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This sounds reasonable. But I've always wondered about Amazon.com's UI strategy in the context of choice - they always show me much more crap than I am interest
by anuraggoel 17y ago
This sounds reasonable. But I've always wondered about Amazon.com's UI strategy in the context of choice - they always show me much more crap than I am interested in: on the home page, on search result pages, on product detail pages, pretty much everywhere on their site. Right now I can see well over 30 'recommended' items on their homepage (and this is after the huge Kindle ad). Surely they've conducted A/B tests. Why don't they see the same results?
- vaksel 17y agothats not choice though, that's pretty much Amazon's equivalent of a product aisle.
- anuraggoel 17y agoFair point, but isn't the jam example also a product aisle with 24 varieties of jam? My current frontpage recommendations include around 15 laptops and 15 books - I can't possibly buy all of them - aren't they asking me to choose? If they showed me just three from each product category, and fewer categories overall, I might actually be interested in the recommendations.
- vaksel 17y agowell at that point they really have no idea what you need, throwing up the crapload of choice is just there in the hopes that you see a good deal and click buy, They figure that if you are looking for something specific, you'll just use the search feature
- greendestiny 17y agoI guess its something to do with the ability make a decision and short term memory. Interchangable products makes decision making hard because they need to be considered at once. Products in other categories don't need to be held in your head while you choose between them.
- mikeyur 17y agoThe homepage is much more like the deal/coupon rack that most grocery stores have (or had). It shows what's new, on sale, etc to spark some interest.
- fauigerzigerk 17y agoThat's a good point. I think it depends on the kind of segmentation that is either implied or suggested via categories. On my amazon.com home page there are 3 energy generation gadgets (solar, wind, UPS), 1 laptop, 5 harddisks, 6 gift baskets, 6 home entertainment items, 10 kitchen utensils and 6 pieces of jewellery. Almost all categories contain 6 or fewer items. For some reason they seem to be assuming that people buying stuff for the kitchen can handle more choice. Before I fall for some stereotype I'll stop commenting on this one ;-)
- richcollins 17y agoI doubt they ever tested a minimalist UI.