Reorganizing Etsy_A Recommendation Report

8/6/2019 Reorganizing Etsy_A Recommendation Report

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SPACEMAN SPIFF CONSULTINGTO: REGGIE POCHEFROM: CATHERINE EBEYSUBJECT: ETSY RECOMMENDATION REPORTDATE: 5/6/2011CC: PAMELA ADAMS, JOHN ROLFE, TRAVIS CROSS, AND CYNTHIA WATSON

This report presents recommendations to Etsy for more effective website design. Etsy, a new stylish

online boutique mall, caters handmade or vintage items directly from a vendor to individual

buyers. Sellers can set up their shops online, and each vendor even has their own cutesy shop name.However, the categories Etsy uses to organize the website are unorganized and confusing. I am

currently researching for a good way to revamp this system in the most cost effective manner.

First, I went through Technical Communicationto understand some website design ideals. I

checked Etsy.com for each point, noting areas where Etsy needs work. The complete research

outline is attached. Through this exercise, I discovered that Etsy has two weak areas: an

unorganized categorical navigation system, a cluttered appearance, and some cosmetic problems.

Etsy has several extraneous and confusing categories. The "Accessories" category is confusing

because other categories, including "Bags and Purses" and "jewelry" are also feasible accessories.

Either the "Accessories" category should be renamed, using a more informative title, or all three

categories should be regrouped into more logical categories based on accessory type.

Etsy uses a sans serif font for body text and a serif font with its logo. This makes the text harder to

reader. Also, the text within the left column is light blue atop a very light screen, making it difficultto read due to lack of contrast. Perhaps the gray should be darker and more opaque.

Although Etsy effectively establish relationships via size of thumbnail used, they use so many

different forms of this pattern that the site seems cluttered. The main body column includes four

different categories: Handpicked Items (12, 3x4 table), a Featured Seller (1, 1x2 box), Recent Blog

Posts (2, 1x2 box), and Recently Listed Items (16, 2x8 table). One grid design, maybe 2, should be

used. Perhaps all categories should be kept, but there would be 3 items in the first 3 categories and

Recently Listed items left as is. This would shorten the homepage, keeping it in a one page view so

the viewer could just click on a link to a deeper category without having to scroll through so many

images. Also, that many thumbnails on one page slows download time, which annoys and frustrates

the reader.

Also, some cosmetic changes may kill two birds with one stone. According to Rob Walter in his

article Handmade 2.0, Etsys main audience is women. However, if this site were to look more

gender neutral and less intimidating female in its appearance, it may attract a wider male audience.


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Reorganizing Etsy: A Recommendation Report

Prepared for: Mr. Reggie Poche, Board of DirectorsPrepared by: Catherine Ebey, Project Manager

April 26, 2011

SPACEMAN SPIFF CONSULTING 3825 Ridgelake Drive (504) 717-3991


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Table of Contents1. Preface.............................................................................................................................................................................12. Abstract..43. Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................................54. Introduction..................................................................................................................................................................65. Methods of Research...7

Key Points......................................................................................................................................................................76. Results9Figure 1: Etsy vs. Amazon vs. RetailMeNot vs. SlickDeals vs. Ebay9

Figure 2: Etsy vs. Amazon vs. PoppyTalkHandmade9

Figure 3: Monthly Normalized Metrics: March 2011.....................................................................10

7. Recommendations.11Figure 4: Etsys Main Categories.11

Figure 5: Accessories......................................................................................................................12

Cluttered Appearance12

Figure 6: Etsy.com Homepage..13

Figure 7: Recently Listed Items.13Contrast14

Figure 8: Kuler.Adobe.com Homepage..14

Figure 9: Shop by Color..15

Figure 10: Shop by Color Activated15

Navigation..16

Figure 11: Navigational Icons.16

Figure 12: Shop by Recently Listed Items17

Etsy Compared to the Competition17

Figure 13: PoppyTalkHandmade.com Homepage17

Figure 14: Amazon.com Homepage.188. Conclusion.199. Bibliography.20


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AbstractReorganizing Etsy: A Recommendation ReportPrepared by: Pamela Adams, John Rolfe, Travis Cross, and Cynthia Watson

This report presents recommendations to Etsy for more effective website design. Etsy, a new stylish

online boutique mall, caters handmade or vintage items directly from a vendor to individual

buyers. Sellers can set up their shops online, and each vendor even has their own cutesy shop name.

However, the categories Etsy uses to organize the website are unorganized and confusing.

Spaceman Spiff Consulting first conducted a literature review, and then staff members compared

Etsy.com to its competitors. Using this data, Spaceman Spiff orchestrated three primary website

reforms to improve contrast and navigation.

Keywords: Etsy, website design, e-commerce, contrast, and navigation


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Executive SummaryAlthough Etsy is far above other sites that specialize in handmade items, it still has a long way to go

to catch up to e-commerce giants Amazon.com and Ebay.com. Etsy received 7,382,371 unique

visitors during March, 2011. Amazon.com received 75,960,479 unique visitors in March, 2011. So,

in April 2011, Etsy asked Spaceman Spiff Consulting to make recommendations for website

redesign.

Since Etsy.com is striving to reach Amazon.coms rank, we researched this site to see what it had to

offer. Amazon.com is streamlined and relatively uncluttered. It also has a great contrasting black

serif font on a white background. Etsy also includes a white background, but it uses light blue and

grey body text. This contrast can be improved by emulating Kuler.Adobe.coms website, which is

one of the best-designed websites on the web according to Similar Group.Also, Etsy.coms homepage is lengthy, with a myriad of confusing and extraneous categories.

Spaceman Spiff consulting recommends reorganizing the navigation categories into a more

streamlined list, similar to Amazon.com. Along with shortening categories, Spaceman SpiffConsulting also recommends that Etsy.com par down the number of thumbnails on its homepage, as

this slows download time. Instead of 30+ thumbnails per page, Spaceman Spiff Consulting

recommends cutting the amount of thumbnails down to 12 at the most.


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IntroductionThis report includes a few recommendations to Etsy for more effective website design. Etsy, a new,stylish online boutique mall, caters handmade or vintage items directly from a vendor to

individual buyers. Vendors can set up their shops online, and each vendor even has their own

stylized shop name. However, the categories Etsy uses to organize the website are unorganized and

confusing. The Navigationsection will cover how to fix these flaws. Also, there is not enough

contrast between the light blue text and Etsys white background. There are several other instances

of too little contrast within the site; I will go over these instances in detail within the Contrastsection.


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Methods of Research1. First, we briefly surveyed the Etsy.com homepage. Each Staff member went through the

website, noting down first-impressions and any obvious flaws. At first glance, Etsy.com can

be summed up as modern, trendy, and female-oriented.

2. Next, we performed a small literature review using Google Scholar and Mike Markelstextbook, Technical communication. Staff members reviewed six or seven business articles

from reputable business journals including, Elseviers Journal of Business Research, the

Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment, the International Journal of Retail

and Distribution Management, and the Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic

Commerce. For more information on these sources, see the Bibliographysection.

3. We went through Mike Markels Technical CommunicationChapter 11: DesigningDocuments and Websites to discover key points in efficient and effective website design.

Key Points

We summarized these key points to the following:

a. Proximity: are related items groups together?i. Visual Patterns: Are there visual patters that link information in a way that

they reader can understand using chunking, queuing and/or filtering?

ii. White Space: Is the websites white space organized effectively?b. Alignments: are text and graphics in an understandable visual relationship on the

page?

i. Is a multicolumn design being used?ii. Is a shorter line length used (50-50 characters)?

iii. Is line spacing appropriate?iv. Is left justification used?v. Are titles displayed clearly and prominently?

c. Contrast: Is there effective use of color for maximum readability?i. Is a serif typeface used, making the page easier to read?

ii. Are type families used sparingly and effectively?iii. Is case used appropriately?iv.

Is type size readable? Are 2-4 point differences used between headings andtext

v. Is a simple background used? (Plain white background or pale pastel is best;avoid loud patterns that distract readers from the words and graphics of the

text.)

vi. Are conservative color combinations used to increase text legibility? (Themost legible combination is black text on a white background.)


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d. Navigation: Is the website easy to navigate with user-friendly icons that clearlyrelate to their contents?

i. Are headers and footers included? Are they informative? Do they help thereader navigate the site?

ii. Are navigational links in the same place on each page?iii. Is a site map or index included on each page?iv. Is a table of contents used at the top of a long page?v. Is there a "back to top" button?

vi. Are textual navigation links provided at the end of each pagevii. Are links smoothly written and informative?

e. Special Effects:i. Are special effects used only for emphasis, so as not slow the download?

ii. Do all graphics serve a clear purpose and contain clear, informative content?iii. Are thumbnail graphics used as opposed to full size?

4. Next, we analyzed Etsy.com to see if the website contains these key characteristics.Although Etsy.com contains most of these attributes, the website has a few problem areas.

These areas mainly include problems with contrast and navigation. See the

Recommendations section for our recommendations on how to solve these issues.

5. Lastly, we compared Esty.com to its competitors. First, we used Similar Groups website tofind out thatEtsy.coms competitors are. According to this site, Etsy is one of the top 5

shopping sites. The other sites in that list are Ebay.com, Amazon.com, SlickDeals.net, and

RetailMeNot.com. Etsy.com also competes with other sites that specialize in handmade

items, including PoppyTalkHandmade.com. We compared this site with Etsy.com and

Amazon.


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ResultsOur competition analysis using Compete.com yielded the following results:

Figure 1: Etsy vs. Amazon vs. RetailMeNot vs. SlickDeals vs. Ebay

Figure 2: Etsy vs. Amazon vs. PoppyTalkHandmade


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Figure 3: Monthly Normalized Metrics: March 2011

Site Comparison of etsy.com (rank #192), amazon.com (#7), retailmenot.com (#256),

slickdeals.net (#1,258), ebay.com (#11) | Compete

http://siteanalytics.compete.com/etsy.com+amazon.com+retailmenot.com+slickdeals.net+ebay.com/#

Screen clipping taken: 5/5/2011, 9:05 PM
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/etsy.com+amazon.com+retailmenot.com+slickdeals.net+ebay.com/http://siteanalytics.compete.com/etsy.com+amazon.com+retailmenot.com+slickdeals.net+ebay.com/http://siteanalytics.compete.com/etsy.com+amazon.com+retailmenot.com+slickdeals.net+ebay.com/http://siteanalytics.compete.com/etsy.com+amazon.com+retailmenot.com+slickdeals.net+ebay.com/http://siteanalytics.compete.com/etsy.com+amazon.com+retailmenot.com+slickdeals.net+ebay.com/


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RecommendationsEtsy has several extraneous and confusing categories. The "Accessories" category is confusingbecause other categories, including "Bags and Purses" and "jewelry" are also feasible accessories.

Either the "Accessories" category should be renamed, using a more informative title, or all three

categories should be regrouped into more logical categories based on accessory type. "Art" is a

misleading heading name; the category takes us to several categories of fine art, but in fact, theentire site is composed of what some would define as art. Maybe change the name to "Fine Arts"?

The actual page name is called "Fine Art on Etsy - which shows up at the very top left margin of

the page. This is also inconsistent with the category title. The categories "Everything Else" and

"Geekery" are confusing, unless the reader understands the pop culture references made. Some

categories, such as the "accessory/accessories", are repeated as subheadings within larger

categories. For example, under "Geekery" there is an accessory category. This is inconsistent and

confusing. These items should be included in the larger "Accessory" category. The "Needlecraft"

category also has an "accessory" category. Also, the category "Cross Stitch" is included under thelarger heading "Needlecraft" and has its own larger category by the same name.

Figure 4: Etsys Main Categories

Etsys main categories


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Figure 5: Accessories

Although Etsy.com includes an accessories page, there are also several categories on the homepage

that could be deemed accessories by shoppers, includingJewelry and Bags and Purses. These

categories could be incorporated into the Accessories categories to cut down on page length.

While the accessories page includes aprons, belts, and money clips, which are typical accessories,

the page also includes a woman category, as well as a men category. These categories should

either be an overshadowing search filter option, or this category should not be included. These

gender categories do not parallel the other categories, which include Scarf, Shawl, and Watch.

Also, the Etsy.com homepage includes a Children category, but not a Men or Women category.

Instead of having these search options as separate clickable categories, Etsy.com could incorporate

a new search engine within its search icons in which the shopper could shop for men, shop for

women, shop for kids, or shop for infants, similar to how a clothing site would be structured. This

would cut down on the number of categories, add a stylish new feature to the site, and make

navigation easier.

Other confusing categories include Miscellaneous, Weird, and Geekery. These categories can

either all be grouped together under Miscellaneous or they should each be incorporated into an

existing category.

Cluttered Appearance

Etsy has a busy homepage which extends past one "page". The homepage features twelveHandpicked Items, a featured seller, two recent blog posts, and sixteen recently listed items. So

many thumbnails overwhelm the page. While the thumbnails stand out against the whitebackground, the light blue and grey text blends into it. If the text was changed to a more classical

black, it would increase readability without taking away from the colorful thumbnails.


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Figure 6: Etsy.com Homepage

Figure7: Recently Listed Items

Although Etsy effectively establish relationships via size of thumbnail used, they use so many

different forms of this pattern that the site seems cluttered. The main body column includes four

different categories: Handpicked Items (12, 3x4 table), a Featured Seller (1, 1x2 box), Recent Blog

Posts (2, 1x2 box), and Recently Listed Items (16, 2x8 table). One grid design, maybe 2, should be

used. Perhaps all categories should be kept, but there would be 3 items in the first 3 categories andRecently Listed items left as is. This would shorten the homepage, keeping it in a one page view so

the viewer could just click on a link to a deeper category without having to scroll through so many


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images. Also, that many thumbnails on one page slows download time, which annoys and frustratesthe reader.

Also, the website changes every time you return to the homepage. While this certainly is a

gratifying variety-shopper feature, the Recently Listed Items change so often it is dizzying for the

consumer. These 16 thumbnails at the bottom only add to the clutter. I recommend that Etsy

highlight its Pounce icon, which allows user to shop by recently-listed items, instead of includingthe ever-changing thumbnails.

Contrast

Etsy uses a sans serif font for body text and a serif font with its logo. This makes the text harder to

reader. Also, the text within the left column is light blue atop a very light screen, making it difficultto read due to lack of contrast. I would recommend changing the text to a basic black to contrast

with the white background which is the best use of contrast according to Mike Markel. However, a

way to stand out from Ebay and Amazon may be to take a different approach. The top-rankedwebsite for design, according to Compete.com, is kuler.adobe.com. This website uses contrast very

effectively, but presents a unique negative image of the usual black and white:

Figure 8

If Etsy.com changed its background to black with white body text and its current light blue

headings, it would maintain its modern, trendy look while creating a more readable site.

Etsy has some very eye-catching features, such as this paint-droplet display for Shop-by-Color.However, the original color icons are so small that you have to drag your mouse across the display

to see the colors. This may be entertaining, but it is an ineffective use of contrast and navigational


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efficiency. Perhaps if the background were black or cobalt blue, the original color icons would showup better against the screen.

Figure 9: Shop by Color

Figure 10: Shop by Color Activated

This may be easy to use on an iphone or ipad, but on a pc, the mouse is not as complementary.


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Navigation

Etsy has several different options of searching its products, but too many choices can confuse the shopper.

For instance, there is a search engine, 30+ clickable thumbnails in three different categories, and very

small navigational icons down to the left bottom of the homepage. If Etsy.com cuts down its amount of

clickable thumbnails and highlights these navigational icons, the website will be easier to navigate. These

clickable navigation icons include several user-friendly ways to easily navigate the site.

Figure 11: Navigational Icons

Also, Etsy repeats the Recently Listed Items in Pounce: Just Sold Items and Just Discovered Shops. Ifthey cut out the Recently Listed Icons on the first page, they could play up this Pounce icon. When a

user goes through Pounce, Etsy guides them through shops with recently listed items, adding a

personal touch to the shopping experience. Perhaps if they put all the navigation icons in more of acentral location, shoppers would be more likely to use them first, using the best navigational

systems in Etsy.

Ways to Shop on Etsy.com


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Figure 12: Shop by Recently Listed Items

Then users would be more likely to use these really excellent features, including Shop Local. Users

type in their location, then Etsy brings up a list of all vendors in that area.

Etsy Compared to the Competition

According to Similar Group's Similar Site Search, Etsy is within the Top 5 Shopping Sites on the

Internet. This group includes Etsy.com, Amazon.com, RetailMeNot.com, Ebay.com, and

SlickDeals.com. Etsy.com is also within the top five websites that specialize in handmade items.Since the handmade market is stated in Etsy's mission statement to be its main market, we

compared Etsy.com to two other top websites that specialize in handmade items. We comparedEtsy.com to PoppyTalkHandmade.com.

Figure 13: PoppyTalkHandmade.com Homepage

Pounce: Recently

Listed Items


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PoppytalkHandmade.com looks nice with its eye-catching thumbnails, but it includes four columnsof eighteen thumbnails. That many thumbnails on a page slows page download and looks cluttered

and lengthy. Also, the website includes gray body text, which is hard to read on the white

background. This site contains similar problems to Etsy.com.

Amazon is also a top shopping site. It has sixteen clearly labeled, clearly defined categories which fit

within the first page of the site. It also has an excellent three-column layout, with a widened centralcolumn. Though this site does not use a serif text font, it does use the best contrast with its white

background and black text.

Figure 14: Amazon.com Homepage

Clearly, Etsy.com is doing well, but it has a long way to go if the company wants to catch up tocommercial giants like Ebay and Amazon.


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ConclusionEtsy.com could benefit from a few changes. The website will really stand out if it uses a black

background with white text and its current light blue headings. This way, the website will approach

the look of Kuler.Adobe.com, a website with one of the best designs on the web, according to Similar

Group. Also, if Etsy combines some of its more ambiguous categories together, it would cut down on

homepage length, making the website less cluttered and easy to navigate. Although most websitesare cluttered as well, Amazon.com is the least cluttered of the bunch, with a stream-lined

homepage. If Etsy.com gets closer to this streamlined model, it will attract more website traffic.


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