1.  Gibbs has many different criteria for evaluating a Main Street: the visibility of police or security, adjusting objects that may encourage loitering, cleanliness, clothing stores never next to restaurants, clothing stores never on the north side and restaurants never on the west side.

2.  I think Main Street should have some similar aspects with that of a mall.  I do think Main Street should be filled with shops and stores and I do think Main Street should take into account design techniques similar to that of malls listed above.  When I think of a downtown, I think of tradition and old buildings crammed together and for some reason I like that feel.  I think downtown's should preserve their early American roots and remain the jumbled up bliss they've always had.

3.  My own checklist to judge a Main Street would be: cleanliness, preservation of old traditions, an almost cluttered feeling with hilly and uneven land, easy access to parking and design technique's listed in question in regards to location of stores and restaurants.  The most important aspect in my opinion is the preservation of a downtown's original identity and tradition.  

Hobby Lobby

1.   I observed the Hobby Lobby, which markets to people looking for arts and crafts, fabrics and different household decorations. 

 

2a) The store has a simple front with a red sign that reads Hobby Lobby.  The color of the store is a dull white and the front of the store has windows to see inside.  

2b) The store wasn't playing any music, but you could hear different customers asking questions to employees.  

2c,d,e) The merchandise was on shelves on the floor all placed in different categories labeled with large signs above each aisle.  The store was very cluttered and it was difficult to find a specific item without asking an employee where to look.  The floor was white tile and the signs had writing with large font in order to make it easier for the customers to find items.  All the products the store carried were on display to make for visual marketability; therefore, when customers walk through the store looking for one thing they might see something else they want to buy. 

2f) The cashier area is located in the front of the store for easy access.  The area is filled with impulse buys like gum, candy and magazines.

 

3.   Hobby Lobby tries to project the image of an art studio with an at home feel.  The store exemplifies this by setting out all their products out, which are generally items used in the home, so the consumer sees an item and imagines how it would look in their home.  The store also wants to convey an image of easy to use by using large signs to direct shoppers and by having cashiers in the front.

4.   Customers seemed intrigued by the stores vastness and product layout.  Customers seemed to come for one product, but would see other items they might want which led them to wander the store further.

5.   I thought it was interesting that the store smelled so good.  The first thing I noticed when I walked in the store was how warm it was and how it smelled like a grandma’s house.  I think the store was specifically designed to give off this homey feel.    

1.  The article has three main points: the goal is for shoppers to walk farther into the store, stores need to promote themselves through the environment and the self-image they give off, and design based on the people.  In order for shoppers to walk deeper onto stores, and therefore buy more products, the store needs to have the right environment for its customers: comfort and a self-image that each particular store gives off.  Stores also need to be designed for the customer: natural designed for people walking on the right side of the mall and necessities in back with impulse items in the front.

2.  A store's design plays a large role in how I view it.  If I'm walking in a mall and I see a store with music I like and an environment that is pleasing to me, there is a much better chance of me walking into that store over a boring store.  If stores want to attract customers they need to be design friendly and their environment needs to reflect the customer they wish to target.

3.  My analyzing checklist for a retail store:

1) Design.  Does the store design for the customer first?

2) Environment.  Does the stores environment reflect the audience it wishes to target?

3) Gender Gap.  Is the store conscience of the fact that women tend to have more patience                                        while shopping than men?

 

Monday October 20, 2008

1.  Packaging gives the consumer its first glimpse and instincts toward a product.  When it comes to things like shampoo and items bought over-the-counter, the packaging is the primary component of Visceral Design.  One situation I can think of when the packaging motivated me to buy a product was when I considered a new brand of deodorant.  I was at CVS looking over the deodorant aisle and the Adidas deodorant caught my eye because of its sleek black packaging.  I ended up buying the deodorant, knowing nothing about how well the product worked.

2.  Other products with ionic packaging include: nike shoe boxes with there orange and brown box, Pantene Pro-V conditioner with its white bottle and Plochman's mustard with its barrel-shaped yellow bottle.

3.  Sometimes packaging contains too much wrapping and material.  Other times packaging is far too difficult too open.  A situation I can think of that brings both of these issues together is my old CD player.  The packaging was like trying to break through the Great Wall of China and it had tons of wrapping and unneeded plastic which wastes our planet's resources.  

"Biggest Mistakes in Web Design 1995-2015"

1.  The reading indirectly focuses on Visceral and Behavioral Design.  The article focuses on how the user will perceive websites and their usability.  At the very beginning of the article it even talks about how websites should be designed for the user in mind and not designed for the people making the site.  

2.  The most important points of the article are: making websites for the user, usability of websites and don't use a website exclusively if other marketing strategies are working too.  The article overall stresses the importance of putting the user first.  

3.  1) Website grabs the attention of the user without being too over-the-top

     2) Icons correctly labeled and easy to find

     3) Finds a way to bring users back again

     4) The order of the website is user friendly 

"Know it All"

1.  I think the authors main points are wikipedia is an innovative website that stands unique among other encyclopedias, wikipedia has a community of its own and wikipedia's unique innovation may lead to its own destruction.

2. "Wikipedia, which was launched in 2001, is now the seventeenth-most-popular site on the Internet, generating more traffic daily than MSNBC.com and the online versions of theTimes and the Wall Street Journal combined. The number of visitors has been doubling every four months; the site receives as many as fourteen thousand hits per second."  

The author defends his claim of Wikipedia's growth and does so with a staggering statistic.  The fact that Wikipedia receives 14,000 hits per second makes the reader sit back for a second in shock.

3.  In terms of Visceral Design, Wikipedia wins.  Wikipedia is the easy to use and edit site that has flash while Encyclopedia Britannica appears as the boring site that's made by boring nerds.  In terms of Behavioral Design, Encyclopedia Britannica serves better for the small array of topics they have while Wikipedia offers many more topics with less credibility.  Reflective Design goes to Wikipedia.  Wikipedia is the more popular site with more users, equipped with a "household name."

 

Wednesday October 8th

1.  For the majority of people, Visceral Design should be complex because a product will appear to have the most features.  Behavioral Design should be the most simple because products should be easy to use.  Reflective Design should be either complex or simple depending on what the user is trying to convey.  It really depends on the consumer.  Some might want their TV to look really complex, others might want a bike that is really easy to use.

2. "I remember buying my phone because the features that it had looked very cool; it's feature included having two sides (One the actual the phone and the other the media part) . The phone just looked much than the ones that were being offered. All the other phones seemed boring compared to the one I purchased." (Ted) The most recent example that comes to mind is when I purchased my cell phone. I bought the new voyageur, which I do like, but it has many features that I simply do not need or use. First, and the main reason I purchased this phone was because it has a touch screen. This may seem sensible at first, but when I really think about it, it creates more of a problem than making things easier. I have to constantly put on screen-lock as any touch in my pocket does something unwanted. Not only this, but it also is more difficult to use than a regular keyboard. Aside from the touch screen, there are many unused features such as mobile television. I will never want or be able to pay for it. Both of these are good examples of how the features at the beginning seemed “cool” or “new” but came to be more of a problem than anything. (Jeff)

Both Ted and Jeff (And me too with my first cell phone) bought their respective cell phones based on complex Visceral Design.  This supports the claim that with most products, the ones that appear to be the most complex are the most bought.   

Simplicity Is Highly Overrated

1.  When I bought my first cell phone as a freshman in high school I picked out a phone because the complexity of it made it more desirable.  The screen of the phone could turn 180 degrees which, it turned out, served no real purpose; however, when I was in the store looking at phones it looked the coolest.

2.  Certain products require a lot of complexity of they have many functions like, for instance, computers.  Computers can't be resrticed to one or two buttons, they require many different buttons because of the many different functions computers have.  Simplicity is most important in objects that don't have a lot of functions like clocks.  

3.  "If I see somebody with a polo shirt, then I feel self-conscious and want one myself. Therefore not only does a store make a sale but they also get a free form of advertising." (Jeff's blog)  I thought Jeff's statement was interesting because I feel the same way.  When I see someone wearing a shirt that I like by a company I usually wear I want to buy one for myself.  Jeff also makes a valid point that I never realized that companies get free advertising when someone wears their products.