Nick Usborne

Whatever the purpose of the sites you work on, their success depends on visitors doing something. We want our visitors to sign up, or buy, or donate, or download, or apply, or post opinions, or pick up the phone and call us. One way or another if we are to judge our sites as being successful, they have to result in some kind of action on the reader’s part.
不论你所运作的站点目的为何，他们的成功，依靠的是访客的参与。我们需要访客去注册，或是购买，或是捐赠，或是下载，或是申请或是提交建议，或是获得电话号码并联系我们。如果我们要去判断我们的站点是否成功了，必须在读者一些行为部分上得到结论。

At this point we can break the experience down into two phases

在此观点上我们可以将过程分为两个阶段

Phase one is the period of time during which someone reads about what we are offering them. Phase two is the period during which the reader does something—applying, registering, buying, etc.
当某人在阅读我们所提供的一些东西的时候为阶段一。阶段二是读者所做的一些事——申请，注册，购买等等。

As an example, phase one might span the time a reader takes to read two pages about a grant application. Phase two would span the time during which the reader is completing and submitting the application form itself.
同样的一个例子，阶段一的时间跨度或许为读者阅读有关允许使用程序的页面这段时间。阶段二的时间跨度包括了读者在该程序上完成并提交表单，这段时间。

Or perhaps someone wants to buy some software. Phase one covers the period while the visitor is reading about all the features and strengths of the software application. Phase two is when he or she clicks the “buy” button and goes through the entire shopping cart until the purchase is confirmed.
或许一些人想买些软件。阶段一就换成访客阅读有关所有软件程序的特色以及实用性，这段时间。阶段二为他或她点击“购买”按钮并通过所有购物程序直到购买被确认。

This is where the flywheel comes in

这里出现了变速轮

You know those kids’ toys where you push the car repeatedly forward a few times, keeping hold of it? The energy from your arm is transferred to a small flywheel in the car. So when you finally let go, the car speeds across the floor… powered by the kinetic energy from the flywheel.
你知道那些孩子们的玩具吗？就是你得拿着小车反复的将它往前推几下，你手臂上的能量就传到了小车当中的变速轮上。所以当你最后放开它的时候，小车可以快速地在地板上穿梭…此时能量来源于变速轮。

So long as it doesn’t bump into anything, the car keeps going until all that kinetic energy is expended. Why doesn’t it keep going for ever? Because of friction.
只要它不撞大什么东西，小车可以持续的前进直到动能耗尽。为什么它不能一直前进下去呢？因为有摩擦。

Applying this analogy to the web

此应用可以类推到WEB上

Put simply, when you write about the reasons why a reader should fill out that application for a grant, you are transferring kinetic energy. So long as what you offer is what they really want, you need to clearly and simply build up their enthusiasm and excitement.
简单的推动，当你在写有关读者应该填写准确申请的原因时，你正在转换动能。只要你所提供的是他们真正想要的，你需要明确地并且简单地激发他们的热情与兴奋感。

Why? Because if they decide to start to proceed with the application, they are going to encounter friction. You have experienced it yourself…that feeling of diminishing commitment as you start wading through multi-page application or shopping cart pages.
为什么？因为如果他们决定开始继续做有关的程序，他们会遇到摩擦(阻碍)。你应该有这类的亲身经验…就是像你开始费力地经过好多张申请页或是购物程式页的时候。

If you want someone to complete a process, you first have to provide them with enough energy to overcome the inherent friction of the process itself.
如果你想让这些人完整的完成步骤，你首先必须保证他们有足够的动力去穿越这些步骤所固有的摩擦。

It’s as simple as that.
就这么简单。

Abandoned shopping carts

遗弃购物车

A great deal of research has been done on shopping cart abandonment. Typically, when a hundred people start buying something online, of those who do not complete the purchase, seventy gave up somewhere while on the shopping cart pages.
大量的研究证明购物车已经被遗弃了。拿个典型的举证，当100人开始在线购买东西的时候，那些没有完成购物人当中70%是在购物车环节放弃的。

Why? Too little energy. Too much friction.
为什么？动力太少了而摩擦太多了

As a formula, it is easy to visualize. In order to maximize the success of your site you need to increase the energy you transfer to your readers, and reduce the friction within the page or pages on which the reader has to do something.
就像公式，这是很容易想象的。为了将成功数量最大化你需要增加你传输给读者的能量，并减少读者因必须做某事而带来的摩擦。

In particular, this means that if the application or purchase process is lengthy, you had better be sure that you have transferred a great deal of energy to the reader before they begin.
这就意味着如果程序或购买的过程特别地冗长，你就必须保证在读者开始之前你就已经将足够多的能量传输到了他们身上。

Maximize the transfer of energy with words and design

使用文字和设计来传送尽可能多的能量

Too often the energy from a home page or second level page is spread too thinly across too many topics.
来自主页和二级页面的能量总是会因为包含太多的主题而分散掉。

If you want someone to do something, you need to build what amounts to a funnel, or pathway. Help the reader identify the one thing they want, and then simplify and “narrow” the design and the text in order to focus on that one thing, and build energy and enthusiasm within the reader. Take away any distractions, visually or with words. Focus on the one thing.
如果你想让一些人“做”一些事的话，你需要建立起作用相当于漏斗的路径。帮助读者确认他们要做的一件事，并且简单而又“精密”的设计来让他们能集于这件事。

And when you come to designing and writing the form or shopping cart, reduce the amount of friction by as much as you can. In other words, ask for as little information as you can, and reduce the number of pages to a minimum.
当你将要设计并要加上表单或购物车的时候，请尽量减少页面给用户带来的阻力。换句话讲，尽可能减少对信息上的要求，并减少要经过的页面数量。

You need your reader to have completed the process before that kinetic energy has dissipated.
你得让读者在动力消失前完成这个流程

How this works in practice

在实际运用当中是怎样的？

We tried the energy/friction route with one of our research partners, SmartBrief.com.
我们通过研究伙伴身上尝试了动力/摩擦 路径这套理论。

We tested a subscription route that did a better job of selling—transferring energy to the reader—and asked for a lot less information on the subscription page.
我们测试了订阅路径并在促进动力传输方面做了进一步加强——在订阅页面上向读者要求相对少量的信息

The outcome? An increase in conversion rates of over 500%. That is to say, of the people who arrived at the subscription offer page, we increased the number who actually signed up by over 500%.
结果？增长量超过了500% 也就是说来到此页订阅的人数增长了那么多，事实上注册人数也增长了500%

And while we sold a little harder—and offered an incentive at the back end—the primary cause of the increase was almost certainly that we reduced the friction during the sign-up process. We offered more and asked for less.
究其主要原因是我们减少了在注册过程中所带来的摩擦阻力。对用户索求的信息也相对减少了。

With another partner we cut back on the number of pages involved in signing up for a paid subscription service from nine to three. (Yes, a nine-page process was more than excessive.) The result? And increase in sign-ups of 293%.
通过另一个伙伴的测试，我们将注册过程中错综复杂的9张页面裁减到了3张。（是的，9张页面是极端得离谱）结果？注册数量增长了293%。

This simple principle applies across all websites

这就是在所有站点都适用的简单主义

More energy. Less friction.
更多的动力。更少的摩擦阻力

It’s an obvious analogy, and a simple one.
这是个很明显的类推，同样也是简单的。

But if you apply this thinking throughout your site you will like find places where you can increase the transfer of energy to your readers on the sales or information pages, and reduce the friction on the sign-up, application, or shopping cart pages.
但如果你将这类思想应用贯穿于你的网站，你就会发现可以增加读者动力的地方（出售或是信息页面），并减少注册，申请或购买页面带来的摩擦阻力