Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The home page
is indispensable. It is the space where the website visitor
understands if they are going to have an enjoyable experience visiting the
website or not. The home page may be likened to the main floor space of a
luxury store or the lobby of a five-star hotel, which provides an idea of the
visual map of the environment. The home page should have a clear indica-
tion of how the visitor may navigate their way around the website. Above
all, it should have a high visual impact and reinforce the brand's visual codes
already felt on the welcome page. The home page is also where the visitor
should be aware of the latest developments in the brand's world in terms of
products, services, offerings and other highlights, and should therefore be
frequently updated. A strong home page introduction is also essential both to
capture the attention and to arouse the desire for e-shopping. It should present
the navigational menu and the sections and sub-sections in a clear manner.
You may be wondering whether having a home page is mandatory. Well,
to a large extent it is important to have a main page from where the navi-
gational journey begins. Although the appearance of this page may vary
depending on the design concept, the presence of a home page or “a point of
departure” is essential. The benchmark that luxury brands may draw for the
effective and consistent use of the home page in making both a visual and
functional statement is from Apple.com (see Figure 4.5). Although not a lux-
ury brand, Apple has demonstrated the importance of using images and well-
structured home pages of product sections to ascertain a high impact over
time. Luxury brands that come close to demonstrating high-impact home
pages consistently over time are Louis Vuitton, Cartier and, more recently,
Rolex.
Figure 4.5
Cartier has demonstrated vision in creating high impact home pages
in the recent past
