Store

1. The Buckle. They try to cater to hip urban teenagers/young adults.

2. a. Glass windows easy to see everything inside shoe racks on outside. Very bright.
b. Had a rock an roll music theme going on new. New music not old though
c. Almost all of the merchandise inside the the store is on tables. There are a few racks that hang coats. There is also shelfs on the wall but i think they are more for all the numerous jeans and employees then the consumers.

d. It was a wood floor with tile in certain places. well maintained.
e. There were a lot of signs that basically said like cool names on them. Like seth was not a name but a pair of pants they described and other signs with catchy phrases.
f. Cashier was in the middle of the store available on both sides. Very easy to locate.

3. Trys to give the image for very fashionable up to date clothes. They do not just have one type of clothing they have different brands and styles. They cater to a few different types of people to improve business.
4. When i was in there almost everyone i saw was picking something up from a table. It is a very interactive environment. Seems like everything in the store is asking to be picked up and felt.

5. I thought it was interesting they had no aisles with items on them. The other thing is since everything is on tables you have to problem locating something you are looking for because your able to see over everything.

Science of Shopping

This article is entirely based on the premises of how a stores design influence shopping. Based on the information that you just read do you truly believe design influences your shopping habits? When shopping why do you choose certain stores and what is the reason these stores draw you in? When you shop do you usually know what you are going to buy and its a matter of finding it or rather are you browsing waiting for something to suck you in?


In response to Kelseys question. I feel that the design of a store can really influence a buyer, I am not saying it is going to influence the buyer who knows what they want but the shopper looking for something. All of the subtleties that are incorporated into design and layout of a store to affect the way people shop. The power of this apparent invisible marketing is strong.

In response to Kates question. I personally believe that I am not very influenced by this subtle marketing. When i shop I shop its usually because I know that i need something, this amounts to determination so my mind is not set on browsing but rather finding the item that i need. I am also the kind of person who likes to browse around and view all of his options before he buys something, meaning this placement of items does not really have an affect on me. Another factor that that I try to be frugal and not waste my money, having this thought in your head prevents from the marketing strategies used by companies.

Packaging Continued

1. packing besides being appealing to the eye has many other purposes.
Protect product
Stackable
preserve product
hang up product of shelf
appear bigger
provide information about product
advertisements for other products
coupons

2. These articles predominately suggest that packing today is designed with to much excess. Basically this is the case because of all the trash from packing that ends up in the environment. Using only recycled good would help minimize the amount of trash ends up somewhere else. Another idea would be to cut back on packaging and use the least amount possible. In packaging there is generally an excessive among of paper and or plastic, cut back on these.

Packaging

1. Packaging is extremely important in marketing. Packaging is arguably the most important aspect if marketing. Why? The appearance of the package is the first thing people see and determine whether they are interested in the product or not. Without history and reputation there are not many grounds to sell your product on except packaging. I almost always buy Tropicana Orange juice. The packaging on the Orange juice is very enticing showing a picture of a orange with a straw sticking in it. This packaging is very appealing to me.

2. Mountain Dew
Many Alcoholic drinks have very iconic packaging
Kraft


3. The more simplistic the packaging usually results in better usability. This is the dilemma of good packaging or usability. One thing that applies to a wide variety of products are the clear plastic packaging that is formed around a product. This is great packaging because it gives the consumer a direct picture of what their buying. On the other hand anyone who has tried to open one of these packages knows the difficulties of opening them. Its impossible to open then with out a sharp object, even they have a hard time. Then breaking the packaging before you can get to the product.

Webpages That Suck

1. This reading relates to the concept of user focused very strongly. Essentially this article could be renamed usabilty flaws in designing a web page. In class we talk alot about designing products to meet the users specifications not the designers and this article basically says all of this information when regarding to a web page.

2. I thought the first point was very important that nobody cares about your web site they only care if it pertains to them. The heroin content section was also important by telling people they need to make there page enjoyable to read again and again.

3. I agree with all the points that the website shows. Here are a few more i think are important.

If you have large website a search function.
A good sidebar that lets you get to your place easily.
A fairly simple design nothing over the top that gets confusing.
Good organization

Intresting Design

One Feature of design that i find interesting is ergonomics. Products come in many shapes and sizes and are used in a variety of ways, but have you ever just picked up a product that feels so right. This is the idea of ergonomics. Some products rely on ergonomics to make there product successful like controllers or any hand held product. Picking up to similar products and comparing them which one is chosen. More then likely the product that feels like an extension of the body. this is the basic idea of ergonomics.

Friday October 24

The first blog I chose was Kelsey's.
1. What I read that caught my attention was how many products are created by designing them for another purpose.
2. I found the idea of cross-pollination very interesting and factual. Thinking about all the different products there are and then cross-checking them with each other. One notices all of the similarities between products and how they are similar and use a combination of technologies.
3. This news article brought it several ideas that we discuss in class. One of the things we talk about in class is evolutionary design and this article talks about that. It also talks about standardization how we bring ideas together to form a single product or in other words standardization of a product. Click Here

The second blog I chose was Spencers.

1. What attracted me was how we have had the discussion about PC mimicking Apple several times in our class and this article was almost made for our class.
2. How Dell is taking design steps in order to mimick or at least stay up to standard with the usability and design features that keeps everyone raving about Apple.
3. The two main topics this article talks about that we have disscussed in class would have to be usability and standardization. The first usabilty because Dell is trying to design there product with user friendliness in mind opposed to just a computer almost trying to make the computer a personal experience. The second standardization how Dell is following in the steps of Apple and trying to design a product that resembles basically the user friendliness apple incorporates into their products. Click here