February 26, 2008
Jakob Nielsen: Amazon No Longer the Role Model for E-Commerce Design
Because my products work with a variety of platforms, I participate in several e-commerce forums. Inevitably a post appears every few months with a lament that package X does not have some feature that Amazon has.
Since July 2005, well known researcher Jakob Nielsen has been advising against copying Amazon. Here's why...
Amazon: No Longer the Role Model for E-Commerce Design
Many design elements work for Amazon.com mainly because of its status as the world's largest and most established e-commerce site. Normal sites should not copy Amazon's design.
If you read the piece, you'll see that Mr. Nielsen does not through out the baby with the bath water. There are several Amazon features worth emulating, ranging from the easily used login system to their excellent fulfillment process.
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