I would like to critique the interface of the product page of Ebay. A good interface helps the viewer to navigate efficiently, has a clear structure (visually pleasing), and can be remembered effortlessly. While the Ebay website has some good characteristics, its way of presenting the product information is problematic.
The overall website is structured with grids, which makes things easier for the viewers to read. The color scheme is mainly gray and white, which can be nice because there is less distraction, but it is a little bit dull. The product picture takes up a large portion, making it easier for the viewers to learn about the product. Most of the information is in blocks and the important buttons are highlighted with blue. A section of similar items are also presented under the main product for the buyer to choose.
The font size, however, is too small to read and shows no consideration of hierarchy. Even some very critical buttons, such as the “sign in” and “register”, are hidden on the left of the narrowest top banner I have ever seen; not to mention the rest of the information.
A possible reason for this choice might be that the designer wanted to deliver as much message as possible. Yet, a lot of the information is unnecessary and it can hardly be read by the viewers. Another online shopping site, Amazon, does a much better job by varying the size and colour of the font with greater difference. Although a large amount of description is provided, the buyer can easily navigate through the essential details that they would like to know more about.
As one can tell, little time was put into designing the spacious relationship between the content and it is fairly hard for the viewer to remember where the options are due to their poor arrangements.
Whenever I go on the product page of Ebay, I always feel that the website is overwhelming and I do not know where to find the more precise description of the product. When I make it to the “About the product” section, the result is disappointing as I immediately lose my interest to read. The grid of this section is simply a long block that goes horizontally across the whole website. Long paragraphs that usually take up more space can just be finished in a line or two. This design puts a lot of stress on the reader.
Furthermore, instead of having a consistent style (typeface, chart, picture sections) ready for the sellers to use, Ebay relies on the sellers to “design”, resulting in great inefficiency for the sellers as well as the customers. This decision was made probably because of insufficient funds.
Also, Ebay mainly sells second-hand products. This could be the reason why the interface of their website gives off an old vibe. The overall design is pretty old-fashioned and strays away from the contemporary web design principles. With a pretty long history, ebay designers might think that as long as the website has all the functions, the customers will still purchase from them.
Scrolling down, the “review” is at the very end of the website and it does not make much sense. This design increases the difficulty of browsing through the information of the product and the customers may end up not buying it because they cannot determine whether the product is what they want or not.
In my opinion, a few simple design revisions can be done to improve the ebay product interface. For the upper part, the main options should be placed in a more noticeable location. The size can be much bigger. The title of the product and price can also be larger and the payment options are eliminated as they can be selected at a later stage.
The review section may be added into the description block and the product specifics should just take up at most the left side of the whole page.
