The intersection of Don Norman’s ideas and brand identity
Image taken from the Essential Addons article here.
Understanding the three levels of processing and the seven stages of action from Don Norman, is critical for comprehending the overall idea of user experience. Combining these two will give anyone and everyone a better understanding at how to improve the UX design of their website or a website they manage.
The seven stages of action that Don Norman talks about in his book, “The Design of Everyday Things” details how most everyday tasks can be simplified into seven different stages of how to do the task. The stages are as follows, goal, plan, specify, perform, perceive, interpret, compare, and they all allow for simple tasks to be broken down and understood further. That idea’s partner concept is the three levels of processing, and they allow for those seven stages to be broken down into three stages, the visceral stage, the behavioral stage and the reflective stage. Each of those stages mean something different and they allow for those original seven stages to be grouped together and simplified further.
I want to look at two major brands’ websites to be able to explore these idea’s further and look at how the three levels of processing play into the UX design of both sites. Bauer Hockey and CCM Hockey are the two major brands in the hockey equipment space and while maybe the average person is not familiar with the two brand’s they are huge companies making millions of dollars a year selling hockey equipment at the youth, amateur and professional levels. In terms of market share Bauer is the #1 brand with the largest market share and CCM is their biggest competitor, and they form a duopoly in the hockey equipment industry.
The Bauer website has lot of imagery and makes the user feel like they want to bring out their own creativity and use the products that they are selling. The website itself feels lively and things zoom in upon hover over with the mouse cursor and it feels professional with consistent typography and branding. The navigation structure is very simple in nature and allows for the user to have a good method of finding what they want and where to get to it. The top navigation offers a drop-down menu when you hover over it and the user can then go and pick what they want to look at, making it incredibly convenient and user friendly. The brand identity and the content that they have created to feature on their site also is user friendly and is very high level, making users wanting to come back to shop for products on this site from Bauer.
CCM’s website is very similar to Bauer’s which makes sense since they are both in the same industry and are very comparable companies. CCM’s website really immerses the user right into its brand and products by showcasing a new brand video right when you open the website. It makes the user wanting to come back and continue exploring and really makes them feel what the brand is like. The navigation is also straight forward and simple and allows for the user to easily find the products they would like to shop for and explore other products as well. Users are not likely to become confused, and they can use the main navigation and drop-down menu’s that come up upon hover to be able to find exactly what they are looking for. The website also offers so many different images of their products and professional players modeling their products that they user really feels like they already own the products in a sense since it feels so real.
Both website’s use the three levels of processing from Don Norman in ways that work for them and allow them to make the user completely immersed into what they are selling and showcasing from a brand marketing standpoint. How the website makes one feel and what it looks like overall to the average user is very important and critical to maintaining sales and brand identity.
You can see my full presentation on these websites at the link below.
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:b293ed2b-adcd-46a5-be22-465309bebd87
Granger, Jesse. “Bauer, CCM, Warrior: Behind the Business of How NHL Players Choose Their Equipment.” The New York Times, The Athletic, 22 Nov. 2023, www.nytimes.com/athletic/5075492/2023/11/22/nhl-equipment-bauer-ccm-warrior/.
Norman, Donald A. The Design of Everyday Things. MIT Press, 2013.
