Amazon.com (Practice Entry)

Amazon.com

Amazon.com is one of the most used sites in my web browser, if Im looking for something to buy it is one of the first places I check. Most of the books in my room are from amazon even though it sells more merchandise then just simple text books or graphic novels. The big question I am asking is, is amazon easy to use or am I just so used to the site to know better?

First I would like to analyze the home page, my personal amazon homepage. First thing I see is the Kindle, which Im not so interested in, but they need to advertise. Under that ad is the suggestion which personally make be feel overwhelmed by the clutter of pictures and text. I can see right away that the items are related to the last thing I searched. The idea is nice, giving me idea of other books or items related to my interests. But there is no contrast on the site, the bottom feels like a computer just threw some ideas at me and the typeface doesn’t chance, so the ads in the side column look like they are part of the suggestion box. Personally, I would cut the whole bottom half of the site off and leave just the navigation bar and department side bar.  Under the navigation bar leave the same ads maybe just adding one row of suggestions.

Simplicity is bliss. 

When entering the site, say into the book department, I feel the side columns should have a light background tint, when I look at the part I don’t know where to start. Everything seems organized in a nice fashion except I feel like all the words look the same.

It seems like the problem I have with the with the department page s the same for the whole site. Most of the site looks plain looking and I can’t tell the difference from one page to the next. They should add a style to each different part of the site, for example the Cart page could be a different color then the Department pages. This can be anything from a background tint to a color border.

Now when it comes to pages that need a new look that makes it easier for the shopper to use is the checkout page. Now if you have a account on amazon most of the work is already done. The biggest problem I have with the sites design is in the last part of the ordering process  Shipping details. When I get to this part I feel like I need to read everything in order to not get ripped off somehow. The first things I see are green text, this text tells me things like free shipping or get it by this date and paragraphs of other information all in the same font and same color. Instead of making be feel great about whatever deal I can get I feel like they are trying to get something past me by overwhelming me with words. If the credit card add was part of its own section maybe below the shipping speed options or less body copy was added.  The item information was moved above the order summary, the design would feel more organized and easier to use.

Amazon is a good site, but for first time users they will need to read more into the site and shopping for them might take longer then someone who might know the site better.