motivation
All online poster stores feel the need to bombard the user with as much information about each poster as possible. A thumbnail is surrounded by text taking up many times as much space. The thumbnail sizes are always frustratingly small. The user is always left to wonder what the image really looks like, and so then has to load a whole new page to find out. Then if the user wants to keep scanning they have to click back. Once they've exhausted a small page of results they're forced to figure out how to click onto the next page of frustration.
The customer's main concern is the image that they will be hanging up on their wall. Of course they may want to know more about the image, but first and foremost they will care what the image looks like. How many customers come to the online store and know exactly what they want? And how many more might buy if they had an easy way to browse other images.
goals
The main goal is to create a UI where the image is paramount. An image truly is worth a thousand words (at least). Lets give it the respect it deserves. The UI should respect the users time and allow for the easiest perusal of images possible. Meta information can be displayed upon request, but first and foremost we focus on the image. We present it at it's largest possible size in the quickest manner possible, while still making complete use of the entire available area. We should make it as easy as possible to return to previous images, save images to a clipboard/gallery, and discover new images.
results
We've settled on a UI that displays the main image of interest at its largest size surrounded by smaller images. Under the initial exploratory mode, these small images are chosen at random (though weighted somewhat toward the more popular images in the catalog). If the user wishes to continue in exploratory mode, he/she can just continue to click on images of interest. Each image will be expanded to the greatest detail allowed, while presenting a new batch of random images alongside. If there is a desire to stay on a single page, images can still be enlarged by using the mouse scroll. The previously large image is reduced in size and everything shuffles around to fill in the most space possible.
Searching can be done by typing anything in the search box, or by simply clicking any keyword or author name. This will then put the user in a "closed set". You will notice the arrows at the top of the screen. These can take the user through various pages of results. An alternative to clicking the arrows is to use the mouse scroll when not over an image. The closed set is abandoned and the user is placed back into exploratory mode once the user clicks on any of the images.
The sum of all these tools result in a much improved image browsing experience. The skilled user can quickly scan through many times more images than is possible in the same time on standard sites.
future
There are still many things are either incomplete, annoying, or just don't make sense. We are still working to make this the perfect solution we were hoping it would be. Suggestions are of course always welcome. Hopefully you will see major improvements in the near future.
