Design/UX (and Customer Service) at Shoes.com
· Posted Tuesday July 1, 2008 by jamie
Disclaimer: I’m not a designer or a user interface expert, by any means. Heck, I don’t even play on on the Internet. Maybe I’m just feeling extra design-observant after finishing Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind or something…
Melissa recently purchased some fine footwear from Shoes.com, and various aspects of the site left some impressions on me. Mostly positive, though I had a couple of observations of things that could be improved, too…
First of all, I’m just generally pleased by the overall look of the site. I find the mainly orange/chartreuse/cyan/gray palette quite pleasing to the eyes, and love the typeface of their no-nonsense logo (here’s where I don’t even pretend to know jack about typefaces).
I also sort of dig their interactive search mechanism. Three drop-downs on the page allow you to select the initial category (mens’ vs womens’, type, etc.), size, and color…the basics, nothing magical here:
However, I thought the results screen was pretty bad-ass. In addition to allowing you to page through your search results from those initial categories, they include a number of refinement menus in the left navigation bar, wherein you can narrow your search by more refined categories (e.g., work, bridal), brand, heel height, even narrow to only sale or new items. Neat!
I like the overall simplicity of this experience. The only aspect that leaves me slightly uncomfortable is the interplay between the 3 initial drop-downs and the refinement options on the left. Especially once you’ve refined the results, it can be somewhat non-intuitive to get back to where you were before (via a “clear” hyperlink in the appropriate refinement menu). But overall, kudos.
Now, for the customer service aspect. We were pretty happy with this. I mean, they didn’t have free shipping like Zappos or anything, but paying shipping doesn’t seem so bad. The difficulty came when we attempted an exchange due to some slight imperfections in the shoes that arrived.
The Shoes.com site makes it really easy to return items by allowing you to print a return shipping label that you can tape to the box for either USPS or UPS. However, to get here, you have to bring your order back up. Since Melissa didn’t set up a Shoes.com account, we had to look up the order via order number and ZIP code. No problem, we have that on our packing slip…except…not found???? WTF!? Okay, let’s try ZIP+4, since that what the slip shows, and…no!? Crap. Well, okay, last try, let’s remove the four leading zeros on the order number, and…we’re in!!! But…WTF? Doesn’t it make the most sense that if someone typed in their full order number, the system could find it, especially since that’s how it’s written on the packing slip? Like, maybe the webapp could remove the leading zeros before looking up the order. Anyway we got past that fine…
Until we reached the next point at which I entered info as it appeared on the packing slip. Seems that to do an exchange instead of just a return, they have you enter the item number, color, and size information. So I entered the item number as it appeared on the packing slip. Now, granted, that was just a number, and the browser display if the item I was returning had that number prepended by a couple of letters. But I figured, meh, just the numbers should match (it’s on the packing slip, after all), and after moving past the page, there were no warnings, so I figured all was fine. Until I got to the final confirmation page, where I was informed that the item could not be found. Wow, thanks for the warning, after I can no longer do anything about it. Hmph.
Anyway, those slipups in the customer experience aside, things were taken care of really quickly once I emailed them to figure out how to resolve the problem. Seems they no longer have the shoe in the right color/size in stock, so, given our preference to keep the slightly-imperfect shoes if we could not do the exchange, they credited our Visa for 15% of the shoe price. Woohoo! Way to go Shoes.com! Their customer service makes it all right in the end. Just fix those other things, guys, k?
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Non-Tacoma Postings
· Posted Tuesday July 1, 2008 by jamie
Trying to write more often about non-Tacoma stuff. Partly because I rarely write about anything anymore, and need to breathe some life back into this blog… So, just in case anyone is reaching my site via avenues other than items I’ve tagged for FeedTacoma, I hope you enjoy my ramblings on software, the environment, or whatever other random crap I decide to blog about. You’ve been warned. Hope you still want to read!
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Gari of Sushi No Longer Blindingly Yellow!
· Posted Tuesday July 1, 2008 by jamie
I don’t make it out to the Lincoln District very often, especially since Gari of Sushi had a fire. But I thought I’d swing by and check on the progress of their remodel yesterday after a stop at REI on my way to Puget Sound Pizza, and wow… I’m sure many of you have already seen this, but the building has shed its crazy yellow cladding, and is now a normal looking brick building! Wish I had pictures, but I was sans camera. Last I heard, they are aiming for re-opening around the end of July. My only fear is that with the building being all classed up, people formerly scared of trying sushi in a bright yellow building will crowd the place up and ruin it for those of us who loved it when it was but an ugly duckling (with, mind you, the best sushi in town). I’m just excited to have great sushi again.
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Software Gardening
· Posted Sunday June 29, 2008 by jamie
I was reading the now-classic Andy Hunt and Dave Thomas software engineering bible “The Pragmatic Programmer”
Rather than construction, software is more like gardening—it is more organic than concrete. You plant many things in a garden according to an initial plan and conditions. Some thrive, others are destined to end up as compost. You may move plantings relative to each other to take advantage of the interplay of light and shadow, wind and rain. Overgrown plants get split or pruned, and colors that clash may get moved to more aesthetically pleasing locations. You pull weeds, and you fertilize plantings that are in need of some extra help. You constantly monitor the health of the garden, and make adjustments (to the soil, the plants, the layout) as needed.
The engineering/construction thing is so often used in the software field that “software engineer” has come to be the accepted term (though still much to the chagrin of licensed professional engineers, I suppose). Yet this quote really captures something with this gardening idea that is more similar to what writing software is all about.
We can’t write software like we build bridges, there’s a bit more artistry to it, much as there’s artistry to gardening. Designing up front is important to have a grasp of the big picture and the pieces required to make it happen, but just important is the ability to adapt along the way, change course, do things different, ultimately with the ends of making a more elegant, more beautiful garden of code.
I think I might need to start calling myself a Software Gardener instead of a Software Engineer…
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categories: programming
Mini-Reviews: Maxwell's and Masa
· Posted Thursday June 26, 2008 by jamie
Over the last week, we dined at Maxwell’s Speakeasy + Lounge on St. Helens and Masa on Sixth, so I thought I’d share some thoughts.
Maxwell’s wowed us big-time. Fun and swanky 1920s-with-a-twist-of-hipness atmosphere and impressively food, which we were excited to hear was locally-sourced. Our foursome chose to order a series of appetizers and small plates, which worked really well. Highlights included the grilled broccoli, which was more the long brassica sort of broccoli than florets, and was sprinkled with delicious crispy sourdough bread crumbs. We were also impressed by the amount of food in the halibut cheeks small plate–excellent deal here! And be sure not to miss the amaretto brownie soufflé on the dessert menu, it is quite excellent. We’ll definitely be returning…I’m excited to check out the weekday “free food” happy hour sometime, which apparently happens from 4-6pm Monday-Thursday.
Masa is only 2 blocks from our house, and they’ve been open for more than two years now, but for some reason it’s the only one of the Sixth Ave “usual suspects” that we’ve never bothered to visit. (Well, ok, I’ve never eaten at Chopstix, but that’s because I don’t have to go there to know that it sucks.) I guess mixed reviews have kept us away, but we were looking to eat outside and decided to forgo our usual walkable-and-outdoor choice of E9 and finally give Masa a try. To start with, the upstairs porch is great on a sunny day, but I am somewhat fascinated by the dynamics of eating there. Apparently they don’t serve their draft beers on the porch (!?), so I opted for a bottled Negra Modelo rather than the preferred draft Dos Equis. And the shot of tequila I ordered came in a clear plastic cup…WTF? But we can get beyond those things… The food itself? Not bad, but also nothing to write home about. My veggie enchiladas were maybe a bit bland, but I will say that I enjoyed the accompanying black beans with cotija cheese, and the jicama slaw was a nice touch as well. I would be interested to see how the experience might be different in the dining room downstairs, but the food quality won’t exactly have me banging down their door for another visit. Maybe during a happy hour sometime…
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Biodiesel Homebrew Class Recap
· Posted Monday June 9, 2008 by jamie
41 brave souls came out to check out the biodiesel homebrewing class yesterday, presented by BioLyle at Suite133. We learned some chemistry, did some titration, checked out Lyle’s portable processor, and even made our own tiny batches of biodiesel in pop bottles. A good time was had by all, including (especially?) at the Paddy Coyne’s afterparty. Now we can all fight over the waste oil around town…
If you’re interested in getting involved in a co-op for biodiesel production, shoot an email to info@tacomabiodiesel.org and we’ll get you in the loop!
(All pictures courtesy of BioLyle.)
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categories: tacoma environment
Sponsor a Birder!
· Posted Thursday May 8, 2008 by jamie
The Tahoma Audubon Birdathon is going on right now, and birders are accepting pledges for their birding voyages, either on a per-species or flat-value basis. This is one of TAS’s biggest fundraisers of the year, which helps support their mission to “conserve and restore ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and earth’s biological diversity”.
A certain occupant of ThriceAllAmerican HQ will be journeying from “Purdy to Paradise” this Saturday on a trip that typically sees over 100 species of bird.
If you’re interested in sponsoring a birder, contact TAS, or, if you want to support Melissa, shoot me an email.
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categories: beyond-tacoma environment
Tacoma Biodiesel Happenings!
· Posted Tuesday April 29, 2008 by jamie
There are two really exciting biodiesel events coming up June 8th, the first being a biodiesel homebrewing class to be presented by biodiesel guru Lyle Rudensey, and the latter being a free-free-FREE biodiesel party/mixer later in the afternoon. (That’s more in the vein of free as in speech, not as in beer. Anyone is welcome to attend, but you’re on the spot to pay for any food or beverages you wish to consume.)
Image courtesy ktpupp@flickr.
I’m especially excited about the homebrew class… Petrodiesel is getting up near the $4.50/gallon mark, and commercial biodiesel is in some places well over $5.00/gallon. (APP, as of writing, is still at $4.749.) The possibility of making fuel for $1/gallon, or even anywhere under $2, is really appealing even if it means more work for me. And price aside, use of virgin oilstock for commercial biodiesel, and its effect on food supply, deforestation, and biodiversity, are increasingly troubling…switching to a waste-stream source will be awesome.
So without further ado, more details!
Biodiesel Homebrewing Class
Sunday, June 8 , 2008, 10am – 4pm
A hands-on workshop to learn all the basics to make your own high quality fuel for about $1 per gallon. In this workshop you will do titrations, make small batches of biodiesel with different oils, and learn the tricks to make quality biodiesel every time. We will also operate a small-scale “Appleseed” reactor during class. This system will be compared with the automated BioPro system which the instructor uses to facilitate fuel-making for a Bring-Your-Own-Oil type coop. The class will also cover topics, such as chemistry of the reaction, quality control, vehicle compatibility, cold weather issues, methanol recovery, disposal of wastes, and how to run a successful coop.
Class Fee: $60 each or $100 for couples
To Register: PayPal to: classes@biolyle.com, or online at: http://biolyle.com/workshops
Location: Provided upon registration
Instructor: Lyle Rudensey, M.Ed. aka “BioLyle.” Experienced biodiesel educator and biodiesel homebrewer for over 5 years. www.biolyle.com
Biodiesel Enthusiasts Afterparty/Mixer
Sunday, June 8 , 2008, 4pm-ish,
Paddy Coyne’s Irish Pub, 815 Pacific Ave, Tacoma
Following the workshop, we will be gathering at Paddy Coyne’s for drinks/food (no-host) and a chance to talk informally about biodiesel issues, network with other “enthusiasts”, and potentially even form some small homebrewing co-ops. Both class attendees and non-attendees are encouraged to join us, veterans and newbies alike! (Paddy Coyne’s is family friendly, so the under-aged are welcome.) No charge to attend!
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categories: tacoma environment
Tree Butchering on Stadium Way
· Posted Wednesday April 16, 2008 by jamie
I got a report and some pictures from Claudia that some of the trees along Stadium Way had fallen victim to something of a hatchet job.
Seems we’re perhaps seeing the reverse of the latest from the old Mattson Mansion site there, neighbors are complaining about the new trees being planted by historical destructionist and future McMansion resident Eric Russell. Here, the millionaires appear to be taking the trees down.
I believe these trees are location on public land. I think it also is worth mentioning that the Mayor’s “Green Ribbon” task force also set a goal of planting 200,000 new trees in the city to combat global warming.
Now, I will admit out front that I don’t know all of the details of what happened here closely, but Claudia’s contact at the city suggested that property owners were most likely able to get a permit to cut the trees, possibly in part because view properties are more highly taxed. (The only problem being that the Granville is subject to the 10 year tax abatement for downtown, multi-unit buildings.)
Pull it all together, and here’s what I find troubling:
- The city bowing to individual property owners over how to handle things such as trees that should be in the commons. What if I liked to look at those trees?
- Trees getting butchered…if you’re going to do that bad of a job, at least spare us the ugliness and just cut them down? How about hiring an arborist, for Pete’s sake?
- $1.5 million dollar condos getting a break on their property taxes…can we put a ceiling on this thing? I think if someone can afford that kind of mortgage, they can probably cover a relatively piddling property tax bill.
I hope that I’m just jumping to conclusions, that this is all a big misunderstanding, that somehow there’s a valid reason beyond selfishness that these trees were cut down. But it’s hard to understand how in any world the public good should come after the individual good, why we should be allowing trees to get uglied all up while we’re saying we want more of them… And if it really is about selfishness, I hope we can find ways to keep it from happening next time, and the time after, and…
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How Did I Miss This?
· Posted Wednesday April 16, 2008 by jamie
New Seattle local-Onion-wannabe The Naked Loon featured our own Tacoma Dome as the new home of the Sonics in their inaugural April Fools issue. Go T-Dome!
(In a post on the P-I’s Big Blog, Naked Loon creator Tim Ellis stated, “It’s always fun to poke fun at Tacoma,” so I guess we can expect more…)
Check it out at The Naked Loon.
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