A content design comparison of 10+ status trackers, including DHL, Amazon, FedEx, USPS, Farfetch, and Shein.

“Hey there, your order is ready for pick-up!”

— probably some of my favorite words in the world.

As an irrecoverable shopaholic and content designer, I’ve been looking at shipment trackers daily for years now. There are 3 elements essential for display in order trackers:

• the latest update
• time left till you receive the order
• if any problems have occurred on the way

Here’s a status tracker recommendation from Nielsen Norman Group:

“Don’t clutter the status tracker with unnecessary information. Present the latest update prominently so users can find it first.”

Seems easy, right? But somehow, a lot of brands find ways to botch this experience — how exactly, we’ll discuss below.

Here’s the DHL journey of my parcel from Milan to Limassol:

What’s wrong with it?

1. It’s not a “Shire — Mordor” kind of journey; it’s a parcel traveling within the EU that arrived in 3 days. But why does it have so many (12!) complicated updates?
2. With the piece ID highlighted in red every time, I always think that something is wrong.
3. As you might’ve noticed, the final destination, a city called “Limassol,” is absent from the list. Larnaca (the airport hub) seems to be the place where the parcel was “delivered,” although it’s not true as it traveled to at least one other destination — the Limassol pick-up center.
4. I don’t understand what “processed” means… And I don’t have to. Why include it in the tracker? The status updates should use plain language that users will understand.