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Interactive Web Design

Student's Name

Institution Affiliation

Course

Professor's Name

date
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Reasons why each example is either good or bad web design.

Good website design using Dieter Rams' Principles

1. Amazon

The tenor of the site is one of quick navigation to the content you want. The website tailors

its front page to your preferred products and pricing. Designed to not only get you to

purchase but also make the buying process simpler.

Amazon helps make a product understandable – It helps define its architecture. Even better, it

may use the user's intuition to make the product convey its role (Isenstadt, 2019). It is, at best,

obvious.

Amazon makes a product useful – In most cases, consumers purchase goods to put them to

use. Not only must it serve its intended purpose, but it must also be appealing to the user on

an emotional and visual level. A well-designed product highlights its intended use while

minimizing any potential drawbacks.

2. eBid
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eBid is honest – It does not provide the impression that a product is superior to what it is in

terms of originality, effectiveness, or value. It does not make false promises to the customer.

eBid makes a product understandable – It helps to define the product's architecture. Even

better, it may use the user's intuition to make the product convey its role. It is, at best,

obvious.

3. Facebook Marketplace
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Facebook marketplace is environmentally friendly – Design significantly impacts

environmental protection. As the product gets used up, less energy and materials are wasted,

and less waste is produced that can be seen and touched.

Facebook Marketplace is long-lasting – It avoids becoming trendy and never seems out of

date. In contrast to trendy design, it is durable, even in today's throwaway culture.

Bad website design

1. Zara

ZARA's online storefront has the feel of a glossy magazine. Although the aesthetics are

pleasing, customers have a hard time accomplishing their primary goal which is shopping.

From the image above, it is not obvious to users what to do next due to the small text and the

fact that the navigation menu is hidden behind a hamburger button. A visitor's experience will

suffer if there is no clear call to action.

2. Wayfair
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The homepage of Wayfair may leave users feeling paralyzed with indecision. Wayfair

provides an abundance of options, which can be overwhelming. The primary issue is the

absence of a visual hierarchy that arranges and organizes website elements so that visitors are

naturally drawn to the most important elements. The purpose of visual hierarchy is to direct

visitors to the desired action. Without it, determining what to do next is difficult.

Wayfair's site is cluttered with identical content and icons of the same size and color –

Customers are encouraged to purchase many items at once, including but not limited to beds,

mattresses, vanities, area rugs, outdoor furniture, and bedding sets. For lack of a better plan,

some visitors may just abandon the site rather than make up their minds.

3. eBay
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eBay has information overload – The site's product pages contain too much data, leading to a

sense of being overwhelmed. Everything you need to know about an item may be found as

shown in the image above, including its name, price, condition, amount available, number

already sold, and shipping, payment, and return information. When users scroll, they see a

toggled area with further description and information on shipping and payments, which may

be off-putting to some of them.

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References

Isenstadt, S. (2019). Dieter Rams: Principled Design: Philadelphia Museum of Art

NOVEMBER 18, 2018–APRIL 14, 2019. West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts,

Design History, and Material Culture, 26(1), 157-159.