We’ve changed the way customers download software they’ve bought to make the process faster and easier to use. The old download process had a number of steps:

• A customer entered their email address on our Support page.
• A new software download link was sent to their email address.
• The download link took the customer to a download page.
• The customer entered their email address into a form on the page then clicked the “Download” button.
• Their software started downloading.

Apart from requiring customers to jump through a few too many hoops, there were a couple of issues with this system. Firstly, a small number of customers with very agressive spam-filters couldn’t receive the download link email (or it ended up in their junk email folder, which for most people is the same as not receiving it). Some email applications also split the download link itself into multiple lines, which meant that users who clicked directly on the link got an error message instead of their software. Finally, customers sometimes changed email addresses, which meant they had to go through the extra step of asking us to change their details before they could get their software.

The new download process has been significantly streamlined:

• The customer enters their email address and order reference number into a form on the Help page then clicks the “Download” button.
• Their software starts downloading.

You may have also noticed a couple of changes to the Otaku Software website, particularly the Help/Support section. I’ll be talking about these modifications and the reasons behind them in a future blog post.

Filed under: Online Store — James Stewart — September 11, 2006 @ 7:22 am — permalink