American Eagle Store Analysis

I went to the American Eagle Outfitters store in the Twelve Oaks mall near my house. They market to guys and girls between the ages of 15-24 who want the "preppy" look for a decent price. The store initially attracts you into the store because of the huge glass windows on either side of the entrance modeling new clothing and sales currently going on at AE. Once inside the store, I was welcomed by music playing in the background by popular pop/hip-hop artists like Chris Brown, Fall Out Boy, Kanye West, and many others. Along with the music, there is also two flat screen TV's in the very back of the store show casing the music video of the current song.
The merchandise in the store is displayed in a number of different ways. AE does use the "touch" concept we talked about earlier in class by having a number of T-shirts available on tables for you to look at and feel. This is especially important for AE T-shirts because they are known for having very soft, comfortable T-shirts. They also have all of their jeans on a wall in little cubby holes from smallest to biggest sizes, from top to bottom. They also incorporate racks of long sleeve shirts that are available for you to shift through to find your size. As for guys vs. girls clothing, the store is split right down the middle with guys clothing on the right and girls on the left.
The floors of AE were nothing special to me. The floor was composed of square, tannish hardwood floor that was clean, but contained no particular design on it. The signs in AE were mainly composed of sale details like clearance racks and jean sales. I think this is probably a good idea, not for the customer, but for the store owners because it forces newer consumers to look around for items they want, in which time they may find something else they like as well. There are a few signs with models on them showcasing current fashions but those are mainly behind the cashier's counter. The cashier's area is located on the far right wall on the guy's clothing side. It is a very long counter that takes up half of the wall, but there is one flaw with the large cashier set-up: there is often no real set line. Eventually a line forms behind someone, but other times I have come in and the line is in a different spot. It's really no big deal, but I just think it is a poor design aspect on AE's part.
With all of these aspects, I believe AE is trying to project a hip, preppy style that encourages teenagers to come buy there clothes. The models on many of their signs are young adults in fun, flirtatious pictures that make consumers want to look like that. AE sells many collared shirts and button up collared shirts that are known for the little eagle symbol on the upper left chest of the shirt. This provides a certain attachment to the the clothing line similar to the Ralph Lauren Polo horse that captures the older, more mature consumer base. AE is trying to have this image as well, but for the younger generation.
Once consumer's enter the store, they interact in various ways. You can tell the newer consumer's because they don't touch many things and often do a quick look through and only grab something if they find exactly what they are looking for. However, you can tell who the loyal consumers are (besides the AE clothing they are wearing when they walk into the store) because they spend more time at the racks, shifting through a number of sizes, and take several trips to the fitting room, instead of just one like newer consumers, if they go at all.
Overall, I like the design of AE. I did find interesting, however, that there most popular item, the jeans, were right on the right as you walked in. Our class read how Paco Underhill stated that you should place the more popular items in the back of the store because it forces consumers to go into the depths of your store. I also didn't like how there was no clear division between guys and girls clothing. Ezra talked about it during class and I discoverd it was kind of an issue at AE. I was walking through the center of the store and one second I was looking at guys T-shirts and the next I was looking at a circle display of girls lingerie, not exactly what I was looking for.

Response to Questions

Kate's Question:
In response to Kate's question about whether or not consumers can have control over their shopping habits, I believe that it is different for men and women. I believe that men have more control over their shopping habits, not because "men are superior to women" or anything because that's not true. I think it is related to how men view shopping places. As I go into a store, I have a goal in mind about what I am going in to get. I may see some nice things as I'm going in, but I believe men are more likely to shop for purpose, and not pleasure. Women, on the other hand, like to shop for pleasure. They may go in with the purpose of buying some type of coat, but will end going to six different places to find the perfect coat. Men will live with what they are given at a store and choose what is available. I believe this is probably why women are the better shoppers because they don't mind spending more time looking for a nicer or cheaper coat.
When I think about my shopping habits, I go in with a specific purpose and try not to let too many things distract me. Usually I go into a store, its because I already know what is in the store and I am interested in the types of items it sells. One store in particular, Sharper Image, is known for having expensive, technological items. I like going into this store, not to buy things, but to see what is new. I do, however, believe that stores can influence what I buy because of the set up of items. Grocery stores in particular have mastered this technique I think because when you are about to check out, they have several cheap, commonly used items like gum, magazines, and candy that consumers might need, but forgot while they were in the store.

Ezra's Question:
I think touch is a critical part of are evaluation of a product because its one of the five major senses in which we decide whether or not we like something. I believe touch is one of the more important ones because it deals with what we are comfortable with. Your not going to be a shirt that feels like sandpaper just the same as your not going to eat a piece of bread that feels like a rock. Try to imagine going through an entire day without your sense of touch. Every item deals with touch, even the computer I am using right now. Its an important feature of our everyday lives and I think this is why touching clothing is important to its possible purchase.

My Question

This article talks a lot about how the set up of the store, the environment, and the clues given by shoppers themselves can make or break a business. I, on the other hand, always believed that the sales people are the ones who can help sell a product. Do you think that sales people have any major impact on the whether or not a business flourishes or fails?

Packaging Part 2

Packaging does more than just bring in customers to buy a certain product. One of the more important things it does is protect the actual object. Many objects are dropped, scratched, and even stepped on while they are in the store. If I were to find an object that had damage to it, I would certainly not by it, as would many people. Because of the packaging, many products can be slightly abused and still be perfectly fine without lowering the value of the product. Objects like CD's and DVD's have the outside plastic casing to protect them from falls and scratches. This is similar to many products and help protect the longevity of the protect. Packaging also helps with the usability of an object. If you were to try a product that had the container of a Gatorade bottle, but the contents of pancake mix, it would be very difficult to use. Usability is a big factor in packaging because it can make something so much easier to use, and even though it won't normally prevent the consumer from buying it, it still helps create loyalty and appreciation for the company.
The articles we read for class suggested that we should try to make our packages for products more recycler-friendly, which I agree with completely. After reading the article on all the trash dumped in the ocean, I was actually kind of pissed that we weren't doing anything about it. I was also bummed about how this was the first time I was hearing about it. I think that as packagers, they should limit their use of packaging containing plastic and have them try to use more biodegradable products. If we enact laws forcing companies to severely limit their use of plastic and other dangerous products, we can drop the total amount of garbage dumped like Germany did when it enacted its Packaging Ordinance. We could adopt Germany's Green dot on our packaging here to help encourage recycling.

Packaging

I believe packaging is very important when it comes to choosing a product because it is how the company grabs your attention. When you are looking at a shelf in a grocery store there are hundreds of options to choose from. How do you choose? I read a study once that said your eyes only pick up 5 to 7 objects at a time. So among all those objects, which one will grab your attention? The article Isn't it Iconic, brought up a lot of solid points that effective packaging designs have. I believe the most important is simple color contrast. You don't need to have seven different colors on your product, but just two or three solid or vibrant colors that contrast against each other. Whenever I am in the store, the most vibrant object usually stand out to me. One example I can think of is a rather new product, Stride gum. I usually buy Orbit gum myself, but one day I came across the Stride package, and I decided to buy that instead. To me, it has a much more visually appealing package than Orbit gum because it has a dark blue/green package with a cursive Stride on the front in white letters. It really helps this gum stand out because of the contrast it uses. I still buy Orbit gum because I prefer the taste, but I wish that it had a similar casing to Stride gum.
Other products that have visually appealing packages were be objects like Axe and Tag body spray/deodorant because the stick with two main colors, usually black and another vibrant color that quickly grab your attention. Other products such as Monster drinks and Gatorades also do an effective job of bringing your focus to that particular product.
When it comes to the usability of the package, I have never really had a major issue with poor packaging designs. Most designs are pretty simple to open, except of course prescription/over the counter medicines that have the lock twisty cap that you must squeeze first to open. But that obviously is because of safety issues, so that little children don't accidentally take that medicine. The only real problem I have had with packaging deals with the hard clear plastic packages the protect many technological products. They are the biggest pain in the neck to open because you can't do it without some type of sharp of object. And once you do get it open a little bit, you have to make sure you don't cut yourself with the plastic. That packaging design is the only real complaint I would have against usability.

Poor Website Designs

The website I read about poor website designs was interesting to look at because it makes me wonder how people create such crazy designs. Some of the design issues I saw made my head spin because of all the colors or graphics going on at the time. This website relates to our class because the author of the page is trying to show how to make a webpage as user friendly as possible. His main goal for this webpage is to show that websites are supposed to be made for the user, not the creator. I feel like this is an important point because some designers went nuts on their website design and you can't even tell what the website is about until you spend an hour looking at it. One page that I thought was a horribly designed webpage was the Accept Jesus, Forever Forgive. That was probably the trippiest webpage I have ever seen. With its rainbow colored, animated dove flying, holy music background, I thought I was about to go insane. With this website in mind, I think the key priciples for designing a webpage would be to design it for the user, and more importantly, apply the KISS method (Keep It Simple Stupid). A website does not need huge bold colored letters, or flying animals, or background music to attract a user. If anything, that distracts him/her from the real purpose of using the website. Keeping it simple will also help focus on the user and will solve a lot of your problems in the long run.

Classmates Blogs

I really like reading Ezra's blog because he applied the design concept we have been talking about in class to his real life. He talked about how his dad fought him overing wearing a bike helmet vs. a hard-core skating helmet. Ezra didn't want to wear the bike helmet because it didn't look at cool as the skater one and they both provided the same protection. Its funny to read his blog because nobody wants to ever wear the dorky bike helmet. My question would be why do designers not all make the average "bike helmet" look more like a skating helmet? Why design a helmet that people prefer not to wear?

Another blog I liked was Kelsey's blog because she tied in marketing with design. I have always been interested in marketing, but I never realized that design was a part of the marketing process. I like the aspect of marketing and I might look more into it as a possible career for the future.

The last blog I really liked Kate's blog. I thought it was a great example of how design can be too complicated. The fact that the lights were difficult to find in the first place was one of many problems Kate and her family experienced while they spent the night in the hotel. Also, how you have to hit the light several times to make it brighter was interesting because how would you know to hit it more times. Most lights involve a simple switch or a twisty type knob that forces you to adjust the lights that way. I just think that her whole situation is a perfect reason why designers should strive to make products as simple as possible.

Ezra's Blog
Kelsey's Blog
Kate's Blog

Design is complicated

Until I walked into Design Intelligence for the first day of class, I had never realized that design was such a big issue. In the past, if a product was complicated to use, I would keep working at it until I understood how to use it. It never really bothered me because after I did find out how to use the product, I would never have to worry about it again. Now, when we talk about poorly designed items in class, I have a hard time agreeing with people about how bad those products are. I have come to realize that trying to figure out a product is such a small part of my life that there is more important things to worry about like what I'm going to eat for dinner that night or where I am going to go on Saturday night. To put it simply, design is complicated. Some products are going to be harder to figure out because the technology involved with them is complicated. That's unavoidable. Now there are products that Donald Norman, the author of The Design of Everday Things, talks about like doors and phones that should be simpler to use because they are not new to consumers and are used everyday. These are the instances where many consumers get angry because the door doesn't open immediately because they pushed/pulled the wrong side of the door. If you think about it though, is it really a big deal. It is not going to have any life-long effects on you and you will mostly likely forgot about it in the next minute. If not, it is something you can laugh about to yourself later on. Norman talks about how consumers blaim themselves when they use a product improperly, when they really shouldn't. I agree with that completely, but its not exactly the end of the world either. All in all, I do think that designers should make products as simple as possible, but if they are not perfect, then it shouldn't be that big of a deal either.

Classmates' Links

One article I looked at was on Naufal's blog. I was attracted to his article because the passage he chose dealt with the bad design of a product that everyone has probably run into at some point in their lives. It was about a little toy that didn't work until you pulled the tag out of the toy's tail region. After reading the article more in depth, I came to really like Naufal's article because it also gave ways to improve upon those poor designs. Naufal did a great job of relating many of the things we did in class to the article he chose. One major issue with this toy was the visibility of the tag. It was not in an easy place to discover and a consumer would probably think the toy was broken and return it.

http://www.baddesigns.com/toy.html

Another blog I looked at belonged to Kelsey. Her blog interested me because it talked about how many products designed for one purpose, end up doing better as something else. One example from her article that I thought was funny was how reinforced concrete came along. Apparently, a gardener was trying to make a stronger flower pot and it ended up being perfect for the future of concrete. This blog was overall very informative on the accidental design process or "cross-pollination" as they call it. I thought it was cool how many products that we use today were created on accident. This relates to our class because it talked about the design process as a whole. In class, we talk about many of the aspects of design that can make a great product, but this article hits on the issue of the actually development, before all the flaws are found.

http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jun2007/id20070611_440529.htm?campaign_id=rss_innovate

How to Design the Perfect Product Article

The article, How to Design the Perfect Product, would be a great read for our class because it deals with everything we have been learning in the last couple of weeks. At first the article talks a little about some design aspects that help with learning why people design things. One part I thought was especially important was,
"Engineers are from Mars, designers are from Venus. Engineers tend to obsess over the details of getting products to work -- but they're uncomfortable with the critical questions that have to be answered before a new product ever gets to manufacturing. Who will buy it? What value will it add? Designers revel in those sloppier issues, but they tend to cower when confronted with problems related to craftsmanship, durability, and reliability. That results in product after product that fails on one dimension or the other -- or worse yet, both."
This part does a great job in explaining why a lot of products fail in the area of design. The main authors of this article are Craig Vogel, a designer, and Jonathan Cagan, an engineer, make products themselves so they have background in the area that they are talking about. Some other key points they have are making sure you merge technology and style to create a great product. Also creating a new value from an old standard, which means taking an old product and turning it into an even more effective one. Finally, as with the book we read in class, The Design of Everyday Things, this article also had seven attributes or "principles" that they can apply toward design. These attributes are 1) Emotion, 2) Aesthetics, 3) Product Identity, 4) Impact, 5) Ergonomics, 6) Core Technology, and 7) Quality. I think these are almost more important than the ones talked about in our book because they are more up to date.

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/60/chalktalk.html

Kathy Sierra Essays

One passage I thought was interesting in the set of Kathy Sierra essays we had to read for class was, "Yes, this is a big "duh", but orientation is everything. When you ask someone to create a manual, be sure they know who and what it's for. Be sure they know that the goal is not simply To Accurately Document The Thing, but to Help The User Kick Ass. This one shift in perspective could change a user's world."
I didn't exactly agree with everything she had to say about the manual in general because a product's manual is not the first thing I get excited about when I make a purchase. I understand that a few of the steps she mentions would be a great improvement to manuals, but its not going to bother me either way. As a user, I rarely look at a manual unless it is a really complex product, or if I am having a trouble shooting problem. Even in those situations, I can still find what I am looking for because of the index, which Kathy does mention as one of her steps. However, I do not feel the need to "kick ass" while I am reading a manual because it deals with very little of the product. If you think about it, do you really even know where most of the manuals are for products after you have set them up initially. After reading these essays, and mainly the last one, How to get Users to RTFM, I just believe she puts too much emphasis on such a little aspect of the product. I can't remember the last time I blamed a manual for being inefficient in giving me the information I need. Even though it would be nice to look at a manual that is designed like a brochure, from a business sense it makes sense not to make it full of pretty pictures that will keep the reader entertained because it is not the purpose of a manual. Contrary to Kathy's belief, a manuals purpose is to, "Accurately Document the Thing."

http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/09/how_to_get_user.html

Well-Designed Product

One product I think is particularly well-designed is my clock radio that I have owned for the past 7 years. Its a Zenith Clock Radio that looks very similar to the one at this link: http://www.amazon.com/Zenith-Z139S-Weather-Radio-Alarm/dp/B00004VXB3. One of my favorite features of this product is that it is easy to use because most of the buttons/switches on my radio have only one function. This makes it much easier to understand and I receive immediate feedback from the green LED screen on the front of the clock. If I do make a mistake, it is very easy to fix and all the buttons are labeled with what function they perform. Another cool feature that I enjoy about my radio is that I can record a message on my radio and use it as a wake-up message the next morning. Now I have been using this radio for a very long time so I am obviously going to think that it is pretty easy to use. But I believe even when I first bought my radio, it was relatively simple to use and did not take a lot of time to understand. For as complicated as other radios are, my Zenith radio is fairly easy to use and has never caused me any problems.

Product Design Flaws

I had a difficult time finding a product that has design flaws. I think this is mainly because when this book was written, most products had an issue with design flaws. In today's times though, I think companies try to think of the consumer more when designing their products, after all, this book was written almost twenty years ago. One product that I think has some design flaws is my binder. First of all, the binder clips break too easily. I have only had the binder for two weeks and already the bottom ring is already bent, and this seems to happen with many binders. Also, the pockets on the side of binder are too big for my papers. If I tip my binder too far toward the top, many of the papers fall out. I feel like it defeats the purpose of a binder. I know these are really small things, but the binder fails the main point of having something to hold your papers in.

Egg Drop Experiment

I really enjoyed the egg drop experiment we performed in class. When we originally sat in groups to discuss possible ideas for designing the casing, obviously a few of them were a little out there, but a few ideas would be great for the building of our container. Once I met with my partner, Alex, he fortunately had a good idea for combining a few of the ideas on the board with a cost efficient strategy. Our idea was to put our egg in a tight styrofoam casing, which we would then place in a shoe box filled with styrofoam pieces. After that, we taped the box and blew up a bunch of balloons. We then proceeded to fill a white garbage bag with our box and approximately 12 balloons. When we started the experiment, our casing did really well. After continually dropping the egg with less and less of our casing supporting it, we discovered that we put too much protective covering around our egg. Our basic styrofoam casing was strong enough to withstand the drop from a 3 story building. If we were to do this experiment in the future, I would like to have more restrictions put on the design of our casings, almost as if we were actually designing a product for production. I think this would add a bit of realism to the project because realistically, nobody would by a garbage bag full of balloons just to protect an egg.

Chapter 2 Passage

"Interestingly enough, the common tendency to blame ourselves for failures with everyday objects goes against the normal attributions people make. In general, it has been found that people attribute their own problems to the environment, those of other people to their personalities.
It seems natural for people to blame their own misfortunes on the environment. It seems equally natural to blame other people's misfortunes on their personalities. Just the opposite attribution, by the way, is made when things go well. When things go right, people credit their own forceful personalities and intelligence.... The onlookers do the reverse. When they see things go well for someone else, they credit the environment (Norman 42)." This passage was very interesting to me because of how true it is. People often don't give others the benefit of the doubt that they might just be having a bad day. I try never to judge someone based on one or two particular instances because everyone has a bad day once in a while. I thought the opposite was more interesting because I never realized how individuals give themselves credit for doing things well. It happens all the time and I thought it was ironic the negative is a reverse of the positive.

Norman, Donald A. The Design of Everyday Things. New York: Basic, 1988.

Design Intelligence Class

I look forward to the next couple weeks in this class because I really believe its going to help with the next couple of years here at Kalamazoo. I look forward to the in class discussions that we have because I like hearing other people's opinions and it helps me think outside of the box on whatever topic we are discussing. I also like the idea of the class because the designing of products does involve a business aspect, something I plan to major in when I graduate from here. The book we are reading helps look at the different design flaws in products and how simiplicity is often the most successful way of creating a hit product.