As our textbook says, a well-designed webpage is very user-friendly, not making a user think or guess. Being uncertain about where links go or if something can frustrate the user, and such frustration tends to leave discourage visitors from returning. I believe this is especially important for a shopping site, such as Amazon.com, which, when I looked at it for this assignment, did not make me think that much.

To start, I did not have to think hard to find some items I was interested in. I noticed three different ways I could find these items. First, as soon as I logged in, I saw several recommendations based off an item I had previously purchased, and I chose one, a preorder for Iron Man 3. Second, thanks to Amazon’s breadcrumbing, I found a graphic novel I had previously viewed, The Truth is Out There. Finally, I entered “backscratcher” in the search bar, and the search bar offered suggestions as I typed, from details to departments I wanted to search. Going to their pages did not make me think too much either; both their pictures and titles were links to their respective pages. Finally, the “Add to Cart” button for two of the items was easy to find, thanks to its color, and was clearly a button. The only thinking I had to do was, “Do I really want this item?” Probably because it is not yet available, the preorder’s “Add to Cart” button was a little more subtle, both in color and size, but it was clear enough that I did not need to think. Finally, when I went to my Shopping Cart, I noticed that there was one important button which required a small bit of thinking: the “Delete” link for removing items from the Cart. It did not pop out like the “Proceed to Checkout” did on the right of the page. It was small and not immediately noticeable, but it was clearly a link when I looked at it. In my opinion, making us think like this discourages deleting items from the Cart unless the person really does not want a certain item anymore. Ultimately, Amazon is a well-designed site, as it was easy to navigate and to add items to the Cart, and it only made me think once.