Mailchimp begins going global (and makes a few rookie mistakes)

As a Mailchimp user I was intrigued to be greeted by this header recently:

I clicked on the link and found the following five languages:

Not many languages, but a start.

And I was happy to see the generic gateway icon used:

Curious, I visited the German website to see what German visitors see initially:

Do you notice a flaw in this header message?

In the case of the German site, why would someone who understands the message need to change languages? Of course, they may prefer to use a different language, but they would need some degree of German fluency to read the message.

So the message itself needs work. Oddly, the globe icon is missing as well.

The globe icon is a visual indicator that communicates across languages. Users know to click on it to find their global gateway menu. At the minimum, Mailchimp should employ the globe icon across all language headers.

Also, the permanent (fixed) global gateway menu remains buried in the footer, as seen here:

Now for some good newsL Mailchimp does NOT use flags for navigation. This alone is a huge first step forward.

I’m excited to see Mailchimp begin expanding into different languages. I might also begin including this site in the annual Report Card.

PS: Join me on July 27th for a class on best practices in global navigation.