–American Eagle Outfitters www.ae.com
I frequently look at American Eagle Outfitter’s website for deals on their rather overpriced clothing. I am a bargain shopper especially during the holidays. Depending on the platform I access their site, the usability varies in level of difficulty. When I first access the site, they always have the most recent news plastered in bold blocks of information on their homepage like “New Arrivals”, “Sales”, or their “brands.” Currently, each block of information is self explanatory. For example, if I want to shop their “Save up to 60% on Clearance” special right now, I can click “Shop Women”, “Shop Men”, or “Shop Aerie.” They are the 3 most common choices their customers make without thinking. They have a header of 6 options ranging from “Women” to “Clearance” at the top. If I want to go to the cheapest clothing, I know to immediately click on the “Clearance” link since it simply states where it will take me. However, they appear just as text, not as button. I believe it is through conditioning of multiple websites using this kind of technique that online shoppers know that text explaining “women”, “men”, “clearance”, etc. will take us to the specified location without necessarily having to have a “button” appearance. One feature I have always liked about American Eagle’s website is how they always have a photograph of the product that makes it obvious about what the product is, how to wear it or use it, and that you can click the image to look at more information or buy the product. It does not require a lot of thought. It’s so easy even my older relatives know how to maneuver the site when they are shopping for their nieces, nephews, and grandchildren. As for the format of the site, the most important information is in larger sections that take up the majority of the site’s visual space. Product names and prices are significantly smaller than the corresponding photograph because American Eagle deems the visual of the product is more important than the name of it, but the price follows by being larger than the product name. Their pages are easy to scan with a helpful “Back to Top” feature since their pages tend to scroll on for what seems like forever in the internet world. The most important information is easy to scan through quickly and the more detailed information is on single product pages where you see the image, product name, price, size information, and availability. Unnecessary information is never immediately displayed when viewing their products. The user must work further into the site mapping to see more detailed information. If I am in a hurry, I scroll quickly looking at contrasting colors that will cause me to pause and look at an item I may like. It is easy to go back to a previous page without having to start back at the top again. (This is not the case in their app on the iPad or iPhone.) Overall, I think their main webpage is easy to use, but their apps are much more difficult to maneuver and have significant bugs. The website usually loads quickly and is not flashy so it is easy for the eye to flow through the information and not become over stimulated. Important information is bold, large, and easy to find. Hovering over bits of information all over the site makes submenus appear. The site is layered, but the layers do not need to be accessed in order to work through the website to achieve the ultimate goal of making a purchase.
–Katie Carlton