After having read Don’t Make Me Think and gaining a better understanding of how eCommerce go about designing their websites. A specific site I chose to examine was Barnes & Noble. This was my choice because, while their stores are made to be simple and easy to find what you’re looking for, I wanted to see just how much of a challenge it would be to find a book when there isn’t the limitation that a store would have.
For an item like a book, there are many different ways to search for what you are looking for. Two main topics people might search under is typically by genre or by its author. The book I was looking for “Down and out in the Magic Kingdom” is a Science Fiction book by the author Cory Doctorow. From the Homepage, it is very simple to start a search for what you’re looking for. Barnes & Noble provides a long header of subjects that shoppers might be looking for. The first one is simply called “Books” and hovering over it will show a drop down menu with a ludicrous number of options to choose from. The two main subjects mentioned earlier to search from are typically genre or author, and the website does provide a detailed list when choosing from either one of the two. However, if someone is to choose genre, they are then taken to a page which shows only a small list of what’s new and popular, and if what they are looking for is not there, they then must play a kind of guessing game to describe the exact book based on various lists of search specifications along the side of the screen. I know for myself that I personally don’t want to take the time to try and describe whatever it is I’m looking for, especially if it is something that is new to me, and also having to hope that the system can successfully find it.
What I found to be an easier way is to search by author, obviously, assuming you know who the author is. When searching by author, you are shown a small list of current popular authors which is followed by an extensive list of authors in alphabetical order by last name. Once you find the author you’re looking for, you’re then taken to a page that shows all the books they’ve written and that the store has. From there is was easy to find the book I was looking for, and once you’ve successfully found whatever it is you’re looking for, you can click on a big blue button reading “Add to cart” and finish or continue shopping.
However, while I believe with some time anyone could find what they’re looking for, there are some changes I would make to create a simpler experience. One thing I would do is to simplify the key details to search from. What I mean by that is how whenever you click on what you want to search by, be it genre, author, or anything else, if what you’re looking for isn’t there then you have to begin this unnecessary guessing game with descriptors that seem to broad to even seem helpful. By providing simple key details to describe various novels instead of by price, formats, and vague and oddly specific subject would help to narrow the search for the exact book. Another change I would make would be to the homepage. The first thing people are made to see is the large display banner that advertises the latest and most popular books, toy, etc. available. While the key topics to search from are almost hidden between that and the top of the page. I would think to create big display icons for each topic and present them in place of the banner. This would help customers start their search faster and hopefully minimise the amount of time trying to find a product. Keeping things simple and understandable is important especially when looking for something specific like a certain book.
Overall, I feel the Barnes & Noble has a pretty decent website, but only if you know exactly what you’re looking for. If your trying to go based on the suggested search options then you might have a harder time finding whatever it is, not impossible, but certainly not easy. Some options are easier than others, like searching by author, while some, like searching by genre, make me want to try my hand again at the dewey decimal system at my local library. While there is clearly room for improvement, Barnes & Noble has a good foundation, and with a little tweaking can become everyone’s first stop when shopping for a novel.