Amazonian evolution
If you go to Amazon periodically, you’ve been noticing the changes in their interface. Some I’ve really liked, others I haven’t.
In Jakob Nielsen’s latest column, he warns us not to – as SO many have (including me!) – see Amazon as the perfect ecommerce solution to model after.
From “Amazon: No Longer the Role Model for E-Commerce Design”:
On balance, Amazon is still the world’s best e-commerce site. Many of its strengths, however, are unique to its status and would not carry over to sites that emulate its design.
I remember at YS when we were redesigning our store, we copied much of the basic construction of their product info section. It worked well then and it still works well.
I’ve heard that no other company spends more money on usability R&D than Amazon. So I think it’s safe to piggyback on some of their improvements. But you have to be brutal in evaluating their relevance for your own site and audience. (Nielsen’s list of good and bad at Amazon is excellent.)
Also, have you noticed how little Amazon has changed in 10 years? So many of their changes have been incremental. I remember a few years ago when they went to the tabs at the top. Their recent changes have been pretty radical – maybe the most radical. So much for the annual or biannual redesign, eh?
And here’s a good, related article on the future of Amazon: Amazon faces the challenges of its second decade”