Ames' syllabi

I personally never shop online for anything. When I want to shop I like to go into the stores and talk to sales associates who can answer the questions I can’t solve. That being said I did take the chance to finally sit down and decide what I want and need in order to build my very own desktop computer tailored for my specific needs. Like I said I like having sale associates to answer my questions, but obviously there aren’t any online; so I did my research and created a list of what exactly I needed from my computer. Finally, it was time to see how well www.newegg.com is at helping me find what I want.

When I opened the homepage I immediately was able to find the appropriate tag to continue my search. Not before Newegg’s rotating images caught my eye with their “Unleash The Power” ad which prompted me to explore the link. The link did end up needlessly broadening my search after I licked on the More Deals button from computer components to their entire clearance catalog, but 2 clicks of the back button and I was back on the Home page and moving towards what I wanted.

Finally, I was looking at a video cards, one of my top features, when I found the EVGA GeForce GTX 1070. I was looking at the specifications of the card when I saw it list Interface, know I wasn’t a hundred percent sure what they meant by interface so I was going to waste 5 minutes to google the answer before proceeding. However, just before leaving the page I noticed that interface was a hyperlink that when I clicked on it showed a definition of the world. This saved me time and allowed me to continue my shopping at a steady pace. I finished my shopping and reviewed over my shopping cart to see if there weren’t any items doubles of items or unneeded items. Low-and-behold I had added fans to my cart that I no longer needed so I moved my cursor to delete them.

All and all www.newegg.com worked wonderfully, yes I got held up at times, but I never once had to leave the website to find my way back to where I was. Newegg had even given discounts to every item and given me a promotional gift card. This website made me, a first time shopper looking to build their own desktop computer, a sense of security and confidence with the choices I made.

• Michael Carbonara

Newegg has been my go-to website for years now when it comes to electronics. I’ve watched the site change and evolve over the last half decade, and I’m familiar with how the site works in its current state.  That being said, I do have some critiques.  First of all, the site comes off as a slightly more cluttered, less visually appealing version of Amazon.  The general layout is the same: Welcome banner, search bar at the top, and products below.  All the core components are their, but they seem to be arranged in a less efficient way than the competitor. Searching for and a product is simple, and it “doesn’t make you think.” You know instinctually to type what you want in the search bar, select the product from the auto-suggestion drop down menu. I chose a somewhat specific product (Intel i7 6700k Processor) and the process was as smooth as I could have hoped for. It was the top result on the page and I was viewing it in 2 clicks. As I hovered my mouse of the “Add to cart” button, another element of the page loaded on a delay.  My cursor was now above an option to add a 1 year replacement plan for $25.  I don’t know if this was intentional or if my internet was simply lagging a bit, but it acted as a hiccup in the buying experience and threw me off for a second.  Regardless, I managed to add the item to my cart.  Unlike Amazon, which offers a “proceed to checkout” option, I found myself on a page encouraging me to choose from one of their numerous protection plans (again) and a “proceed to cart” option. The whole process felt like I was dealing with the annoying associate at the register trying to sell me on additional charges I didn’t want. I understand this from the perspective of Newegg, but most people already know ahead of time if they’re going to get a protection plan. Eventually I made it to the checkout which was a smooth and easy process. I was able to checkout as a guest and had the confirmation page within a few minutes.  Overall, I think NewEgg is functional and gets the job done, but could use some visual tweaks.

Review 1:  Thinkgeek.com

The website that was chosen to be reviewed was thinkgeek.com. I tested its ability to navigate and how much the website “made me thing.” I went onto thinkgeek searching for something related to pokemon. I immediately saw the search and knew where to type in my search. I used it and found what I was looking for. I went back to check if there was another way to find the desired results. Through use of the intuitive tabs, I found the pokemon tab and it led me to the same results. This was useful knowing that if I didn’t want to search through the website, all I had to do was just type in my desired search right at the top of the page, but I could also use the tabs that are very self-explanatory to find the products. Thinkgeek gives you the option without making it confusing. I’m able to easily scan the site and find the things that interest me quickly. For the most part, you can tell where you can click without wondering. There is a good variety on screen to really pick and choose where you want to focus on. It is quite easy to find the products you want. Users do not have an autofill dropdown box when you are typing though, so spelling is up to them. That would be the biggest improvement I would offer to the sight. The autofill option would make it a more intuitive and pleasant experience. The front page also does seem to be a little over cluttered so maybe taking out a few of the elements can really bring it together more.  Overall though, it is a strongly intuitive site that holds your attention and navigates easily.

Tristan Coyle

For my website review, I decided to review one of my favorite store’s website, Tilly’s.  Tilly’s is a clothing store that is headquartered in Irvine, California.  The website displays their clothing lines, and is a place where customers can purchase the products.  The website has a very clean look.  It has a plain white background, with a black and gray banner, and pictures of the clothing centered.  There is a search bar, centered and high up on the home page.  This is extremely useful if you already know what you are looking for.  Below the search bar is a header with page tags that when hovered over, a drop down menu pops up.  There are many options here to click to move to other pages.  Under the Women tag, they have nine categories, which are featured, clothing, swim, intimates, shoes, accessories, beauty, deals, and outlets.  Each page loads relatively fast.  There are no ads placed on this website, which makes sense because Tilly’s does not want you to leave their page.  They also have a responsive and functioning shopping cart.  Not only does it show what you saved, but also shows what other people bought with the items that are in your shopping cart.  Once the customer picks what they want to buy and precede to checkout, their checkout is safe and secure with McAfee services.  GeoTrust, which is the world’s second largest digital certificate provider, also verifies Tilly’s.  From being a frequent shopper at Tilly’s, I have not experienced a negative time on their website.  They have done a great job with keeping up with traffic, updating new lines, and getting their old lines on sale.

The site I chose to review is etsy.com. Etsy is a site where artists can buy and sell artwork, antiques, and art supplies. The website layout it pretty simple in my opinion. When you first view the page it explains what etsy is all about. It also has a search bar, which allows you to bypass having to go through the plethora of categories on their navigation bar at the top. As you visit the site more frequently, the site keeps track of your most recently viewed items and begins to suggest things for you. My only problem with this website is that you have to scroll down pretty far in order to figure out how to sell items on etsy. If I wasn’t already familiar with etsy’s selling process, I would have been rather frustrated with the lack of available information regarding starting a shop.  Overall, etsy will continue to be one of my most viewed sites; however, I definitely think there is room for improvement design-wise.

www.sephora.com

For my first review, I decided to review Sephora. Being a makeup artist, I am constantly looking for new products and browsing new websites to find them. Going on Sephora’s website, I wanted to see how the website navigation was assuming I was making a purchase. I searched the product “Champagne Pop” by BECCA. As soon as I searched it, the product I was looking for immediately came up. Viewing the product, it was easy to access the details about the product, the description, the price, etc. The “Add to cart” option was fairly large and easy for the viewer to see. As soon as you add a product to your cart, there is a pop-down menu with the options to either checkout or continue shopping. If you choose to continue shopping, the “Checkout” option is large in the upper right corner. I feel as if Sephora made the website very easy to navigate. It is easy to search things and the site is rather self-explanatory. Even if you are not sure exactly what it is that you are looking for, everything is categorized and the filters are very specific. I feel that even someone who may not be great with technology could navigate this website, which is a key element for something that has a large target audience.

New Egg

Lately I’ve been looking to buy a second 23inch Asus monitor for my laptop so I decided to review newegg.com. Although I was able to find the exact monitor I was looking for, I think the website could be more visually appealing. While first arriving on newegg I noticed the calm color scheme and easy to navigate search options. However when I scrolled down the interesting color scheme completely vanished and I was left looking at the best selling items surrounded by a clutter of ads. Although the blandness of the web page and the ads littered throughout don’t make newegg that visually appealing it more than makes up for it with its indepth search options. First I started my search by using the navigation bar conveniently placed at the top of the webpage. While I knew exactly the requirements I wanted, I started by searching 23inch monitors. This brought me to a page filled with various 23inch monitors, but what was impressive was the amount of specifying search options the left side of the page had to offer. Some of the helpful search options were the manufacturer, condition, price, seller, customer rating and many more. Overall I was able to find exactly what I was looking for due to newegg’s advanced and various search options. However, because of the mass amounts of ads and interactive items on newegg, the webpage could use improvements directing the users focus on where it needs to be.

Jordan Thompson

Review 1

The site that I will be reviewing is Musiciansfriend.com. Musicians friend is a website for online shopping for musical instruments such as guitars, drums, keyboards, amps and many more versatile musical instruments and accessories. When I initially went on to this site, I found that it seemed very clustered to me. It was a lot to take in and try to skim through, but there was a “shop by category” in the top left side that caught my eye. When I came to navigating my way through the site, it became very easy for me. I play guitar, and have done so for the past five years, so I figured I would pretend to buy a new guitar. Navigating my way, and searching and finding the guitar of my choosing was something that I found to be fairly easy. This site is actually a very easy one to navigate around in, and I would definitely recommend it to a friend. My only fault that I see is that when I first went on to the site, it was a lot for me to take in. I don’t know if it was because of the font style, the amount that was on the front page, or even the color scheme, but my only wish is that the home page was more inviting and easy to look at. Overall, I found this to be a great website, and I would definitely use it again and recommend it to friends and family.

www.musiciansfriend.com