| |
User Experience (Usability)
324 hits
Oct 21, 2003 3:58 pm |
|
re: BK.com |
Rebecca St. Martin
| |
Wow, this is a compelling discussion!
jeremy swinfen green wrote:
BK seem to be treating their site as an entertainment vehicle, expecting people to come to it and "enjoy" it. This seems to be a common (and rather hopeless) attitude of many corporates as far as their websites are concerned. It is as though they suddenly want to become publishers/broadcasters/games creators now that the web exists. My argument is that if they didn't find being a publisher an appropriate strategy off-line then why are they doing it on line?
Rebecca St. Martin replies: I think that the intent of the BK.com site, in emulating their tv commercials, isn't to become publishers but to appeal to the popular culture. Though the culture wants to be informed, it also *desperately* wants to be entertained. I don't know the figure, but the amount of money spend on entertainment in the U.S. is staggering. Pop culture and the entertainment industry go hand in hand -- so businesswise, this makes sense for a company like BK. McD's strategy for customer aquisition is to "get'em while they're young" -- and BK follows. Hence the promise of toys, collectibles, and online games like "Ham-o-ween." (Maybe not entertainment at it's best...but hey, some folks watch "B" movies. *shrug*)
Of course there are different ways to do this. I think Kyle is right about the nutrition section. I, too, found the mystery meat Flash component mighty annoying, unnecessary, and at high risk from a usability standpoint.
Bottom line is that people always have a choice of when they wish to be entertained. Someone looking for nutrition info is likely not wishing to be entertained, and so the Flash component there is detrimental.
The home page didn't bother me *too* much other than distracting me from what I went there to do (which was probably the intention in the design). If I had my choice though, I'd turn the animation off.
Private Reply to Rebecca St. Martin (new win) |
|