Reflections

There are many things I have learned through working on this blog. It has taught me that I need to try to handle each task, one at a time, make sure I understand what I am doing and more importantly, WHY I am doing it.

All the while, to me blogging is just a place where individuals can vent their personal feelings to the public but I guess, from today onwards, it has proved me wrong. I am not new to this blogging world as I have been maintaining my own personal blog for more than 5 years now. Looking back at my experiences when working on this weblog assignment has somehow changed my views on blogging.  I have never come to know that there is so much more to the word 'blogging' and it is not only popular for teenagers and young adults, but also, to the older generation who wants to share their opinions and learn more things.

Blogs are great tool for teaching and learning and to exchange ideas and opinions. However, a blog needs to have a core focus and targeted to a specific audience. A blog can be seen as a tool that document the information inquiry process which allows us to develop broad opinions of the issues at hand.

Last but not least, I have learn that blogging requires a huge amount of ethics as it determines the acceptance of the weblog among the public. Sensitive issues should be handled wisely to avoid misunderstandings. It is the bloggers' responsibility to take appropriate measures n designing and publishing a blog.

Image Source : Screencast

The Art Of eCommerce

A good design can make a web site stand out among dozens of competing sites selling similar products. It can boost traffic and sales and encourage customers in coming back.

Navigation is seen as the key - the first step to building a simple yet effective eCommerce site. One of the most important factor is to ensure that it's easy for users to download a page, find an item, make a purchase, and navigate through page after page without losing track of the starting point.

According to Bacheldor (2000), the experts also advise avoiding gimmicky splash pages (animation that moves across the home page) and intro pages that have little more than a company name and a "click here to enter" button. Besides, the need to download software should also be avoided.

It is also recommended that each page have a link back to the home page. Search engines should be near the top of the home page. The search engine should be able to return applicable results even if the words entered by the user are misspelled.

For example, Gmarket is an online shopping site which I visit almost everyday as I find it as a convenient, price competitive and secure shopping platform for reliable goods and services from all over the world. It has a simple layout and a 'search box' for me to search for the items I would like to purchase. Overall, it is a fun and enjoyable experience shopping at Gmarket because of its convenient and efficient manner.

Simplicity seems to be the best strategy in web design for eCommerce. Finally, I would like to share a video on the evolution of eCommerce. Hope you would find it useful.

References:

Bacheldor, B 2000, 'The Good--And Not Good Enough--Of Web-site Design', Information Week, viewed 3 June 2011, http://www.informationweek.com/773/design.htm

Nielsen, J, 2000, 'Is Navigation Useful?', Useit.com, viewed 3 June 2011, http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000109.html

Image Source : Gmarket

Video Source: demandware@YouTube