The Makeover Issue

by A. E. O'Neill

[Originally published September 24, 1999]

We all have the Makeover Urge from time to time. The charitable belief that it's "what's on the inside that counts" can be sorely tested when what's on the outside is distractingly unattractive. As with that friend whose fashion sense and grooming habits would be admirable only if they were observed in the primate house, so it is with ikea.com.

This web site manages to offend on both aesthetic and utilitarian levels. The color scheme borrows heavily from the spice rack - and I'm not talking about soothing shades of basil and cinnamon, I'm talking about spices that come with the rack and get thrown out, years later, still full and caked in grease and dust; like mustard seed and paprika.

The navigation looks like something out of the "Popsicle Sticks and Cocktail Stirs" desktop theme and it's full of perplexingly useless features like "The IKEA Experience," an eight page "tour" through the different areas you'll find at your local store. Set against a background that's nauseatingly reminiscent of hot margarine, brightly colored blocks appear with insightful recommendations like "make a list" and "take the kids."

The only potentially interactive area of the site is the ubiquitous Product Guide which, perversely, offers an index by name; as if VISDALEN and POANG mean anything to anyone other than a Swedish decorator. You can also browse the Product Guide by Room only to discover, after repeating the click-and-wait process six or seven times per Room, that most of their stock is not represented and you can't buy any of it anyway.

Frustrated and frothing at the mouth to spend some cash, the only thing left to do is hop in the car and drive to your city's industrial district. If their web site was one tenth the money-siphoning vortex the stores are, it would be wildly successful. My last trip to IKEA started out as a simple search for a laundry bag; within two minutes I was hoarding bendy-straws in assorted colors and throw pillows shaped like jester's hats - four hours later, I merrily forked over a paycheck without a second glance into that big yellow bag.

Indeed, there's nothing quite as striking or effective as the marriage of beauty and commerce.

In our "after" photo, smiling like a superhuman, digitized Ken and Barbie for the millenium, are David Bowie and Iman, or davidbowie.com and i-iman.com. Like their namesakes, these two web sites are unpretentiously beautiful, composed of clean lines and curves that convey an effortless sense of grace and coordination.

Bowienet's success has been widely documented from every conceivable angle; the music, the artwork, the stock, the level of insight offered on its subject (from detailed histories and current diaries to the chat room) and the unprecedented level of interactivity and user input into its growth and its visual interface. Even the artwork featured on the splash screen is chosen by member votes and has changed frequently.

The section for nonmembers isn't just an ad for the paid entertainment; it feels full and dynamic in its own right while pushing membership with snippets of glowing reviews and gorgeous screen shots that seem more like art than anything forged from code. Boldly colorful and graphically inviting, I-Iman.com has only been up for a few months and is already spreading out in all directions; advertising cosmetics, offering fan candy in the form of a private photo gallery and mailing list, and championing social issues that keep its target market clearly in sight and make each page worth a look.

In order for Internet community to master entertainment and commerce, as it has the transfer of information, aesthetics will be increasingly instrumental in determining the success of a site. In the early stages of the Internet's rise as major medium, it was enough just to be there, but as it slowly becomes a tool for the masses, the same things that attract in the real world are going to become more and more important online. Sure, we love it for its personality, but it needs a good makeover.