When a Creative Concept Gets Hit by the Usability Bus
By Donovan Panone on Friday, March 2nd, 2007I’m speechless.
I honestly don’t know where to begin. I’m afraid I might get carpal tunnel syndrome from typing up all the usability issues on this website.
http://www.levi.com.sg/copper/index.html
Enjoy. Comments are more than welcome. I’d love to start a dialogue about this.
P.S. No offense is meant to the Levi’s brand or the team who built it, but a lively discussion on the blend between creativity and usability is certainly warranted.
I can see why one might say that usability is an issue. But, from a creative - and certainly from an originality standpoint - this is really great. The images are crisp and interesting (check out the ants moving around!) and it’s highly interactive. I say “kudos” to them for stepping outside the box. And, now I know that the Statue of Liberty is covered with more than 200,000 pounds of Copper sheeting?
I like the effect of waiting for all of the rectangular images to load so you can see the concept. Very cool! Or something. Also, forcing people to scroll to see things is a new slant on things.
One thing you can say - they wanted the site to be about digging and uncovering and discovering; making people scroll and have to look around to see what is there is at least consistent with their theme.
Overall, I don’t like it though.
cute sarcasm TS
It seems they were going for simple (basic) but missed their target. Immediately I am unsure of what the site is for, what do they want me to do? It hot me as though it was just an online billboard (not even brochureware)…I clicked female (and still was not sure what the point was. I figured out how to turn the noise off, and that gave me a bit more patience to explore more (was that the point)…I failed…I never uncovered the point of the site.
so, what do u think should be the POINT for a jean’s website?
I think the point should be to show the jeans, show the brand, allow people to locate places where they can buy the jeans, etc.
I don’t think the point should be to make any of those things difficult to do, which I would argue the site does (makes it difficult to accomplish the basic reasons for going to the site in the first place).
Also, you have to first ask yourself why would a person spend their online time on your website. For clothing, it would be new trends/fashions, sales perhaps. I also would like to know more about the company. There are marketing trends that could be applied…what about answers to consumers questions or concerns.
So from a creative concept standpoint, I don’t think it’s bad. But a site can be creative AND be usable.
Many of the problems lie in not knowing how to use the site. Needing to scroll isn’t evident at first and then if you do figure it out, once you get to the content it is trying to present, it is hard to read in those little scroll boxes.
And then there is the “Lost?” concept. If you have another browser open, you don’t even realize another window has opened up.
The other problem as well, is that it is hard to really even see what is unique about the product itself. It is so big, that you can’t envision yourself wearing it and see the fashion statement it is trying to make.
Again, being creative definitely has it’s place…especially for a product branding website. It’s in the application of the creative concept where a good site stands out.
It is my belief that, if they were to insert a photo of the Abercrombie ‘man boy’ in this website…all would be forgiven…
You better catch my reference dp
Yes, all sites need a man boy to help aid in navigation and aesthetic appeal. AF has done this well. Maybe he can even be your guide through the site.