Have you ever noticed how ugly the Amazon website actually is? And yet...

[RealDreams]

The Amazon website might look like nothing spectacular, especially for intermediate/advanced UI designers (it may actually look normal for average people, but they point is: they really don't care). And yet, It sells like crazy and is one of the most visited websites every single day. The more I look at the most famous websites, the more I realize they are actually nothing spectacular in terms of UI. Has anyone else noticed this?

Is this the confirmation that better design doesn't mean greater sales and success?
It's very easy to slip on the wrong things in business, while in fact the 20% that brings the 80% of the results is something that has nothing to do with what we are focusing on.

Something else I've noticed, is that Amazon seems to put much more focus on UX rather than simple design. That means the way the user actually interacts with the website.

For example, when you subscribe for a trial for Amazon Prime and try to unsubscribe later on, you can see a specific UX that actually makes it "HARD" to unsubscribe, by putting more emphasis on buttons such as "Keep being subscribed on Prime" and less focus on the actual buttons the user is interested on (unsubscribe). This is an interesting form of customer retention strategy.

 

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[Devampre]

The Amazon website might look like nothing spectacular, especially for intermediate/advanced UI designers (it may actually look normal for average people, but they point is: they really don't care). And yet, It sells like crazy and is one of the most visited websites every single day. The more I look at the most famous websites, the more I realize they are actually nothing spectacular in terms of UI. Has anyone else noticed this?

Is this the confirmation that better design doesn't mean greater sales and success?
It's very easy to slip on the wrong things in business, while in fact the 20% that brings the 80% of the results is something that has nothing to do with what we are focusing on.

Something else I've noticed, is that Amazon seems to put much more focus on UX rather than simple design. That means the way the user actually interacts with the website.

For example, when you subscribe for a trial for Amazon Prime and try to unsubscribe later on, you can see a specific UX that actually makes it "HARD" to unsubscribe, by putting more emphasis on buttons such as "Keep being subscribed on Prime" and less focus on the actual buttons the user is interested on (unsubscribe). This is an interesting form of customer retention strategy.

I would imagine Amazon likely spent a great deal of time and money reiterating it to look and feel like it does. And the end result is simple yet easy to navigate.

Remember that the industry of "Easy" is likely the biggest industry. People like using Amazon because it is easy to use and your stuff gets shipped quickly. It's often a simple process. They focused extremely on the user experience and that's likely why they did well (obviously it's more than just that getting to the next levels, but that was what allowed them to succeed initially.) If they were doing tons of animations and interactions that could distract some users or even confuse certain users from the goal of the website; their traffic & sales may not have been as good.

I think Amazon's site looks more modern than Ebay. But, I do find myself shopping and selling on Ebay to this day as well.

Right now I'm making a website for a startup. They want like 16+ pages, different contact forms, and a lot of what I would consider "bloat." I'm doing it their way first under their marketing's direction as they are paying. But, I feel they would really benefit from trimming the fat and making a concise and effective brand story video on the main page.

People like easy and speed. They like things that look nice too, but if that conflicts with the user experience in any way, it is better to trim or change it IMHO.

 

[ChrisV]

Similarly Walmart is biggest company in the US. Their Retail User Experience is absolute shit.

Then on the other hand, you have Apple, which probably have the best UIs in the history of UIs.

I think it really depends on who you're marketing to in a lot of cases. Walmart does heavy sales, but they market to the lower-middle class who don't particularly care. If someone were going to buy a Porsche, they wouldn't want a User Experience similar to Walmart.

Amazon markets to everyone. And while Amazon isn't particularly pretty, it's ultra functional. Super easy to navigate, easy to compare reviews, easy to get your items.

People aren't going to an Art Show, they want to buy coffee filters.

Amazon has a positive value skew despite their unattractive UI. Would the value skew even higher with a better UI? Probably. But for now the other benefits are enough to sustain it.

 

[100ToOne]

Hmm...I disagree. Even though I'm not a web designer but Amazon has a great design. It opens up your appetite for buying stuff. Same with Alibaba and AExpress.

 

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[RealDreams]

Hmm...I disagree. Even though I'm not a web designer but Amazon has a great design. It opens up your appetite for buying stuff. Same with Alibaba and AExpress.

That's what I was saying: most people wouldn't notice. It's something only actual UI designers would understand.

If you browse on Dribbble for 30 mins and then look at the Amazon website you understand what I mean. It's a game of contrasts.

In 1987 nobody would argue that the Macintosh had 10/10 graphics. Now, if we look at it, it looks like garbage, compared to today's standards.

But as others have said here, minimal design beats complex stuff more often than not. That's something to keep in mind when dealing with web design.

 

[DaRK9]

That's what I was saying: most people wouldn't notice. It's something only actual UI designers would understand.

If you browse on Dribbble for 30 mins and then look at the Amazon website you understand what I mean. It's a game of contrasts.

In 1987 nobody would argue that the Macintosh had 10/10 graphics. Now, if we look at it, it looks like garbage, compared to today's standards.

But as others have said here, minimal design beats complex stuff more often than not. That's something to keep in mind when dealing with web design.

A lot of the stuff on Dribbble is ultra trendy and sometimes too flashy imo. It appeals to other designers but might be too much for the 60 year old trying to order a coffee maker. Amazons design and UI also has to span several generations of users.

I recently got a lesson on this building a UI for purchasing gift cards. Every younger person loved the modern UI. My designer group where we ping ideas off each other loved it.

Older people struggled with it, so I had to revamp it.

 

[wade1mil]

If you browse on Dribbble for 30 mins and then look at the Amazon website you understand what I mean. It's a game of contrasts.

I'm not a UI expert per se, but I've built 50+ websites in my lifetime. Looking at dribble, all the websites have the same overall concept and it's old and tired. Looks clean, but it reminds me of every template for sale. Maybe it's time for something different.

 

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