“Innovation comes when the initial selection is repositioned at another point in the framework, raising new questions and ideas.” - Richard Bunchanan

If you have ever used Amazon, you certainly have noticed how accurate (and somewhat scary), their recommendations are. Based on your past purchases, ratings, views, searches, and other data, Amazon uses a large data pool of user shopping behavior to offer recommendations by comparing the history of other users and find what patterns resemble yours.

While browsing through the site for some books, I noticed that they present recommendations many different ways. Whether this is just a usability test or intentionally, I’m not sure. The following is a look at some of the various ways Amazon recommends books and the pros and cons of each.

Items you Own

Found in your personalized Amazon section, the list uses your past purchases for their recommendations. The look and feel is similar to Amazon’s site when searching and looking for a product. The difference is the ability to add the product to the cart or your wish list directly and on a full screen, I’m only able to see a little more than 3 recommendations while the normal search shows as much as 5.

Pros:

• Tells you why it is recommended (past purchases)
• Ability to tell Amazon you already own it, are not interested in it, and the ability to rate it
• Able to add to the shopping cart or wish list directly
• Able to sort by All, New Releases, or Coming Soon

Cons:

• Does not say when you can get it by if you order by what time
• Does not say if it is eligible for free shipping
• Only shows 3 recommendations on my maximized browser

Today

Amazon provides a daily sample of recommended items on your personalized page. Recommendations are provided in a horizontal layout where you can flip through pages with left and right arrows. Cloud tags shown below allow you to filter the results. Scrolling over the product produces a small pop-up with product information.

Pros:

• Can rollover to get more information if you are interested, including why it was recommended
• Can filter results by selecting a category in the cloud tag
• Able to add to the shopping cart or wish list directly
• Shows up to 5 products and can easily view other pages

Cons:

• Only shows a sample and not all recommendations (although there is a link to it)
• Have to rollover to get information

Customers with Similar Searches Purchased

This is one of the newer ones that I had not seen before. Products are shown in perspective where one can rotate the products with the closest ones appearing larger. Products can be selected wheather it is in the back or front, even if it is slightly covered by another product. A reflection of the products gives the feature a “Web 2.0″ look and feel.

Pros:

• Able to see and select many products in a small section
• Visually pleasing and provides a fun interaction experience

Cons:

• No product information

Recommended for You

This is found on Amazon’s front page. Directly below it is a “More to Explore” section which gives recommendations based on something you looked at previously. You may also find other similar looking sections based on your browsing history or what customers buy after viewing a certain item.

Pros:

• Able to find out why it was recommended
• Shows percentage of Users who buy a product you viewed and the percentage they buy an alternative

Cons:

• Does not show any product details per section
• Only shows 3 products

Selected for You

This is currently found on Amazon’s front page, towards the bottom of the screen. They only show you one product and a short description but on the side are 4 other “ideas”, including the currently selected one. Clicking on any of the other 3 recommendations will change the picture and description.

Pros:

• Very little screen real estate used
• Interactive interaction experience

Cons:

• Does not say why it is recommended
• Very little detail such as price and rating
• Requires as much as two clicks to get to product detail page

Final Word
With so many ways to recommend products, which one is the best? Only Amazon knows by looking at log data and analyzing customer behavior. Each method has different pros and cons. I personally like the Today’s Recommendation section because it provides me with more choices, options, and detailed information when I want it, although I have never used it before today. In a limited space, I enjoyed Amazon’s “Customers with Similar Searches Purchased”, although more for fun, instead of interest in purchasing. Surprisingly, the one I find myself clicking the most is the one where they give percentages of what other customers purchase based on past behavior. Instead of giving different variations of recommendations, Amazon should improve their algorithm to show their recommendations based on what type the User uses the most.

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” — Steve Jobs

I read an article on Wired about Virgin America, a new U.S airline that aims to provide low-fare, high-quality service for “long-haul point-to-point service between major metropolitan cities on the Eastern and West Coast seaboards”.

From the article, it seems like Virgin Airlines has really taken the time to think about and create the best User Experience possible. A 9-inch display screen on every backseat lets you order fresh food and drinks, watch Hollywood movies on demand, and play games among other things. Seats are also equipped with a 110-volt power supply for Notebook users, USB connectors for charging USB-powered devices like iPods, at least 3000 MP3s onboard every flight, comfortable coach class seats, mood lighting, and plenty of legroom. Did I mention first class seats all have massage chairs?

Does Virgin Airlines website reflect their high quality in person User Experience? As I reviewed earlier this month on JetBlue, one of the primary tasks visitors will perform on the site is booking a flight. Like the majority of airline sites, the homepage has options to search for flights, check a flight’s status, and check in for a flight as well as seeing the latest deals. But there are some notable differences as well.

When selecting a date, a calendar that shows 2 months ahead pops up. Sites like JetBlue and Southwest only show 1 month. Which is better? For someone like me, who likes to plan ahead and book a few months in advance than I would say it is more convenient. For those who typically book a few days before, they still see the current month, so it’s a win-win situation. One other difference that I really like is a prominent link that answers some questions dealing with everything from booking unaccompanied minors, persons with disabilities, big groups, or even pets! These are common situations and questions people may have and it’s nice they don’t have to go looking around the site to get their answers.

When selecting a flight, prices are shown for the selected date as well as other days close by. Scrolling down also moves down the sidebar, which displays the trip summary. The information the potential buyer needs is always available and in plain sight.

You are then able to select a seat with a view of the plane seating arrangement and status of each seat. My only gripe might be that selecting a front row seat pops up a message that it is a premium seat with an additional 13 inches of knee room and costs $15 more. While I understand the reasoning and the prices are entirely justified, it was not something that I was expecting. First class seats on the other hand, which go for around $100 more, are preconceived to be more expensive.

While I have yet to experience a flight with Virgin America, I can’t wait to try it out. Their website exceeded my expectations and I think it does a great job of transferring their brand identiy to the web. I only wish that their cities weren’t so limited but if they have service in a city that I will be flying to, I’ll be using Virgin Airlines, just for the experience.

Chalk it up as another product I wish to have one day. I like my toast crispy and because of that, every once in a while, I’ll leave it in the toaster a little too long that all I wind up with is burnt, inedible bread. The Transparent Toaster by Inventables Concept Studio solves that problem by utilizing clear panes of heating glass that allow you to clearly see precisely how dark your bread is becoming. That means no more surprises while you’re half asleep in the morning waiting for the toast to pop up.

Not only is it stylish, trendy, and gives an aesthetic appeal but it offers practical functionality that would definitely improve the user’s experience. Unfortunately, the design is just a concept and the glass does not currently get hot enough to toast bread. Perhaps in a couple of years, a company will figure out how to make this concept a reality and burnt toasts will be a thing of the past. When that happens, I’ll be first in line.