User interface design in e-commerce and its impact on consumer trust

Sammanfattning: E-commerce is at an all-time high and it is growing larger every year. Fore-commerce companies to keep up with the growing market, the question ofconverting a visitor into a customer becomes increasingly relevant. Since onlinepurchases are stretched over an amount of time and not done in person, trust is anespecially crucial factor in these interactions. Current literature shows that navigationand organisation are vital factors when it comes to trust in e-commerce, as such theyserved as the focus for this thesis. The study examined how a progress indicator and hierarchy of the purchase processhave an impact on trust. This was done by having a group of participants interactingwith different prototypes that simulated an e-commerce website, the differencebetween the prototypes being the inclusion and exclusion of a progress bar andadjustments to the hierarchy of the purchase process. The data was gathered usingsemi-structured interviews. Data analysis was accomplished using thematic analysis,the result of the analysis being different themes which represent the positive ornegative impressions that participants had when interacting with the differentprototypes. The study found that there were multiple differences in themes between theprototypes. The discovered themes suggest that there are multiple ways in whichtrust differs between the prototypes. Although this study is not strong enough toprove a connection, it does suggest that perhaps companies should think twicebefore neglecting the organisation and navigation of their purchase process if theirinterest is to convert more sales.