Alexander,
I'll try to shed some light on this concept by turning it into a story.
Hypothetically, let's say we work for Ralph's Ford, Seattle's 2nd largest Ford store. You and I are in control of the marketing division. We've been giving authority to do whatever it takes to sell more cars. We have a strict budget and our paycheck is 100% commission, driven by total car sales.
You and I have deployed our ad spending, now it's time to work on our site and improve it's yield. We both want MORE SALES from the existing visitors. We both agree that improving usability 'should' produce more sales. I ask "how does testing usability produce more sales?" You reply "how can it not produce more sales?" I pause... "there it is, stupid as it sounds, we have no scientific evidence that connects 'usability and sales'" You counter "that's preposterous, improved usability has to result in happier shoppers and don't we agree that happier shoppers will eventually produce more sales?" Hmmm... "damn good counter, hard to argue that point!"
The next day, you and I get a pot of coffee and a white board and I start with an observation "In most online businesses, the shopping cart is the final judge... not usability. Usability testing's results are seen in the shopping cart. In our industry, we have no shopping cart. In fact, our car shoppers consider invisibility as a mandatory requirement... we're f**ked! there's no easy, scientific shopper score card for us!"
We stare at the blank white board, we know we're about to walk into analytics hell. You break the silence and say "If we could create an analytics model that'll help us 'score' a visitors level of engagement, and if we can map that back to a sale, THAT would be our shopping cart!" #MicDrop My jaw hits the floor... "Holy shit! that's it!"
On the top of the white board, I write....
"What does a productive shopping visit looks like?"
