ARTM2210 Intro to Web Design
Just another Intro to… siteArchive for fall2014
Review Topic 1: Amazon.com
I chose amazon.com because It is one of the most popular websites that people visit. it is not a one company the sell every thing and all the things in the websites, it gather all brands and companies in one website to make it easy for customer to shop. this website is like a big world that has everything you need in your life. you would always for sure find what you want from collage materials, to baby stuff. it also has furniture and home decorations. in another hand, in has almost all the brands of clothes, bags, or glasses.It has options that helps you to reduce the result so you look for exactly for what you really want. Another thing is that when you find the result of your search you can choose the prices that match your budget so by that you do not waist your time looking for thing so expensive or too cheep.
On the home page of the website there are many bars that include new stuff like electronics ,books , clothing, and brands. so if you do not have any specific thing to buy, you can just look for the news and new stuff that they have.
The homepage also includes options. first option is the search bar that you use to search for , also a prime option that option is only for people who has this feature, and an option called apartment which shows all the departments and section that they have. so you can easily shop in this website.
It is so easy to buy anything from amazon website. all the product has picture and when you click on any of those picture you would find an icon called “add to cart” and that allows you to put your items in a cart that you can then buy the items or even keep it for awhile and by that you do not lose what you searched. also next to each items there is details of the item and it shows if the item is eligible for prime feature or not. prime feature allows you to get your items delivered in a short time.
Another feature they have is track order. After you made the payment , they give you a traching number to use in the same website and track your order so you can follow the way of the item until it gets at your mail. the also have the option exchange, and return.
Eman Alaggad
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Review 1-Amazon
Amazon is an easy website to browse and understand. It is not complicated to find the search bar, since the bar is at the top of the page. The search bar has a drop down menu that allows you to search by “Departments,” such as electronics or clothing. The layout is also in a nice format. I was looking for a Speedlight Flash for my Nikon D3200 and the site came up with ones that were compatible with the camera. Amazon has a one-click buy button, which allows the person to automatically go to the shipping information if your card is registered to the site. If the person is logged in and bought something from Amazon before, then the website keeps record, and shows stuff that thinks the person might be interested in. The homepage of Amazon is well balanced on both sides and doesn’t look off. The color that is used on the website attracts the person to look at it. One thing I would change on the site is trying to block all the advertisements companies put on. I find these distracting while browsing for items. The links are pretty clear, but at times I have found myself thinking “why can’t they just have the title make the point clear.”
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Review Topic 1 – Dick’s Sporting Goods
The eCommerce site I chose to search was Dick’s Sporting Goods because I am currently an employee at the Dick’s Sporting Goods in Robinson Township. The item I was looking to buy is a New York Jets Dee Milliner Jersey in a size small. As soon as I entered the website, the search bar was right on top with the word “search” in it. The bar also contained a magnifying glass symbol. It took no thought at all for me to immediately recognize where I could search for the item I wanted. There was also no question in my mind as to whether or not I was actually using the right tool to aid me in getting my product.
In the search bar I typed in New York Jets and clicked the magnifying glass. Several sub-categories appeared with pictures of items that you would expect to fit inside of these categories, making the experience simple and effortless. I then clicked on the sub-category labelled “Jerseys” that contained a picture of a Jersey as well. Another sub-category appeared giving me the option to pick a Men’s, Women’s, or Kid’s jersey, again with pictures of the product. I clicked on Men’s and found the number 27 jersey I was looking for.
After I clicked on the jersey the site gave me size, color, and quantity options next to a picture of the product I would receive. Next to these options I could add the item to my cart or find it in a store near where I lived. I chose to add it to my cart. After I clicked “add to cart” the site brought me straight to my art. I could either click “continue shopping” or “proceed to checkout”. If I left my cart, I could easily get back because there was an image of a shopping cart with the word “cart” underneath it that I could click on to return.
After going through the website and ordering my jersey, I quickly realized that I didn’t think! The entire process seemed effortless and made me wonder why I would ever go to the real store again because this seemed so much easier. The Dick’s Sporting Goods site made everything obviously clickable and used words that were obvious and required very little thought. Even though the site seemed to contain a ton of information, it was very well organized in a clear and understandable way. The Dick’s Sporting Good’s website’s use of simple images and wording along with their obvious and easy to understand layout make it an excellent eCommerce website for both themselves and the customer.
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Review Topic 1: AE.com
As a consumer, I do a lot of online shopping. An ecommerce site that I frequent often is AE.com (American Eagle clothing). Just recently, I went through the purchasing process on this particular site and in the following I will document my experience.
First thing I noticed immediately after landing on the page, is its simplicity. First of all, the company uses a strait forward sans serif font that is very easy to read. Color also helps in the design of this website, the company’s chosen PMS color, which is a navy blue and white make up the majority of the design and give it a very structured look. Navigation appears at the top of the page under the company’s logo. Navigation is easy to understand, as described in Chapter 1 of Steve Krug’s “Don’t Make Me Think”, unmistakable words are used (i.e., men, women, jeans, shoes, clearance). A search bar appears in the top right corner. As a test, I typed in “jeans,” a dropdown list displays a significant amount of options that could aid a consumer who might be looking to purchase jeans.
So what about the negatives, well, I definitely noticed a few in scanning the landing page. First of all, above the company logo there appear to be a lot of links that include jump pages to affiliating stores, account setup, rewards, etc. I can see how this would be confusing to a newcomer visiting this particular site. If I were redesigning this site, I would move these links to the bottom of the page. Also, in looking down through the page, there are multiple links that take you to the same place. This will cause the potential buyer several seconds of thought, “Don’t Make Me Think,” describes the importance of avoiding those wasted seconds.
Moving onto the buying process. So, I navigated the navigation to a particular pair of jeans that I wanted to buy. The product page gives me a lot of really useful information including price, product details, etc. I am prompted to choose a wash, quantity and size, all very self-explanatory. Now, I can add the product to my shopping bag, and I do. A dialog box appears, stating that there is an item present in my shopping bag and I now have the option to checkout. In clicking on checkout, another dialog box appears that gives you the option to sign into your account or checkout without signing out. I chose the later, for time saving purposes. Now, I am prompted to fill in shipping and payment info. Finally, I am able to review and place my order followed by a confirmation via email. The ecommerce portion of this website is a great representation of unity in both design and fluidity of actions.
My reaction to this site is mixed, there are some elements that work very well, and some that don’t. I like the overall design of the site, including the color and font choices. I also really like the ecommerce portion of the site, it was very easy to use and didn’t require much thought. However, there are some things that I came across, that made me think, and as Krug says, it’s crucial to avoid that.
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Puma review by Esther Gatemba
Puma has a clean and clear website that is relatively easy to navigate. At the top left of the home page is the search bar which cleverly starts a leading sentence ‘I am looking for’ that you finish. This makes it easy to search for items, it provides a direct route to finding exactly what you are looking for. No thinking is involved here as one knows exactly what they want, style of shoe, athlete or even color. Not only is the search bar inviting, it also gives you options depending on the first few letters of your search word. The predictions come with the number of items listed/available on the site.
For my shopping experience I wanted to get women’s wedge sneakers. I got to the shoes using the main menu. The main menu is laid out by gender, age and sale. Each of the categories have large drop down menus which are broken down into more specific categories. The layout of the site did not make me think at all, I credit this to the use of a great color scheme. The categories are highlighted in red when you run the mouse over and the sub categories are red when dormant. The rest of the words are in black making the ones in red eye-catching. The left side of the site gives options to filter and narrow down your search which makes it easy to find exactly what you are looking for. Also located on the left side of the site they have reviews on the product you are interested in. Products are displayed against a white background, clear high definition pictures are used, the price and ratings are also provided for each shoe. On selection of an item, multiple images of the product in different angles are provided. A disappointment on these images is not being able to view how shoes look once worn -use of models. (The apparel store utilizes models.) Though it does not give individual products reviews it gives ratings on what other customers liked. This I think is a great customer approach in enabling a consumer to make an informed choice on an product based on the satisfaction of others.
Overall the site is made to satisfy the consumer. Puma has subtle advertisement based on the athletes they sponsor but this is not a loss on their part. Fans of these athletes can find merchandise without considering the puma branding. It does not matter who the shopper is on the puma site, everyone will be satisfied with a thought free experience.
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Review Topic 1: B&H Photo Video
B&H Photo Video is one of the foremost suppliers for professional photo, video, and audio equipment. They sell through their physical store situated in New York City, and online through their website, http://www.bhphotovideo.com/.
Because B&H caters to a range of often gear-obsessed customers, the shopping experience is highly filter driven. The website has a grouping of categories with icons across the top of every page. The homepage consists of an almost redundant second set of pictures. Recently, I was shopping for a particular filter to fit a now obsolete camera. When searching for a product, one selects the overarching category (Photography), a sub category (Filters), and then a third level of categories (polarizing filters). After these three levels, the customer is finally presented with the class of products they are looking for. At this stage, while all the products are of the correct class, there may still be a huge number of options. This is where B&H’s powerful filter system comes into play. Because B&H is a specialty retailer, the filter system allows you to use unique attributes to find what you want depending on what you’re looking at. This system ensures that in 4 simple steps, you’re presented with a selection of exactly what you want.
From there, you can sort products by rating, selling, or price depending on what’s most important to you. Pick out a product, and you’re presented with a summary of the product, pictures (when available), an exhaustive list of specifications, reviews, suggested accessories, and an open Q&A section.
On the back end, the checkout system is intuitive and the wishlists are powerful. Getting what you want is as simple as any other online retailer. B&H’s mobile app mirrors this experience very well, providing the same fast, efficient system for finding products.
It’s clear that B&H know their products inside and out, and they use this knowledge to best design their website for customers. Their website is intuitive and makes good use of pictures. If you have any doubt what category your product is in, you can simply follow the illustrations. The visual design is very table-like – Categories are represented by tiled squares, each generally containing a picture and a label. Color-wise, the website is black on a white background, except for where an olive green color is used in the header, sidebars, and certain design elements.. This color livens up the page without being at all intrusive.
In my opinion, B&H Photo Video sets a gold standard for online specialty retailers. There’s nothing I would change about the commerce portion of the website.
Here is what I think other retailers could learn from B&H.
- Know your products better than your customers.
- Anticipate what your customers want to know, and provide it.
- Help your customers get to what they want in the fewest number of clicks, without overwhelming them with options.
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