For this week’s review assignment, I decided to compare two sites that have the commonality that they both can be used to shop, but also have very different purposes in another sense. The two websites chosen are craigslist.org and shop.startrek.com.
Craigslist can be used to buy things, rent properties, sell items, and much more whereas shop.startrek.com has a sole focus of selling official Star Trek items. Craigslist, with as broad of a purpose as it has, needs to be easy to navigate to make its many functions accessible to its users which can mostly be labeled as buyers/sellers/employers, etc. These fields are easily found through text options over a primarily white background. Once the user narrows in on their choices, it is likely to find images and/or further information regarding each product or service offered. Overall, Craigslist relies on its simplicity and availability to market its services.
Shop.startrek.com is made to be easily accessible for the sake of shopping, but doesn’t rely as much on simplicity or text to connect to their target audience. Instead, the website is catering to fans of the highly visually stimulating Star Trek franchise. To match its source content shop.startrek.com has easily navigable windows/links/searches to connect the user with the specific Star Trek branded merchandise easily, while maintaining the expectation of beauty and class that a fan would expect from all of Star Trek’s content. When branding a franchise, it’s important to incorporate all content made to support the franchise with the look and feel of the intended brand. This creates a unified presence that can capture the hearts of many fans across the globe.
Overall, I believe both sites are very well made and serve very specific purposes that are catered to with the functionality and design of either website. Comparing these two websites will likely be of service to me soon, when designing sites of my own.
© Copyright 2021 Eric Lane