Isn't it Iconic?

1. Packaging is critical to marketing a product. If your product is relatively unknown (in other words, a product that isn't quite tried and true yet), then packaging could be the key to success. Shoddy packaging will indicate shoddy products in a consumer's mind, and the product will probably not make it off the shelves. Your product's packaging may not end up as iconic as Coca-Cola's, but you should aim to create packaging that customers will scan the shelves for while shopping.
When I think of how a product's packaging may have influenced me, I immediately think of Market Pantry products. I'm always tempted to grab those products off of the shelves because something about the packaging is appealing (perhaps the red and white color scheme adds to the appeal). However, I never buy Market Pantry products, because I remind myself that even though the box and the price tags look appealing, the product inside is definitely second rate.

(I did a Google images search for this picture, and it brought me to a website announcing that this particular product had been pulled due to unlabeled peanut allergens. Good thing the packaging didn't fool me.)


2. Perfumes tend to have iconic packaging. In order for me to buy a perfume, it has to look as good as it smells. In fact, the packaging has to pass the test before I even consider the scent. The past couple perfumes I have purchased have been Armani Code and Burberry Brit (which is probably the more recognizable of the two).

Another product that I consider to have iconic packaging is Starbucks. You can recognize the logo and the green lettering anywhere.

Marlboro cigarettes also have very iconic packaging. I'm definitely a non-smoker, but I'd recognize the Marlboro packages anywhere. (Notice how Marlboro takes advantage of the red and white color scheme that Gordon mentions.)










3. As far as usability goes, gum packages stand out as regular usability failures. Although iconic, the packaging of Orbit gum is just annoying. The package always opens in my purse, and I'll end up many times with individual pieces of gum in random places in my purse. Orbit packages are an example of an improper balance between attractiveness and functionality.
While Orbit gum may be too easily opened, most electronic and technological devices are difficult and sometimes impossible to open without scissors or something of the sort. I recently bought a USB flash drive, intending to use it right away, but according to the impossible-to-open packaging, that just wasn't going to happen.

Channeling Paco Underhill

1. I observed the Target store in Dearborn Heights. Target's demographics indicate that the majority of their customers are middle-class to upper middle-class people who are looking to meet the basic needs and luxuries of everyday life.

2. Store Entrance. The main colors of Target's entrance were beige concrete, brick red, and the unmistakable lettering and target symbol in a very saturated red color. Along the edge of the walkway in front of the store, near the street, were several large, waist-high spheres in the same color of red as the lettering and target symbol. The doors were automatic sliding doors.

Sounds. The most prominent sounds heard in the front half of the store were the sounds of the check out lanes. These included people talking, cash registers opening, items being scanned, and occasionally kids begging frustrated parents for the impulse-buys in the checkout lanes.

Merchandise Displays. Most of the small to medium sized merchandise were displayed on beige-painted metal racks. Other items, such as groceries that must be refrigerated, were displayed predictably in large refrigerators with clear doors. Clothes were mostly on hangars in the common circular displays rather than on shelves. The shelved clothing was on the outside of the clothing section, near the main walkway.

Floors. The floors of the main walkway and most of the sections were a sort of ivory-gray color with a vinyl finish if I'm not mistaken. There was evidence of high traffic, such as skid marks from kids' shoes and the shopping carts, but for the most part, the floor was clean. The clothing sections were carpeted in a neutral, grayish, steel blue color.

Signs. The signs that "labeled" the different sections of the store were curved rectangular signs. They were dominantly red with very legible white lettering. The smaller signs, such as the signs that clarified which grocery isle was which or what specific items were found in that section were either rectangular or circular. They were either red with white lettering or white with red lettering.

Cashier Area. The cashier lanes were all red. At the entrance of each lane were displays of either movies, magazines, or snack foods like chocolate or cookies. There were also some coolers with bottled beverages. Above the conveyer belts was the typical impulse-buy assortment of gum and mints. Also displayed there were various gift cards, to iTunes, Target, etc.

3. I feel that Target is trying to send out 'classy, yet affordable' vibes to their audience. They are trying to (and in my opinion, they have) tied this image to their name, and therefore, even tied the image to their well-known color scheme. As described above, this 'target red' was everywhere.

4. Customers in the main walkways tended to walk at a moderately slow pace while looking predominantly to one side as they pushed their carts. In the clothing sections, they moved throughout slowly, touching pieces of clothing now and then. In the grocery section, the customers acted predictably. They moved to the general area they were looking for, and after a few sections of looking, reached for the product, looked at it, and usually put it into their cart or basket. The biggest thing I noticed was that all of the customers touched many of the products, whether it seemed that they were really considering buying them or not.

5. One thing I found interesting about the store was the layout of the different sections. The first big section after the entrance was clothing for young and teenaged girls. I would think that this section would usually be more in the back. Instead, the section farthest away from the entrance was the sports and camping sections. The grocery section is also very visible from just outside the "decompression zone" of the store. This leads to the conclusion that Target is confident in its customers' loyalty and doesn't use the typical tricks, such as putting dairy products in the back of stores, to manipulate customers.

The Science of Shopping

1. The main focus of this article was to communicate that store layouts must cater to the whims of the customers, not try to control them. In order to do this, those designing store layouts must pay close attention to analyses of customer habits. Paco Underhill was able to describe many of these habits. The Decompression Zone, as Paco describes, is an area in which layout designers should not put products, as this is the area where customers are readjusting to the environment of the store, and therefore not likely to pay attention to merchandise. Paco also makes observations such as the invariant right and the butt-brush theory.

Paco Underhill does not explain why people behave the way they do, and as far as designing layouts go, it does not matter why people act the way they do. The important thing is understanding the trends, and designing accordingly.

2. The layout of a store can either have very little influence on me or a great influence on me. It all depends on my mission for that particular shopping day. On a "let's go shopping day," in which I'm just there to browse, I suppose that a store's design would have a huge influence on me. However, if I know exactly what I want, and I'm on a mission, a store layout is likely to sway me or deter me from my path.

3.

1. Is my store located in a place that is more or less likely to be passed unnoticed?

2. Is the decompression zone clear of any merchandise I really want to sell?

3. Does the atmosphere comfort the demographic I am trying to appeal to?

4. Is there an adequate amount of space? Will my customers feel comfortable or claustrophobic?

Web Design

1. Many parallels can be drawn between web design and user-focused product design that we have discussed in class. In product design, the designer must be sure to create a product that is easily used by someone who is approaching the design for the first time. The designer will (hopefully) be able to use every function of his or her product without a challenge, but will a user who is not intimate with the product's design be able to do the same? The same idea can be applied to web design. The designer of a website that sells a certain product may know that there is a link to items a customer has recently looked at at the bottom right corner or every page, but will a first-time visitor to that website find it easily? A good product designer and a good website designer must put himself or herself in the shoes of the user.

2. Flanders' most important ideas were explained in the beginning of his article. He lays out the possible purposes visitors have when visiting a website, and explains that the web designer must have these purposes in mind, not his or her own needs. He then describes important factors that either help or hinder a visitor. Most of these points were about the visual aspect of a website. Readable text, layouts that make sense, and clear navigation options (mapping) are all vital to a well designed website.

3.

1. Content. Does my website even deserve to exist? Am I catering to my own needs, or do I have my visitors in mind? Is the website's main focus clear to first time visitors?

2. Appearance. Is my home page visually appealing or not? It is too easy for a visitor to be immediately turned off by the appearance of the home page and leave within seconds. Is the font easy to read? Is the color scheme pleasing to the eye? Is there too much information on a single page?

3. Navigation. Can a first time visitor easily and quickly access what they are visiting the website for? How easy is it to jump from page to page without getting lost? Is the home page accessible from any page?

Know It All

1. In her extensive article, Stacy Schiff brings up a few key points. The first is an introduction and sweeping description of the Wikipedia phenomenon. Schiff brings attention to the sheer size of Wikipedia, or rather, the lack of limitations thereon. This opens up a running comparison of Wikipedia to Encyclopædia Britannica. For example, Encyclopædia Britannica, considered the "gold standard for reference work", has only 120,000 entries in its largest edition, while Wikipedia has well over 8.7 million. However, Schiff writes, one of Wikipedia's biggest criticisms is accuracy. With so many articles being edited by millions of contributors, most of whom are not experts, how can the information be trusted? This is not to say that Encyclopædia Britannica is flawless. In fact, there is even a list on Wikipedia of the errors in Encyclopædia Britannica that Wikipedia has corrected. Schiff goes on to describe the birth of Wikipedia, its staffing and operation, and the Wikipedia community - the community of contributors to the site.

2. "Is Wikipedia accurate? Last year, Nature published a survey comparing forty-two entries on scientific topics on Wikipedia with their counterparts in Encyclopædia Britannica. According to the survey, Wikipedia had four errors for every three of Britannica’s, a result that, oddly, was hailed as a triumph for the upstart. Such exercises in nitpicking are relatively meaningless, as no reference work is infallible. Britannica issued a public statement refuting the survey’s findings, and took out a half-page advertisement in the Times, which said, in part, “Britannica has never claimed to be error-free. We have a reputation not for unattainable perfection but for strong scholarship, sound judgment, and disciplined editorial review.” Later, Jorge Cauz, Britannica’s president, told me in an e-mail that if Wikipedia continued without some kind of editorial oversight it would “decline into a hulking mediocre mass of uneven, unreliable, and, many times, unreadable articles.” Wales has said that he would consider Britannica a competitor, “except that I think they will be crushed out of existence within five years.”

This paragraph opens with a very simple question. The question "Is Wikipedia accurate?" is the main idea of the paragraph as well as one of the main ideas for the entire article. Schiff's supporting detail in the paragraph makes the answer somewhat tangible with the fact that Wikipedia has four errors for every three of Encyclopædia Britannica's. Schiff then brings up the important point that no reference work is infallible. This paragraph both answers this question and supports the author's opinion.

3. Putting the question of accuracy aside, I favor Wikipedia's design to Encyclopædia Britannica's website and physical volumes in my day-to-day life. To me, the function of Wikipedia is to provide me with general knowledge about a subject, and the website carries out that function without fail. I don't use Wikipedia for scientific research - that need is better fulfilled by text books and research articles. The main page is simple, and once you reach it you automatically are prompted to type in the subject of your curiosity, and once you hit enter, there it is, instantly. Quick, efficient, and simple. All qualities of a good design.

Wikipedia Topic

I'd really like to write a Wikipedia entry on the play Bang, Bang, You're Dead!

There is only a small paragraph devoted to it on the already short article on Wikipedia.

Bang, Bang, You're Dead!

Organization and Preparation

1. I feel that Reynold's most important point is to give heavy thought to the purpose of your presentation. Doing this forces you to consider vital parts of your presentation, such as how to tailor your presentation to your audience.

Another important point is balance of content. A good presentation will not succeed with too little content, but it also will fail if there is too much content. The presenter must figure out the correct amount of information to give and remember to keep simplicity, clarity, and relevance in mind. Brevity, in this case, is the soul of a good presentation.

Presence, Reynolds asserts, is key to a good presentation. The presenter needs to keep the audience in mind at all times, and needs to be aware of what will retain their attention, as well as figure out ways for them to retain as much information as possible.

2. Reynolds provides many significant questions to ask yourself when putting together a presentation. I will be sure to ask myself questions like "Is this really relevant?", "Can I explain my main point in less than one minute?", "Am I using clear language?", and "Is my presentation structured clearly?

3. A few parallels can be drawn between presentation preparation and product design. For instance, both a designer and a presenter can ask themselves "Is this really relevant?" when considering what to include. For the presenter, answering this question would help to weed out unnecessary information. For the designer, this question may help them decide to leave out certain extraneous features in his or her product.

Simplicity is important in both product design and presentation preparation. A device that is too complex will frustrate consumers, and a presentation that is too complex will frustrate an audience.

Placing yourself in the shoes of an audience member or of a consumer is vital to success. If you can see a consumer easily operating your design without your expertise and mastery of the product, then you have succeeded. Likewise, if you can imagine an audience member walking away from a presentation with an adequate understanding of your topic without your background knowledge, then your presentation is a success.

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I'd be very interested in discussing fashion during Week 9. Apologies to the boys.

(But not really...)

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WATCH THIS

This is a hilarious example of bad design.

Warning: Extreme profanity. Watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyVh1_vWYQ