[thelist] Re: is web design dead?

[martin burns]

> >Go into a supermarket. Pretty much any mainstream supermarket in 
> >pretty much any country will do.
> 
> What Nielson's Alertbox doesn't recognize is that even within the 
> limits he draws (whether or not I fully agree) there is room for 
> design.
Agreed

> 
> Keep making your links underlined and blue, folks.  I'll be over at A 
> List Apart and such sites where I find my way about just fine.

I think he's wrong about the blue (It's been a *long* time since that's been a standard. Actually it's been a good while since I saw a commercial site using them at all), but the underlining's important. Unless of course, having an element of discovery is part of your intention.

> 
> I was writing about the supermarket... yes, to illustrate my point 
>"Wildberries Marketplace." 
> http://www.wildberries.com/ (their website sucks, but you can get a 
> glance at the store.)
> 
> When you walk in the door, giant paper-mache fruit & berries hang 
> from the ceiling.  Kids love it.  They feature a display from local 
> non-profits (this month, the Natural History Museum) by the front 
> door.  They feature a pharmaceutical/cosmetics area near the front 
> which has a huge selection of homeopathic medicines.  I've been known 
> to stop in for that alone.  They have both organically grown and 
> commercial fruits and vegetables in the normal fruit & vegetable 
> area, they have fresh-baked & commercial bread, a place to get hot 
> coffee & scones, a deli, and a juice bar where you can get smoothies 
> and shots of wheatgrass whatever the hell that is.

And the layout of the store compares to the heuristics, how?
 
> Same concept as (ugh) Safeway or take your pick of any godawful 
> flourescent supermarket hell.

Flourescent lighting isn't part of the sales heuristic (although it may be of the costbase one)

>I HATE those places, their usability 
> tests be damned.

But your objective as a supermarket is to increase sales, not to make them Nice Places per se.

 
> Wildberries has a much more pleasant, different look and feel, great 
> variety, great quality, smaller, shorter lines, 

Because they don't have the sales volume? Or because customers get through the tills faster with the same purchases?

>slightly more expensive

Because they don't have the sales volume so need higher margins?

>and vastly more interesting--and to me, more useful.

But the point isn't necessarily to be more useful for the customer as more *useable* in terms of helping/encouraging/getting customers to buy stuff.

I *hate* going to new supermarkets, because I can never find some stuff, although the big hitters (the deli, the fruit & veg) are always about the same place and signed in a similar way.

However, you're right - where shopping is a leisure activity, not a functional one, there is more scope for individuality, but the ROI on functional supermarkets is a hell of a lot higher.

(disclosure, my favourite shop is http://www.valvonacrolla.com/, despite the wierd layout and non-existant parking, but I only shop there about once a month - usually wine & olive oil. My recommendations: <wrap>

http://www.valvonacrolla-shop.co.uk/cgi-bin/valvonacrolla.storefront/397db219011287f6273f3efdf4070682/Product/View/MON007

http://www.valvonacrolla-shop.co.uk/cgi-bin/valvonacrolla.storefront/397db219011287f6273f3efdf4070682/Product/View/ORE&2DPINO43
(their Barbera D'Asti is superb too)

</wrap>)
 
> Human beings still have hearts and we still have taste and
> design ain't dead and won't die until we turn into machines.

But it still doesn't mean that clients will thank you for reducing their income.

Cheers
Martin