Chordiant: Toward A Kinder, Friendlier Interaction.

Complex online purchasing mechanisms mean more than frustrating experiences for customers: they can spell disaster for your ecommerce goals. Marketing research surveys suggest that between 65-75 percent of online transactions are abandoned due to difficulties in order placement experienced by would-be customers at many Web sites. Chordiant Software Inc. focuses on facilitating higher levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty by providing new technology that improves Web site usability, which it sees as critical in the quest to reduce abandonment rates. Drawing on its resources as a provider of enterprise-based CRM software, Chordiant unveiled the Dialog Interaction Server, a general-purpose Web interaction solution that speeds the deployment of engaging and dynamic Web interactions.

Dialog Interaction Server is based on Chordiant's JX Architecture, which provides native support for Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) and XML software standards. The JX Architecture allows developers to code at a higher level of abstraction than just at J2EE, meaning developers can work with Chordiant's solutions and XML format data in "application pure" Java, which augments application development and deployment. Dialog Interaction Server features a runtime engine that manages the merging and delivery of dialogs to the browser; manages mid-session connectivity for validation and population of content; and manages the export of an XML instance document to the enterprise. The customization tool for Dialog Interaction Server, called Dialog Designer, provides a graphical development environment for the rapid creation of customized, dynamic Web dialogs. Marketed as both a stand-alone Web interaction solution and as a complement to all of the Chordiant CRM products, Dialog Interaction Server enables the deployment of more dynamic, engaging Web interactions to increase close rates, maximize revenue and customer acquisition and reduce selling costs.

To establish proof of concept, a Dialog Interaction Server-enabled site was measured against the original design and process flow of an award-winning site. The objective was to measure the usability of each site as respondents completed an online loan application. The test was conducted and analyzed by Human Factors International, a Web design consulting company. Users who worked with the Dialog Interaction Server-enabled site were nine times more likely to successfully complete the complex online transaction than those using the original site. Additionally, users completed the required task 35 percent faster with Dialog Interaction Server versus the original site. Users also reported having a more satisfying experience than did those using the original site, and 91 percent of the Dialog Interaction Server site users indicated they would do business with this company again based on their experience. Sixty-four percent of the original sites users indicated they would return to that site.