Design 1 - Category and Item View
This first design is focused on a category-centric approach to purchases. During our conversations with potential users we gathered that sometimes they do not know the exact category of a product that they are looking for. We also found that some users like to purchase gifts based on category (home goods, wedding gifts, etc). In this design, when a user mouses over the left hand side of the screen where the categories are, they will see larger pictures of popular items in the category. This is to benefit users with potential vision problems. When a user selects a category, a set of images comes up in rows of 3. The images contain a title and price. I decided that an image with a name was best for the elderly as often they are not concerned with the description of an item (we found this from a few of our conversations with potential users). If the user clicks on the image, they are taken to a page with more description about the item. There is a search bar at the top of the page which a user can query for categories or items. This search bar will There is also a login system in the top left. If the user is logged in they will see a small amount of information about the account: username, and a drop down with shopping cart, settings and other user information. This design would be able to walk through our sample scenario. Both searching and selection could
Design 2 - Blind User (extreme)
This second design is the one I choose to stretch to an extreme. I decided to focus on blind users because it is possible that elderly are losing their vision. This was a very interesting design for me because I was not sure if I wanted to add text to the page at all. What I decided however was a minimalist design which looked and felt similar to a scripted conversation between two people, EasyShop and the user. I believe that it is important to show the conversation because if users are not blind but more interested in having a conversation heavy experience with the software that have the opportunity to do so but can follow along via the text on the screen. Another reason to have the text is that if a blind user begins the conversation but a non-blind caretaker joins, he or she can catch up and know what was previously said. Also the text may have links to appropriate pages (item information, purchase information, etc.). There is also a loading gif at the bottom of the screen so that non-blind users can tell the page is currently processing what was said.
Sample scenario walkthrough:
Design 3 - Image Scroll
The third and final design involves...