How do we rate a web site? Our monthly e-pinion rates web site features and effectiveness on a number of criteria, using a scale from 0 - 5. These scores are represented by "Surf Boards", with five full "Boards" being a perfect score: = 1.5 = 5 (perfect) The average of all criteria is the site's overall score rounded up to the nearest half, as displayed next to the company's name at the beginning of the review. The sites are rated on the following criteria: Design Usability Branding & Message Content Customer Support Special Features Search Engine Friendly Interactivity Privacy / Security Is there a web site that you would like to see reviewed in the BUZZ e-pinion pages? Send us an email with the web site address, and tell us why you chose them!

e-pinion - Issue #9 web surfer's review:

www.usps.com - 2.5

Design - 4

It's not surprising that the color theme for the site is red, white and blue — the patriotic corporate identity of the US Post Office. The web site's design is clean and simple with a minimal of graphics which is an excellent design choice for a site that is mostly for information. The section of the site that sells products is not only more graphically intensive, which it should be, but it also has a different interface, which is appropriate for shopping.

The site does lose a point in the design rating for the following reasons: The interface does not stretch to fit the browser size, it is always aligned left and constrained to a small browser size. The layout of the design is not consistent on all interior pages.

Usability - 2

Navigation: The navigation ranges somewhere between inconsistent and nonexistent, and is very cumbersome. When a user goes into different categories of the web site, excluding the store, the top navigation is lost. If you go to the section of the web site to calculate postage, and then you want to buy stamps, you have to go back to the home page to get there. They should have created better lateral links to reduce the number of required navigation clicks.

The store navigation also has problems. I clicked on the thumbnail image of products, such as stamps, and instead of getting a larger picture of the product to see the detail, I was returned to the home page of the shopping part of the site. I clicked on the "holiday stamps are here" and tried to add stamps to my cart, but several of them were not available to be ordered.

The navigation at the bottom of the main site also loses the top-level navigation options when you are on the interior pages. The navigation at the bottom of the store pages is a little better, as it does continue to have the interface to purchase products.

Cross Browser Compatibility: The site works the same in all browsers.

Branding and Message - 2

The USPS logo includes the familiar eagle, as well as the verbiage that tells us what the product is but the site fails to communicate the benefit of using USPS over their competition (FedEx, UPS, etc.). There isn't a "competitive edge" to their branding and message. Why doesn't the web site reinforce the USPS benefits advertised in their broadcast and print collateral? Points deducted for lost opportunity...

Content - 3

The services offered by the usps.com web site are very helpful. I most often use the postal rate calculator, as it saves me a trip to the post office. The majority of the other site capabilities are similar time-savers. This benefit is what a good site design is all about — it offers a time-savings, which translates to value.

The site also offers a section not just for consumers, but for businesses. For example, if my small business wants to send a direct mail piece, the site has an entire section devoted to all the details on how to do this. Be aware that its recommendations are promoting products and services provided by the US Postal service, and doesn't give any objective information about other choices. This left me wondering about the sincerity and effectiveness of the solutions being suggested.

Customer Support - 2

The features to change your address online and to calculate postage is a great on-line service that saves the user a trip to the post office. If you need a local branch, the Post Offices locator is helpful, and if you need a zip code to go with an address, you can use the find zip codes feature.

It is also a great concept to order stamps online but the user will have to wait for delivery, rather than getting them immediately at their local post office. I had to wait nine business days for 500 postcard stamps to arrive in the mail—not exactly a swift turnaround. From the web site I was led to believe that I would have my stamps in 3-5 days. Not only did it take nine days for my order to arrive, but when I emailed and called customer service, I was constantly redirected to other people and no one could help me. In fact, there was no way to even track my order, either online or by phone.

There is an FAQ page on the site, but it fails to address many basic questions. A list of recent FAQ's would be more helpful, as some of the facts on the page seem very targeted to a few specific subjects. It would be a boon to update the FAQ's from the email inquiries that must pour into their customer service department.

Special Features - 2

The special features on the site are valuable, but their implementation is clumsy.

Search: There is a search feature on the site but when I type in the phrase "tracking a stamp order" to get more info about my problem, no results were returned. Help for using the search feature and an Advanced Search, to help narrow down your search, are offered. Results have a highlight view and normal view which might be helpful if it worked but both options take the user to the actual page.

Keyword Search: This feature may have been more appropriately named "category search". It returns a list of links and articles assembled manually by category.

Sign In: Signing in does not provide the user with any additional functionality except changing their personal information for shopping and viewing past orders. The past orders listing might be an advantage for tax time at the end of the year.

Search Engine Friendly - 5

There are separate meta tags for every page of the web site, including a description and keywords. When I go to google.com and enter the keywords "buy stamps," the US Postal Services comes up in the top 3 positions. The same occurs when I use the Yahoo search engine.

Interactivity - 1

There is only one truly interactive feature on the web site — the send custom cards feature, but it doesn't stand out. If you click on greeting cards, you can upload your own photo or logo to either a postcard or greeting card. You pay for the card or postcard, the stamp and the shipping. The shipping charges were much higher than your average online store.

Privacy/Security - 3.5

Privacy. A link to the privacy policy is at the bottom of every page. The policy is very thorough and easy for anyone to understand. In fact, they provide more information than most. The US Postal service says they will not use your information for 3rd party marketing and this statement will give comfort to those using their service.

Security. The explanation of security on their web site is well outlined in their privacy statement. There is a "forgot password" feature but if you have forgotten your password hint, you're out of luck. There are better ways of implementing the forgot password feature. One of the best ways to do this is used by buy.com (see last month's epinion).

Overall Score - 2.5

Usps.com is an average site with an overall score of 2.5 out of 5 possible surf boards. The site hit some rough waters through most of our tests. I was most disappointed in the lack of customer service and the poor navigation on the site. The fact that the site was built to "sell" rather than primarily to be a "service" also made the site a lot less appealing. Perhaps they feel they have such a corner on the market that customer service doesn't matter.

There are some positives that should not be overlooked such as the postage calculator and the ability to order stamps. Now if they could only deliver the stamps in a timely manner — through rain, sleet and snow — like they do our postal mail, then they might have a better shot at having satisfied customers.

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