Stereotyping Gmail email users.
This is a continuation of my previous post stereotyping AOL email users.
We typically do pretty well with GMail type people. One of the main problems I find with servicing Gmail people is that they are SO used to everything Google, that they would really prefer EVERYTHING work like a google service. Google docs, Gmail, alerts, android cell phones, tablets, calendering, everything!
If there’s another big thing I notice with Gmail users is that they want stuff FAST!
We often struggle with getting a Gmail type user to slow down enough to read our instructions or the states’ instructions. LOL
Another thing I notice even with my own staff, is that a Gmail email type person would rather google their question than use the simple resources we have worked day and night to create. For this reason, our insanely detailed and helpful resources show up high on google when you do a long detailed search. We don’t rank as well on google when you do more generic searches though, even though our overly detailed pages would be helpful for generic searches. It’s amazing to me how bad the results are in google for generic searches. But that’s another rant for another day.
I’ve watched time and time again as my own staff has blown past our internal resources that were 2 clicks away to open a new browser in Chrome and google something and then have our own web page show up first and click it… Or a confusing state website show up that they can’t navigate. So they would prefer Googling something and taking a chance over clicking through 2 menus to get to a page they know they can trust…
Search, search, search! It’s amazing how dependant and how much of a default the search is for a Gmail user. I had to show one of my gmail guys how to use a phone book when looking for a local provider. He was amazed at how many businesses there were for this that didn’t show up on google. I HAD TO SHOW HIM HOW TO USE THE PHONE BOOK!!
I’m going to repeat this amazing analysis… Someone with a gmail email often would rather open another tab and google something from scratch then check the menu on the current website they are on for an answer. Showing up number 1 on google is utterly important to these type of people.
Gmail and the Google default tendencies aren’t going to go away anytime soon. As Gmail grows in popularity, we’re being forced to really think about the experience we provide for this group.
Our client accounts are very simple. You can get what you want instantly. But with watching gmail people use them and click around, it’s funny how some of them seriously struggle with it. It’s a continual struggle to make things work for all types of people. We’re currently under a redesign of our client accounts that I really think will make gmail email users happier. This is a growing segment of people. Gmail is kind of the new cool email if you don’t have a web address email. It kind of has an authenticity to it for some reason… I will tell you, that we have far less trouble with Gmail users than Yahoo or MSN users getting our notices. Gmail for some reason seems more reliable than Yahoo or MSN now.
I think we have to continually make sure our client tools make sense to Gmail users. Our new design will have a smaller menu. More open space, a better search feature, and hopefully get our clients to the part of their account they really want faster than before. When our new look can force a gmail user to not use the search option, we will know we finally got it right.