As one use to frequent the salon or local drugstore once a month I frequently shop for make up conveniently online, well to be completely honest if you can buy it online I am most likely shopping online for it. Consistently each month I order the same beauty products as they run out, through my preferred choice cosmetic supplier, Ulta Beauty. With five easy steps I have what I need in my cart. Upon check out, after I log in and confirm my saved shipping address and select my saved method of payment, weather it be my credit card or my debt card that month, both are there at my convince. Just a few more clicks and I have my items on their way to my front door.
For someone who is not as familiar with the web site, or with beauty products in general, the website follows all the rules in order to prevent the user from exhausting any unnecessary brain function. The website starts to guide the user with first glance, you see a navigation menu on the left side of the homepage and to the upper right there is a search bar. If using the search bar, the site will compose a list possible search options in order to help guide you faster. Like many search sites this is not an unfamiliar feature but nonetheless it makes the site think for us, providing the guidance and convinced we are looking for. If one not sure of the exact product, the menu has categories that begin rather vague but become more specific as they lead you to the item you may be looking for. After choosing “make up”, then “foundation”, you may already have found the products you are looking for if not, there are more filtering options to narrow down the product search. This offers such categories as type of foundation, price range, brand, or even as specific as the amount of coverage you would like. The user doesn’t even have to know what exact product you are looking for but he web site will provide the user with enough direction to send them right to where they need to be. And just a few more steps and they are set up for a first time user check our or able to login and have the web site enter the requited stored information for them.
Either a website works or it doesn’t, there is no in-between. In order for a site to function the information the site provides needs to be clearly displayed, and even more importantly, clearly labeled. Categories and sub categories are what provide the user with direction, with miss leading titles one can get lost and then choose a different site to search. In order to keep the users attention you want to fundamentally make the choices for them. Put the answer right in their face. We as humans want everything as convenient as it can be, tell me what I’m looking for and show me where it is. We expect this not only from customer service at a department store with human interaction with one of their employees, now we expect the same if not more convenience and direction from the websites for those same services, minus the tedious trip to the store.
Ultas’ web site uses a gird base layout and minimal use of color. It’s very easy on the eye and neatly done as far as an aesthetic point of view. The website provides organization of categories and subcategories as well as clear labeling. Someone who knows nothing about makeup or beauty products can find something as simple as what shampoo they want or even make an appointment for the salon with no disruption, the site illustrations what rout that you need to take to get you to the service or produce you need with no noise in-between.