Wednesday’s word was going to be oliebollen (doughnut) as it is an oft used word in the house of Julia to signify the occurrence of a very daft thing indeed. However, and for reasons soon to be very, very apparent, I have changed it to afbreken and ‘nu betalen‘. Don’t worry though, you’ll get an opportunity to cry “Oliebollen Julia!” at the end of this article.
Afbreken: Break, interrupt, discontinue…
Nu Betalen: Pay now (and definitely not to be confused with niet betalen: don’t pay)
These are useful to know when shopping online – you’ll see them at the point you wish to continue making a payment. They are especially useful to know when the online transaction you are trying to compete fails for what feels like the hundredth time this week. I’d also say that these two words are essential to know before you email the retailer to inform them that their online store must be broken as for love nor money you can’t seem to pay for the goods you have just ordered!
Now that I have updated my vocabulary, the only questions remains is: Should I reply to the lovely customer services lady and tell her that actually, after all, I was pressing ‘afbreken‘… ?!
How I laughed!
Posted by Postcards from a flatland | January 19, 2012, 9:18 amYou’d have laughed even more of you’d seen how insanely cross I’d been getting… Every day for over a week!!!
Posted by ExpatJulia | January 19, 2012, 9:40 amIt might still be worthwhile to write, if only to suggest that their UX team take a look at button placement and colours used. Even on some English language sites I’ve used in the past, I’ve found myself clicking “Cancel” when I really meant to click “Buy” (more than a few times) because they put the cancel button on the bottom right, or colour the buy button red.
As a web developer myself I can tell you that input from customers like this (so long as they aren’t mad) is really helpful. It could be that they can’t afford a proper UX/SEO team, and their developer isn’t really experienced in the field of front-end work and could use some pointers.
Posted by Daniel Quinn | January 19, 2012, 12:24 pmThat’s a really good point … I’ll do it now! Thanks Daniel
Posted by ExpatJulia | January 20, 2012, 1:53 pm