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Process! Activity

Nordstrom.com

  • What elements does the design of the Web site emphasize? The logo? A certain picture? The navigation bar?
    • The design emphasizes the latest trends and color schemes for fall, including certain exclusive clothing lines in the header.
  • Notice the organization of elements on the page. What comes first? What comes last? Why do you think the designer chose this order?
    • The newest, unique, and higher end products come first, with the everyday clothing after. This is after because the site wants you to purchase the more expensive items.
  • How is contrast used on the page? Does the use of contrast help to emphasize certain elements? Does the use of contrast create a certain feeling? (Consider how certain colors can be used to encourage certain emotional responses)
    • The majority of the page is in black and white. For this reason, any time a piece of clothing, a shoe, or an accessory with color is pictured, it stands out. Not only that but black and white elicits a slightly high end feeling, which the store generally tries to portray.
  • What elements are aligned on the page? Does this alignment help you navigate the page? Does it cause your eye to travel in certain direction on the page? Why might the designer have made this choice?
    • Everything is aligned vertically. When looking at one row, you can see the top of the next right below it. This causes you to keep scrolling and eventually look at everything on the page, and hopefully add items to your cart to purchase.
  • How are elements positioned in relation to one another? Why do you think the designers of this page put certain elements in close proximity to one another while placing others farther apart?
    • Elements are placed in groups based upon the style of item. If all shoes were together, when you looked you would just choose the shoe you liked best and that’s it. With this design, if you look at the bag on the top of the home page and you like it, you may realize the shoes next to it compliment the bag well, and in turn possibly purchase both instead of just the one item.
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