1. I observed the clothing store Hollister Co. This store is located in Twelve Oaks Mall near my house. This store is an Abercrombie brand. This is the cheapest out of Abercrombie, Hollister, and Ruehl. But it trys to maintain a classy yet fun look for younger people. Ranging from adolescence to the end of your teen years.

2.

a. The store front is basically like entering a Surfer's house on the beach. That is the look they go for. Outside the store is a little porch area with two manequins displaying a key look that the store wants to sell. There are couches to make it seem like comfortable place. The front of the store is all wood compared with the glass store fronts around the mall so it really stands out.
b. From the moment you walk into the store until the moment you leave your ears are filled with the loud sound of crappy music. And it isn't quiet either. This music is on full blast, it was hard to hear myself think in that store. Other things I heard will teenage girls screaming with eachother and at their parents. You can't really maintain a normal talking voice in the store. It has to be somewhat raised so you can hear properly. So I heard parts of many conversations that I didn't really care to hear. But the music in that store is just too loud.
c. There are many different way the merchandise is displayed. For graphic tees, they are mostly stacked on the shelves or tables. They are easy to find, and they are organized by size, with size stickers on the front so it is easy to tell which one you need. Other things that are sold on tables and shelves are tank tops, other girl tops, and sweatshirts. There are racks where dress and button up shirts are hung up. Jeans are stacked in a wall, and are labeled by size, so it is easy to locate which pair you need. There is a clearance part in the back, where clothes that are priced the same are either put on large tables or stacked on the shelves.
d. The floors are pretty basic. The floors are all wood. This goes with the design of the front of the store.
e. The signs in this store are fairly basic too. For jeans, they have the type of jean. And then under that, they have sizes that run up and down the walls. For clearance, they have signs of prices and any piece of clothing that falls under that price goes under that sign.
f. At the cashier area there are many things that the purchaser could grab while standing in line waiting. There are magazines, and there are also cd's of the music you are listening to. They have their different types of colognes/perfumes, and they actually ask if you want to buy some of their scent when they are ringing you up. They have little sample ones to see if you like it.

3. This store trys to convey a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere. When you walk into the cashier room, there are two big screen t.v.s on either side. They are just cameras of some beach in California. All the employees are given phrases to receit to all the customers, and they all same the same thing. There are couches everywhere in that store. Just in case you want to relax in it. By the couches they have piles of magazines that you can read. They want to make it trendy, so they have good looking models posing for their clothes, and huge pictures of those models. I saw one of the workers going around and spraying every single table with cologne. That has to be some trick to make everyone want to buy more clothes.

4. It is way too crowded in that store. There are couches all over the place that are hard to squeeze around. The tables sometimes block the entrances from one room to another in that store. There are fake plants that you have to dodge when you are roaming through the store. They set up natural aisles for people to walk through, but since it was so crazy this weekend it was hard for people to move throughout the store because the aisles were so small.

5. No matter how crowded or loud it was people still want to come in and buy the clothes. I personally don't think there is anything really special about the clothes. I mean some of them look good, but there is nothing there that I couldn't find at some other store. The store is uncomfortable, but I think that it still appeals to people. It's like living some dream about surfing when you walk into that store. It is designed like some beach house.

Question from Kate's blog:
Is the power of shopping really up to the store owner or can a consumer control their own shopping habits? Have you ever thought about your own shopping habits? Do you browse through everything, only go for what catches your eye, or have one particular reason for entering a store? Can you be swayed by the way a store is set up, or will you only go for what really interests you? Can the way a store is set up influence what you end up buying?

I usually only go to the store to buy something that I need, but when I get there I end up browsing through stuff that catches my eye. On a mannequin might be a fly looking outfit. If it is really eye catching, then I might want to see if it looks good on me. I never really thought it was the store that influenced me to buy something. Granted, I came to a store looking for one thing but I bought something else. This just means that there was something in the store that I liked. I didn't think this had to do with the way the store was set up, I thought it had more to do with the merchandise.

Question from Robert's blog:
This article talks a lot about how the set up of the store, the environment, and the clues given by shoppers themselves can make or break a business. I, on the other hand, always believed that the sales people are the ones who can help sell a product. Do you think that sales people have any major impact on the whether or not a business flourishes or fails?

Sales people definitely have an impact on whether a business flourishes or fails. They are the people who work with the customer to achieve a sale. I think that as long as the customer doesn't know what exactly they need, then the sales person is definitely helpful. For example, I want to buy a new washing machine. However, I don't know all the specifics about washing machines. I want one that saves me money by using less energy, but I want one that gets my clothes really clean. This is where a sales person comes in. They help me to decide which one works best for me. Even though they might be manipulative, it seems to me that most sales people I have ever come across have been genuinely helpful. I think sales people are being needed less and less as the consumer becomes more educated about the products. There are so many ways to access information about a specific thing that people have a background in the product before they go shopping.

This article states, "since the chances that shoppers will buy something are directly related to how long they spend shopping, and how long they spend shopping is directly related to how deep they get pulled into the store." Drawing a person into a store is obviously a very important part of generating sales. So, what draws you into a store? What keeps you browsing in that store?

1. Packaging protects the product. Without proper packaging a product could easily be damaged. If a snowglobe wasn't packaged the proper way it could easily break. There are many products that could break if they weren't packaged the right way. Another thing is that it protects the product from being stolen. This is important for obvious reasons, a company doesn't want their product getting stolen. If a DVD wasn't packaged the way it is, I could easily walk into a store, take it out of the package, and then walk out. Another thing that a package does, is give information about the product inside. If I am browsing for a product, I will check out the box and hopefully gain some information about this product. If I can gain some information about the product, I will be able to make a better decision when buying a product. If I am looking for a new camera, I will check out the specifics of each camera which I can find on the box.

2. These articles talk about how packaging is shifting to make the package more enviornmentally friendly. They can make more efficient ways of packaging the product. If there is a better way to package the product, then a company should do that. I'm talking about using less materials to package a product. Use less energy to package a product. Keep the package simple. They can use better things to package the product. Instead of using plastic, they could use something else. The government could make it mandatory to recycle plastics, and other things. There could be heavier fines for littering. They could tax every plastic thing you throw away. They could charge the companies more for using plastic as their package.

1. Packgaing is very important to marketing. Packaging is the first thing the person sees when shopping. The package draws the customer to th product. If the package catches the customer's eye then they are likely to at least check it out, if not buy the product. If a product has a unique package, then it is more likely to stay in the customer's mind. My whey protein is a product where I was influenced by the package. I walked into GNC looking to buy some proteing. Immediately Whey caught my eye because it is bright red. When I walked closer to check it out, I read the facts on the product. They highlighted facts that only Whey offered whcih also influenced my decision. If it had not caught my eye I probably would have continued browsing.

2. Cigarettes- Camel, Marlboro Liquor- Grey Goose, Smirinoff Candy- Hershey's, Snickers Apple- Macbook Jif- Peanut Butter

3. I find a hard time getting the products out of some packages. Especially the ones that are very hard plastic that totally seal in the product. These packages are impossible to open without scissors. They shouldn't be this hard to open. However, I am still going to buy a product that I know is good even if the package is hard to open.

1. You want to appeal to the user of the website not the designer. The whole point of creating a websited is to satisfy needs of the user. If it is too complicated the user will be turned off by the website. If you don't make th user happy then they will not want to use your site.

2. I think it is important that the user knows exactly what they are going to be doing on a website. If I can't figure it out, I'm going to a different website. Also, if a website doesn't have something to keep me intersted I think it has failed. If I visit the website one time and never come back it doesn't do too much for the company/website. Another thing is I want the website to be simple. If it is too cluttered then I will not want to use it, because it gets too confusing.

3. Clear, Concise, Easy to navigate, entertaining, visual appealing

Spencer's: I think this is an interesting aspect of design. We talk about apple almost everyday in our class. It is hard not to though when it comes to talking about good design. Apple has made a great simple product that is easy to use. Since the Leopard boasts new features, but remains an easy to use apple product. I might check out the Leopard's specks to see if I would purchase it.

Chris': I have the same feelings when it comes toward shopping. I am drawn in my savy design or cool features, but I usually never think about the layout and simplicity of the product. That is why I sometimes have trouble using new gadgets that I buy. If I were to look at the simplicty of the object rather than the cool layout, I would be able to use the products to their fullest extent.

Alex's: Ergonomics are a very important aspect of design. As I stated above, I sometimes do have problem overlooking simplicity for a good look. If I like the look of something, that product is going to stick in my mind. If something feels right in your hand, or is very aesthetically pleasing. While both are essential to design, I find myself struggling to to meet at a middle point. It's hard to picture a perfect product, that looks great but works incredibly well. Enter Apple. The Ipod is our standout product in this category of greatness. The perfect fit, yet the simplest to use. The Ipod is not confusing. The Ipod is not awkward.

When I'm sitting in my dorm room I look around at some of things in here, and I see how poorly designed they are. My remote control has realy bad mapping. All the buttons are the same size, which makes it hard to push the correct one if you are fumbling around with it in the dark. Also, the labeling of the buttons is extremely difficult to use. All the numbers are printed really small below the buttons except the ones at the very top of the remote. So when I turn it on it is labeled above the button, but when I put in the channel number it is labeled below the button. I am constantly putting in the wrong channel which gets frustrating. Another thing that has poor design is the microwave in my room. I got it before I went to college, and I had never used it before. The first time I went to use it, I found that there is no time cook button. I discovered that you just input the time, which seems pretty obvious but I am used to there being a time cook button. Another problem is when you are putting in the power level. On microwaves that I have used, you usually put 10 in for high. This microwave is not like that, you have to push the 0 button. This is very illogical because you would think that 0 means no power. These are few things that having very bad mapping. I like the fact that I can analyze many objects and their design. I think about why it is a good product or why it is a bad one.

The first blog I looked at was Spencer's blog.
This is what I found:
1. He talked about the article which seemed interesting. The article talked about how Dell was re-working their PC to be more apple-like.
2. That this new pc will be very user friendly.
3. User friendliness is something that is always discussed in our class. We have talked about how it is essential to the design process. We have talked about how consumers look for user friendliness.

Spencer's Blog

The second blog I looked at was Alex's blog.
This is what I found:
1. I liked how it said when a product works so well we don't reallly notice it. I think that is true. When you are using a great product you don't really think about how great it is. You only really notice when you are using an object that is hurting your progress.
2. I liked the article because it listed off five ideas that good design is built upon. It has similarities and contrasts to Norman's book.
3. I thought that this website related very closely to our class. Everyday we talk about good design. How good design effects everything about the product.

Alex's Blog

I found this passage:
with a study saying 67 percent of people don't play the Wii, how important are sales? To Nintendo, hardware sales mean almost everything -- the more people buy, the higher its revenue rises, the better it looks to shareholders.

But what some don't realize is Nintendo is reliant upon software developers too. With licensing fees on the rise, Nintendo stands to make quite a bit of money if it can coax developers to make games for the console. But when just 33 percent actually use the console, what's the impetus for developers to spend the limited amount of capital on the Wii?

I think this relates to a discussion that we have had before. I think that it is trying to say that Nintendo just wants to bring in new customers, and sell a lot of the Wii gaming console. But after you buy it, you don't really use it anymore. And the company stops caring about you since you already bought the console. The company isnt willing to make it more user friendly, or to make games that people will fully enjoy.


LINK

A passage that I thought was interesting:

If you can keep the reader/learner/user in a flow state--where the rest of the world drops away--they'll love you. Seriously. And they'll want their friends and family to love you as much as they do. The flow experience is one of the most enjoyable and enriching times in most people's lives, and we all have the chance to help give our users just a little more of this.

Kathy Sierra's Blog

I think this relates to design, because design needs to flow well. A product has to be easy to use and to understand. If you have a product like that, many people will enjoy using your product.

A product that I think is designed very well is my xbox 360. It is a revolutionary game playing system. It has a sleek desgin and is very easy to use. All I have to do is push a button and it turns on the console, or I can do that on my controller for the system. I can open the slot and the game automatically starts working. It has a really good user interface. I can totally customize my gamer profile. Since I added live, which is an extra so you can play your games online with many different people all over the world, I automatically get updates for every game that I play. I can track my stats for my games and compare that to people in other games. It took sometime to learn how to use the games, but after I learned all that it became incredibly simple. I have never had to call customer service or read the manual.

Recently my dad decided that we needed to redo a bathroom in our house. He wanted to make everything look good including the new shower. This is the product that gave me problems. I think it has poor design for several reasons. Usually there is a place where you could operate the drain if you wanted to take a bath or a shower. This shower does not have one. Instead there is a huge nut that is rotated on the bottom of the shower depending on what you want. This is inconvenient because it is hard to put it on the right setting especially if you have already started running the water. Also it is a hazard that you might trip over a few times. Another thing is the handle that turns the shower on and also adjusts the temperature of the water. Now the designer went for simplicity since there is only one handle, but it is confusing on which way to turn for which desired result. If you turn it clockwise or counterclockwise you get the water turned on. It is hard though to find the right temperature when there are two possible options for turning the handle. The last thing is what gave me the most trouble. Usually in a shower there is some where to turn on the shower head that is obviously visible. This shower is an exception to that. I could not find that switch the first time I used it and I had to go ask my dad. He told me to start the shower you need to pull down on on a little switch that is underneath where the water comes out if I was taking a bath. This is probably the last place I would've checked because it doesn't make sense to me that the designer would hide the switch like that.

Right from the start Srikar and I knew that we needed a parachute for our egg. We thought that foam would also be a good idea to give the egg some padding. When I went to Srikar's room I brought the egg in a cup. We figured that we should leave the egg in the cup and still cover the egg in foam. We built teh parachute from a trash bag and some fishing line. It took me a bit of time to find some fishing line, but it was essential to the task. We made the parachute by cutting holes in the bag and also by cutting holes in the cup and tying it with fishing line. The day of the test I was kind of nervous that our container wouldn't work, but I remained hopeful. I was really excited when I saw that our parachute had worked very well. I really liked this project a lot.

9/28

Here is a passage that I thought was interesting:

It seems natural for people to blame their own misfortunes on the environment. It seems equally natural to blame other people's misfortunes on their personalities. Just the opposite attribution, by the way, is made when things go well. When things go right people credit their own forceful personalities and intelligence: "I really did a good job today; no wonder we finished the project so well"(41).

Norman, Donald A. The Design of Everyday Things
New York: Basic Books, 1988.

I thought this was interesting because it is something I have personally done. When I do something extremely well I think it is because I have put in a good amount of time and effort. The same for when I screw up. If I was writing a paper at the last minute and suddenly my computer crashes I would blame my computer and not the fact that I procrastinated until the last minute.

Well I just read the first chapter of the book and so far it is pretty interesting. I found it funny that simple products could be some complex if they are not designed the proper way. I hope to learn more about the way things are designed, and what it takes to make a good product.