I've spent the past few days doing online shopping, (because thats what happens when you've got 5 pieces of work to hand in and want to escape theory for a few hours). My online shopping spree tends to begin with the shops i actually shop from on the high street, (Zara, Topshop, Diesal...the usual suspects), and then go on to internet sites that are more specialist (http://www.net-a-porter.com/, http://www.asos.com/, http://www.tightsplease.com/). Anyway, what tends to happen when I do undergo random browsing, is I jump from one site to another, and find random links which often take me to unknown locations that either prove to be fascinating (and worth putting on my 'favorites list'), or shocking and deemed not worthy of ever returning to. This online shopping time helped me determine which sites have exceptionally good layouts and are user friendly, and which aren't (also which are worth visiting, to avoid the actual shop itself). This was one of the tasks that i believe was set for us, and I found a good list of sites which are worth it, and ones which really should be avoided.
First on the list of impossible to navigate is the Zara website (http://www.zara.com/)...
what on earth were they thinking?!
Not only does it take ages till something actually pops up on the screen as an indicator of what to do next, but its also really badly organised. It goes from blank page to menu, to blank page, and you're never quite sure what you should be clicking on. The women's collection takes several attempts to access (and I like to think of myself as a fairly computer literate individual), its just all a bit of a nondescript mess. It takes a lot of blank expressions and mouse clicks to actually get to any clothes! Not recommended for those who like no fuss websites, and are in a hurry.
Next on the list of badly layed out sites is (surprisingly) the H&M website. Its easier to navigate then the zara website, and a lot clearer in terms of content, however it falls short in terms of actually being able to view the collections (which in my opinion defeates the purpose of a fashion website!), there arent any clear 'men', 'women' labels to click on, and again, its a bit all over the place...irritating actually. Also you can't buy things online which i think is a real let down, and the Roberto Cavalli range took AGES to view.
A fantastic site was net-a-porter.com, this site is so well layed out and 'to the point', that i was astonished. Everything is clearly marked, non ambigous, perhaps lacking creativity to a certain degree, but great for shopping (which is essentially why its there). The same goes for ASOS.com, which was once not very good in terms of layout, but has changed in recent months and has become MUCH more concise.
Another great shopping website in my opinion is Amazon.com. Since joining I've really grown to love this website. Every book I will ever need will no doubt be on there, and as well as this, every time i logg in, they'll recommend books for me, based on my previous purchases. I love this feature! Not only do they genuinely recommend very good titles, but they also recommend titles that are very relevant and that i've actually ended up buying, and loved. BIG thumbs up to Amazon.
A good website in terms of visual beauty is the website for chinawhite resteraunt/club http://www.chinawhite.com/new/, the site was very disorganised a few months ago, as although it was very conceptual and looked great, it was almost impossible to figure out. Luckily they changed it to a much more 'user friendly' format, so now its not just more accessible, but a lot clearer in terms of content.
In terms of our project. Its coming along pretty well. This week is editing week. I'm planning on really fine tuning all the contents and making the pages look user friendly without bombarding people with paragraph upon paragraph of text.
Its something i'm sure the guys are going to want to discuss tomorrow.
Ciao for now
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