Jessica Kubik
University of Texas School of Information
Information Architecture II
Professor Don Turnbull
February 17, 2005
Site Design Critique:
www.amazon.com
Site Design Critique: Amazon.com
At first glance of the Amazon.com Website, the new user is completely overwhelmed with choices—utter information overload. Granted, a user who already has an Amazon account will have more specific visual choices targeted at the particular user, but for this critique, I choose to analyze the Amazon site from the perspective of a new user. I typically use a Mozilla browser, but to get a complete view of the screen in Mozilla, the user must scroll to the right. I usually know what I’m looking for when I go to the Amazon site, so I’ve never had a need to view the entire screen at once, but for a new user, this can be a nuisance. The site can be wholly viewed in an Internet Explorer browser. For the purpose of this paper, the screenshots I’ve included are in an IE browser.
The information overload begins at the very beginning of the page in the global navigation bar. There are eight different sets of navigation and links at the top of the page. These include:
1. the “beta” shopping section at the upper left-hand corner of the page, which changes periodically,
2. the Amazon logo to the right of this beta link,
3. the shopping cart and personal account links,
4. the “Most wished for in toys” section,
5. the tabs that begin with “Welcome,”
6. the links that begin with “Gift Certificates”,
7. the “Amazon Prime . . . Express shipping” bar,
8. and the “personalized recommendations” section at the bottom of the global navigation section.
Note: these elements are numbered in figure 1.
To begin the critiques, the “beta” shopping link (1.), located in the upper left-hand corner is somewhat confusing. This is typically where a company logo is placed. The Amazon logo (2.) happens to fall just to the right of this link. It almost looks as if both of these links are part of one logo. They are both hyperlinks, so as the user scrolls the mouse over it, it looks at though they are part of the same link. Each one takes the user to a different section, though. The Amazon logo actually refreshes the page, which introduces a new “beta” shopping logo. It would make more sense to have the Amazon logo placed in the upper left-hand side of the page, while highlighting the “beta” shopping link at another point in the page. By eliminating the image placed with it, the “beta” shopping link could be grouped with the other tabs at the top of the page (5.) since it fits into the shopping categories, or if the designers feel it is necessary to highlight this section, they could place it within the main text of the site (10.), where other products are highlighted, as well. The “most wished for toys” (4.) falls into the same category as the “beta” shopping link. If it is a necessary highlight, it should be placed within the tabs section or within the main text of the web page. Both of these links are already included in the “Featured store” section located within the lower left-hand navigation section (12.), as well.
The “shopping cart and personal account links” (3.), located at the top of the page, are more of a personalized set of links, and to eliminate the jumble of information in the global navigation, it would make more sense to place them vertically along the left-hand side of the page in a local navigation bar. The two search boxes (9.) currently in this position could be minimized and placed elsewhere in the page. The search boxes are obviously important functions of the page, and once the clutter is cleared within the global navigation bar, they may fit successfully within that section.
The tabs that begin with “Welcome” (5.) are general categories that encompass some of the major sections of Amazon.com. They are fitting within the global navigation bar, and once the other clutter is eliminated from this area, they will be easier for the user to focus on. The links below the tabs (6.) are fitting within this section, as they also include information on general categories.
I’m not sure where to begin with the “Amazon Prime . . . Express shipping” section (7.). First of all, this bar is separated into three elements, the Amazon Prime logo, the “members receive . . .” section, and the “learn more . . .” button. They are all evenly spaced out, and it looks as though they are all separate links, but they actually are all grouped into one hyperlink that takes the user to the same location. This obviously makes it somewhat confusing for the user. In addition, the text makes no sense. At first glance, I thought, “Do they give you food coupons for choosing a certain type of shipping?” “All you can eat” is a reference to food, but how does that tie in with shipping? It doesn’t. “All you can eat” is actually a poor metaphor used to show that you can pay a flat fee and get express shipping for the rest of the year on any number of products—just like an all -you-can-eat buffet! It looks as though some part of the “Amazon Prime ‘All you can eat’” logo is actually trademarked. My suggestion is that the Amazon designers spend a little more time brainstorming this marketing ploy. In the meantime, because the idea is so helpless, I would suggest removing it from the top of the page completely for now, possibly introducing the information once a user is researching their shipping options.
The final section within the global navigation bar is the “personal recommendations” section (10.). This information is actually placed at two different locations within the page. Not only is it placed at the top of the page, but as the user scrolls down, it is also located in the right hand side of the main text of the page (12.). Again, to eliminate clutter at the top of the page, this section can be removed from the global navigation area, and it should be moved up on the right hand side of the page, so it is still something a user can see at first glance of the page.
The Amazon.com homepage is somewhat long. I had to take six screen shots to capture the entire page. It is filled with numerous ads that seem to be more distracting than enticing. So much information is included in the left-hand side of the page, that there is actually a big blank section within the main text portion of the page (13.). This is unattractive and unappealing to a user. The content of the page should be simplified and streamlined. The content is most likely generated by the popularity of existing user searches, but I think the designers should use a simple CSS to make the site look more clean and attractive, including a script to populate sections within the CSS as the popularity of certain objects and categories are recognized. Fortunately for Amazon, it is the functionality of the site is more important to the user than the design. Someone unfamiliar with the Internet would probably be distracted by all of the information thrown in his or her face, but most users go to the site with an idea of what they are looking for, and they can usually find it successfully.
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