ASOS Website Design
To assess a websites design many aspects need to be evaluated including usability, accessibility statement, homepage elements, colour schemes and navigational elements
Usability Assessment
ASOS’ website is well organized and the page layouts are consistent across the website with easy to use and find navigational elements, that allow for a quick and simple use for customers. The font and colour scheme of the website make for a scannable, succinct, easy-to-read experience. The use of images always holds a purpose, portraying site messages and only displaying clothing for sale and don’t overcrowd pages with unnecessary information.
Accessibility Statement
ASOS’s (2021) accessibility statement is as follows ‘ASOS.com is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability. We are actively working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website and in doing so aim to adhere to many of the available standards and guidelines.’
They then have further information on actions they are taking to accomplish an accessible digital offering, and a link to the guidelines they are conforming to, with an option to get in touch to with suggestions to help improve their accessibility. ASOS have a more than satisfactory accessibility statement and state clearly how they are achieving it and are open to suggestions for improvement, although the statement is not the easiest to find, and took some searching, so this could be improved.
Homepage Elements
The ASOS logo is in the top right corner and in the centre of the homepage, so is prominently positioned in two prime spots, pulling focus initially to the middle and then again when navigating the page. ASOS website has easy-to-find secondary pages and links to follow first to women or men’s clothing then to specifics, such as shoes, accessories, trousers, tops etc. At the bottom of the homepage and every other page on the website there is an about us link that describes what the e-business does including sections ‘who we are’, ‘the ASOS brands’ and ‘the ASOS experience’, which also emphasize the benefits of using ASOS and buying their products.
Colour Scheme
ASOS has a simple colour scheme of black and white all across the website, with sale pages and banners holding the colour red, both contrasting well with text and background colours, allowing an easy view to the eye. This fits with well with the sales of clothing as the only colour seen is the clothes, allowing them to be the focal point and attract the consumers eye. The colour scheme is consistent throughput the site’s pages and ASOS’s branding as a whole, standing for ‘As Seen On Screen’ the black and white colour scheme correlates with this.
Navigational Elements
The types of navigational elements used on ASOS websites include navigation bars for gender, types of clothing, sale and more, some embedded links and mainly image links on all of the items for sale, for the customer to find more information, sizes, and more options. The navigational elements is very effective in finding products and retrieving more information, with many filter options available to refine searches and make it easier and quicker. Text links are very well embedded in formats and positions of navigational elements are always at the top of pages, including the homepage, so are easy to find and use for the customer.
References
ASOS (2021), Accessibility Statement’ [online] https://www.asos.com/accessibility/ [accessed 10/12/2021]