s only my personal opinion.
But it’s still looking awesome and I can’t wait to try it out!
13Jed |posted July 19 2007
Danny, from a sales point of view, having the wishlist on the right is a great idea - you’re always trying to upsell if the customer is using the wishlist facility. I thing this design feature is a great idea!
i do agree with you on putting the very top links onto one line though.
Once again, the update is great and i cant wait (same as anyone that sees the potential in magento).
Well done team @ Varien!
14scott |posted July 19 2007
So if this is the customer account area, would the store owner be able to customize this area to go with the same theme as their store?
15Joe |posted July 19 2007
Me too, can’t wait to see these great features in action !
Since we had a preview of the front-end, guess would be really interesting to have some details about the template system, to prepare ourselves for what’s to come.
Note: I have submitted a request to help with Romanian translation, but no answer :(
Thanks, Joe.
16Ian |posted July 19 2007
I had a play with shopify before, nice cart but based on their system so the url changes etc when you checkout. Anyway, one thing missing from them without modification yourself is one of the basics, most/all merchants want to have a column with ‘main pages’ for stuff like about us, contact us, etc etc, but also we want a section for ‘products’, where either individual items are shown, or categories! I have an outstanding example of this, but don’t want to post on here. Let me know if you need it (roy)
17roy from Los Angeles, CA|posted July 19 2007
Scott - Absolutely! Every page and component in Magento can be changed and modified.
Joe - Send us an email again and I’ll look for it (I am suspecting many emails didn’t get through our filters)
18Joe |posted July 19 2007
Hello Roy,
I’ve sent the e-mail again.
Thanks, Joe.
19Michael Konjevic |posted July 19 2007
Woooow! I’m done! That’s it!
So ok, if you need an Translater for German > call me !
20Joe |posted July 24 2007
Hello,
Looking forward to discover a new great feature !
Thanks, Joe.
21Mark Bowen |posted July 26 2007
Did Jesse Bennett-Chamberlain have anything to do with the design on this application at all?
The image above just looks very much like something he would do.
BTW I can’t wait to see this system and give it a run. I currently use Expression Engine to run all sites and have to code in systems for e-commerce as the Simple Commerce module is usually too simple for my needs. Would be great if you got together with them and incorporated this in some way as you look as though you have totally clicked with all the ideas and beliefs that make for a truly fantastic web application just like the EE team.
Best wishes and good luck with everything. Are there any ideas as to when the cart will be available for download yet?
Regards,
Mark
22Mark Bowen |posted July 26 2007
Hiya,
Posted on here earlier today but it seems as though it was taken down for some reason?
I didn’t post anything corrupt. On the contrary everything I posted was positive. I won’t say what I posted here again until someone (admin) can email me to let me know why it was taken down though please?
Best wishes,
Mark
23Mark Bowen |posted July 27 2007
Hiya,
The pest again. Please either excuse or delete the last message and also this one if required. I didn’t realise that the comments had to be approved before they were added to the site as I only saw the comment appear when I wrote the second one so please excuse the previous post.
As I said before though I was just wondering if Jesse had anything to do with this at all or not? Also do you have any solid dates on when people will be able to try out the system as it sincerely looks fantastic.
Best wishes,
Mark
24roy from Los Angeles, CA|posted July 27 2007
Mark - We’ve worked with Jesse before (on a soon to be released project) and are certainly big fans. He did not take part in this project so far. Magento will be released in August, most likely towards the end of the month.
25Mark Bowen |posted July 27 2007
Hi Roy,
Aha I see. I must say that the design of this site and everything that you are doing looks absolutely fantastic. I am sure that when Magento is finally released it will be an absolute winner. Good luck with everything. Looking forward to the release.
Best wishes,
Mark
26zoid |posted July 28 2007
Will we be able to get of list of everyone wish list in one spot.
27roy from Los Angeles, CA|posted July 30 2007
zoid - A detailed wishlist report will be available.
28Dmitry |posted August 3 2007
Perhaps I missed it, but I don’t see ‘Add New User’ option at the dashboard on the Customers page. Will this feature be available? I’m sure if a customer calls to place an order over the phone there should be an option for a store agent to create a user account at the back-end.
BTW, the product looks wonderful, nice job! And, if you need a Russian translation, I’ll be happy to help.
29Dmitry |posted August 3 2007
Never mind, I just watched the video and it shows a dashboard screen with ‘Add Customer’ button. Problem solved