Amazon — one stop shop

As others did, I chose the Amazon website for this week’s reflection on patterns and flows. Amazon is probably the website that I frequent the most because you can literally buy EVERYTHING from it.

When we arrive on the Amazon landing page, there is a large Search bar at the top, followed by a navigation bar and a carousel of suggested items. And below the carousel are many pictures of suggested items that are based on my browsing history — pretty genius. When I search for an item, such as “Gifts,” a whole page of thumb nailed suggestions pops up. A slew of random suggested gifts populates below, with pictures and reviews. It’s easy to click on the filters on the left for categories, average customer review, and brand.

One of the best parts about Amazon, in my opinion, are the customer reviews. I find the reviews to be immensely helpful, and customers often post detailed reviews with pictures. I can spend hours combing through reviews before deciding what I want to purchase. The navigation and search functions on Amazon are very user-friendly. It it really easy to search and filter items. Although there are a ton of items, I think Amazon has done a pretty good job of making their site navigable. They’ve recently added a “New & Interesting Finds on Amazon” bar on top, which highlights unique and fun items.

After selecting an item to purchase, it is added to the cart. Then I can continue to view the cart→proceed to checkout→review my order→review shipping and payment details→and finally place my order.

One can see the grid layout on the Amazon site, and the pictures are colorful and bright. Overall, I find the flow of navigation through Amazon to be very user-friendly and even interesting. There are a ton of products, but I like how Amazon tracks my browsing and purchase history so that I get some great suggestions for shopping.