Urban Outfitters

1. I observed Urban Outfitters. They market to primarily college/younger-generation kids.

2. The store entrance is all glass, with large glass doors, and floor to ceiling window panels for walls otherwise. Some clothing on mannequins is displayed in the windows, along with some furniture/pillows/other miscellaneous items. Inside the store, they play trendy music such as The Strokes, and some techno-type music such as Radiohead. The merchandise is displayed mainly on tables constructed of plywood and metal supports, which contributes to the overall almost grungy style of the store. Also, some merchandise is on hangers on the walls, or on racks around the store. The men's section is in the back right of the store, while women's is on the back left and front right. The registers are in the middle, and there is a section for bedding and furniture at the front left. Additionally, there are miscellaneous items all throughout the store, especially around the register. There is only one floor, and you can see to the far wall from the entrance. There are many signs all around, describing sales, prices, or anything else. There is also a wall with fliers and other posts. The cashier area is circular, with registers facing outside the circle. There is a lot of small items such as jewelry or novelty items all around the registers. I would assume these there to get people to buy them while they are checking out.

3. This business projects a hip, stylized, current image that is reminiscent of the grunge style of the 90's. An example of this is the very simplistic tables that the clothing is displayed on. They are made of wood with erector set-like supports. Often they will have dried paint on them as part of the style. Another example is the employees working at the store. They are all young, dressed in trendy clothes (from the store of course), and perfectly reflect the style Urban Outfitters wants the customers to have.

4. Customers read the novelty books scattered throughout the store, sat on some of the couches, and generally made themselves comfortable. The store has a very relaxed atmosphere which helps with this. When looking at clothes, the customers would look through the items, and when they saw a certain one, they would feel it, or otherwise evaluate it. I think most customers upon entering the store went straight back to the rear, where most of the clothes are located.

5. I didn't think the design of the store was anything unique or revolutionary. They had some basic design, such as putting the most sought-after items in the back, and putting small, inexpensive trinkets around the registers, but I didn't notice anything else out of the ordinary. There was plenty of room to look at the clothes, so there wasn't any butt-brushing issues. Also, the store has only one floor, and no isles. It is basically one big room divided primarily by the registers and the sections of merchandise.

Discussion Question Responses

Brandon asked the question: "So, what draws you into a store? What keeps you browsing in that store?"
I think the first thing that draws me inside a store is the products on display in the windows, assuming I am not familiar with the products inside already. I don't want to waste my time in the store if it doesn't sell products I am interested in. Therefore, the display window is my first impression. Once I am inside, I want to be comfortable browsing the products. Therefore, calming colors are good, and some background music. One of the things that turns me away is overbearing salespeople. Usually I just want to look around the whole store myself, and if I need help I will ask for it. In the end, the most important factor that will keep me in a store are products I can relate to and have a need or want for.

Kelsey asked: "According to the article, shoppers are influenced by the positioning of merchandise. How influential do you feel this is on the shopper’s willingness to buy? Can positioning really change the success of a business?"
I think the positioning of merchandise in stores is important for all consumers, but it is absolutely vital for the casual browsers, the people who don't know exactly what they want, and are "just looking around". From a sales perspective, they need to be lead around the store to the items that the business wants to sell most. They have no motivation to actively search for those products on their own, so the store has to be arranged to best present them to the consumer.
Effective positioning of products can make a big difference in the success of a business. For example, if a store averages selling just one pair of jeans to casual consumers, but through careful arrangement of the merchandise sells an additional accessory such as a belt or socks, they can increase their profits greatly. They are selling a product (the socks or belt) that would normally remain on the shelves. Also, the store could arrange their items to promote another pair of jeans. If consumers could be convinced to buy both pairs, the store doubles its profits.

The Science of Shopping

This article talks a lot about people's tendencies to touch, or pet articles of clothing before purchasing them, so therefore stores place items on tables to make this action easier. The author explains that this is because we tend to eat, and pick up food on tables, but why are these two actions related? When we sit down to eat, do we poke and prod our food before consuming in the same way we evaluate a shirt or pair of jeans for comfortability? What is it about touch that is so critical in our evaluation of a product?

More Packaging

1. We discussed how packaging can be used to draw consumers' attention to a product. What other purposes does packaging serve? Give examples.
Packaging can be used to protect the product inside, including from consumers (theft), transportation, or otherwise. An example of this is CD cases with electronic ID markers that have to be scanned at the register before it can leave the store without setting off the alarm. Also, packaging can be used to group like objects together, such as a package of skittles.

2. What do these articles suggest about packaging design? Give examples of how modifications to current practices could have environmental benefits.
They suggest that we need to make better choices environmentally as far as packaging material. Many materials used for packaging are not decomposable, and therefore contribute to pollution such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. consumers on an individual can help by using reusable bags for shopping, picking up trash, and in general cleaning up the area around them.

Packaging

1. To what extent is packaging important in marketing a product? Give an example of how a package influenced your decision to buy (or not buy) something.
I think packaging is hugely important in the marketing of a product. Even in television ads, the design of the package is often featured so the consumers know what to look for in the stores. Once they get into the store, the package has to be eye-catching enough to stand out from all of the other products displayed around it. Packaging will often influence my decisions to buy or not buy something. For example, if I see a flashy, name brand product for the same price as another, less flashy product, I would buy the cooler looking package.

2. What other products have iconic packaging?
Other products that have iconic packaging are Mac products (specifically ipods), certain types of alcohol, coke products, orbit gum, and cigarettes.

3. What usability issues exist for packaging? Give examples of particularly good or bad packaging from a usability perspective.
Packaging must first and foremost be very visible and eye-catching, while still retaining their simplicity. It must hold the contents of the package efficiently and effectively, while being relatively easy to open/use. Some bad packaging that I have experienced is a sanDisk mp3 player. The package was awkwardly shaped, incredibly hard to open, and not all that eye-catching. It did not fit comfortably in the hand, and was very off-balance. An example of good packaging, is the ipod. It is a simple, mostly black and white box that draws the eye, and tells the user exactly what to expect on the inside.

Interesting Design

So as part of my Halloween costume, I am using an old helmet I had from my days of aggressive skating and skateboarding. It reminded me of a discussion I had with my dad a couple years ago. The situation was this: I wanted to go on a bike ride, but I didn't want to wear a regular bike helmet since I thought they looked weird. So, my solution was to wear my aggressive skating helmet. It was what all the BMX and pro skating guys (the ones who actually wore helmets...) wore, wasn't it?
But no. My dad would have none of it. He wanted me to wear a real bike helmet, or not go at all. But why? If anything, wouldn't the skating helmet provide the best protection anyways? I mean, it is designed for high speed impact with really hard objects. Handrails, ledges, flat concrete, you name it. It has really thick padding, fits perfectly, and above all, looks really cool! Bike helmets, on the other hand, are light, cheap, sparsely padded, and ugly.
Eventually I won the argument anyways, I think my dad decided it just wasn't worth the trouble. But still... what aspect of the design of the bike helmet, if any, made my dad prefer it over the skating one? Could it be something else, like the history of the bike helmet, and stories of its successes? Who knows...

Oh, Snap!

What attracted me to the links:
Spencer’s blog- I was interested in learning what changes Dell is implementing to compete with, and learn from, Apple computers.

Robert’s blog- I think the subject of why some products fail in design is very interesting, and that was the first thing Robert mentioned. It also seemed from Roberts commentary that the authors took some of the concepts that Donald Norman talks about, but expanding on them so they are more modernized.

What I found interesting on the sites:
Spencer’s blog- I liked seeing some of the interesting design ideas Dell had for their computers, like an LCD screen on top of the tower.

Robert’s blog- It was cool to see that the article was in interview format, so you could see the complete answers of the designer and the engineer. I liked when they talked about improving upon old products to make a new, better one.

How the site relates to topics in class:
Spencer’s blog- This article talks about many of the same design concepts we covered, including feedback, as in the case of the LCD screen I mentioned earlier.

Robert’s blog- This article relates to class because the authors also have their own principles of design that are similar to Norman’s: Emotion, Aesthetics, Product Identity, Impact, Ergonomics, Core Technology, and Quality.

Spencer's

Robert's

Interesting Web Page

"The apex of usability, according to Schulze, would be that 'the same product would emerge from two agencies' given the same brief, whereas an indication of good design is that 'you can see something of the designer in the product'. "

WEBSITE HERE!!!

This article is about evaluating design, and briefly talks about the purpose of designers and engineers, and how some problems we see as design errors are actually caused by the engineering behind the product. Also, as in the quote above, the author makes a distinction between usability of a product, and the design of a product. Basically one of the main points is excusing designers from the errors in their products. Sneaky designers...

Tutorials n' stuff

"A lot of manuals skip [tutorials] in favor of giving abstract instructions for how to do something, but not all brains can learn that way. For many people, a step-by-step tutorial is the only thing that helps them "get it." So, even though some users will never need or read the tutorial sections, they can mean the difference between a new user who actually uses the product and one who never gets past opening the box."

Sierra, http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/09/how_to_get_user.html

I think this is relevant to design because it ties into the usability of the tutorial itself. Tutorials often are very confusing because of the limits of being printed on paper. I think that a really successful and cost-effective way to present a tutorial would be on a website online. There, the manufacturers, or whoever makes the manual, would post videos of sample users performing the actions described in the tutorial. That way, it would be more like a person showing you how to do it in real life, and therefore easier to learn. Also, the company could have cool visuals that wouldn't cost money in printing costs. Plus, the internet is fun!

Well designed product

I recently purchased a small, clip on table from the K bookstore. Yes, a clip on table. It is perfect for a dorm room setup, especially if you wear glasses like me, and need a place to put them when you go to sleep. The table uses adjustable, tightening grips to attach to my square bedpost, but it also comes with attachments so it works with round beds too. Although it is fairly small, the table has plenty of room for my glasses, alarm clock, and it even has a little indent to hold a drink, if I'm reading in bed or something. It was exceptionally easy to put together. I did not even need the instruction manual to attach it to the bed. All the parts are clear in their functions. All I had to do to get it on the bedpost was adjust the sliding grips to the correct fit, and tighten a small knob until it stayed. Pretty much the only mistake I could have made was to not tighten the grips enough, but I made sure they would stay before I put anything on them.
Overall, I am thoroughly satisfied with this product. It was decently cheap, and works perfectly as intended. It is reasonably aesthetically pleasing (it's all black), and the construction could hardly have been easier. Well designed is a perfect way to describe this product.

...sorry I couldn't find a picture of the product...

Design flaws

One product that I use regularly that I think has one major design flaw is the nalgene bottle. Sure, it is extremely durable, lightweight, and still holds a lot of water, but there is just one thing that bugs me all the time about it: it is impossible to drink while moving, without spilling whatever liquid is inside all over yourself. This is due to the large opening at the top. It is simply too big for any person's mouth. However when you are stationary, it is possible to carefully control the amount of water that flows from the container, but what if I am walking to class and get thirsty? I have to stop, which can lead to awkward social situations if I am with other people. Should they wait for me or go ahead?
Thankfully, there are multiple solutions to this problem. First, they now make nalgenes with smaller openings, perfect for drinking on the go. And second, there are small devices that plug roughly half of the opening, so as to limit the amount of liquid that gets through.

The nalgene with a parachute

So when Chris and I were brainstorming what materials to use for our egg's protective container, we ran through many different ideas. We thought of everything from cardboard boxes to hamster running balls and rubber bands. However, one constant was a parachute. We figured slowing down the entire contraption was key to its success. We eventually decided on a nalgene (they're "unbreakable" after all!) stuffed with paper towel to cushion the egg, and used coat hangers, cardboard, and a plastic bag for the parachute.
Once our creation was complete, we tested it by dropping it out of my room's window, down one story below. It didn't break upon landing, so we figured that it would work (hopefully) for the egg. How wrong we were...

Blooooooog

"The next time you can't immediately figure out the shower control in a motel or work an unfamiliar television set or stove, remember that the problem is in the design."

Norman DA. The design of everyday things. New York: Basic Books; 1988. 257 p.

...Doesn't this relate really closely to the learned helplessness theory that the author talked about earlier in the chapter? It seems like he wants you to automatically assign blame to the designer if you can't work a product, without considering if it is just human error. If we think like this, it's just making excuses for not being able to work a product.

Although sometimes it is the designer's fault, it certainly is not every single time that you can't figure out what to do to make a product function as it is supposed to.

...Just a thought.

Hi My Name Is...

Ezra. I'm still 17 (sigh), and I enjoy long walks on the beach, blue eyes, and eating.

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