Imagine walking into the most glorious store.

Approaching, a member of staff in appropriately smart attire smiles and holds a potentially very weighty door open for you.

Upon entering, the first thing you notice is the temperature, which is decidedly warmer than outside (in my mind it’s Winter). It’s probably got those huge units above the door that blow warm air from above – go with me on this.

The flooring is comforting underfoot as you walk further in. You’re pleasantly surprised by the ease at which you can move around without fear of bumping in to someone. The products look incredible – just what you hoped to find, but better - and at a price you can afford.

You don’t directly notice the lighting which has been carefully positioned to improve the experience, but you do notice the intelligent decor which helps to create a sense of being truly comfortable.

In a nutshell, you’re very pleased and in no time at all you make your way to the counter clutching a number of products.

But sadly, from here it goes wrong. The assistant doesn’t look you in the eye and communicates using one syllable grunts. You’ve only got a Visa with you and the assistant simply states:

“We don’t take cards”.

This may sound ever so slightly spurious, but I relate the above tale to visiting a website with poor form validation. By this I mean that the website can offer users an aesthetically pleasing design, thoroughly considered information architecture and an excellent product offering, yet when you get to a critical point of interaction (completing a form) the error message just grunts:

“You must enter a valid postcode”.