Good Design

Spotify is a fantastic website and service. I appreciate that a lot of thought and hard work was put into making a beautiful and cohesive layout. The rotating playlists that change with the time of day or season is very smart. It encourages users to play new genres of music that most likely they would not have picked, creating a fresh experience and avoiding monotony. This website helps me find new music that I really enjoy and never would have found on my own.

The one improvement I would recommend for the website is on the Artist page. I know it is part of their brand DNA to make everything as beautiful as possible but this page should be an exception. The artist page is music that has ben selected by the user and saved. They don’t need to be seduced by pretty pictures, they just want to find an artist and listen. The intention should be to seek and find as quickly as possible. In this instance the beautiful pictures are getting in the way of good design. The images are distracting and make it difficult to scan. I was looking on the phone App and the layout on the phone is much better. They should have the phone layout on both.

As you can see, much easier to scan through with the words the #1 read and thumbnails to help with recognition.

Thrive Market is a relatively new site that provides access to discounted health foods. I appreciate this site because it is simple to navigate with big explanatory logos.

I think its interesting that you can shop by “values” and weed out the ingredients you don’t want if you have a restricted diet.

One issue with the Thrive website is a marketing term which I just found out is called “overchoice”. This is a situation when the client gets overwhelmed with too many choices and ultimately leaves without buying anything. When you click on to a Value or Diet preference page, it just dumps all the products out with no organization leaving the user to scroll through page after page of random food. If it were broken down into sections like “staple items” or “snacks” or “condiments” I think it would be much less overwhelming.

Tatcha is a website that is on point with their storytelling. This is an expensive skincare line harvesting ancient beauty secrets from the Geisha. With price points ranging from $35-$195 it is crucial that they inform the client of the differentiating factors on the product. With high end product its all about romance. You have to make the client fall in love. On the home page of the website one of the first things you see is a video. The video quickly and effectively tells the journey of the founder and all the research behind the product. Also on each product is an instructional video for how to most effectively use each product. This will make users feel more confident in purchasing the product and will help reduce the amount of returns. I think they really did a great job of creating an informative and interactive space that makes people new to the product want to buy. They also really bring it home with the option to get samples so clients can see for themselves.