May 2, 2007 Matthew Baker, President Dear Matt, On March 15, 2007, Action Music celebrated 10 years in business. You own a thriving business that has a wonderful reputation locally, nationwide, and internationally. Now that all the planned-for projects have been completed in the physical space (building the acoustic room, repair shop, and lesson room) and will remain stable for the next three years through the remainder of the current lease, this seems to be the right time to turn attention to Action’s virtual space. The Current Website Much of the information on the current website is useful but needs to be updated to reflect all that Action Music offers (products, repairs, lessons), particularly its knowledgeable and customer-oriented staff and your high-level and sought-after expertise. The store photos on the home page (www.actionguitar.com) are almost 10 years old and do not reflect what it currently looks like. The site contains only basic store information (hours, directions, policies, your bio, etc.) and the Gbase search engine for inventory. Only two links are listed on the Our Friends page. The site’s current primary function is basically to provide pictures to attract buyers who then call or email. The design (colors, fonts, spacing, etc.) is basic and functional, but it looks outdated and could better reflect the higher quality of inventory and increased services. The Future Website Ethos: The main issue is one of ethos and of creating a website that appropriately reflects the experience of walking into the store itself. However, addressing the store’s ethos is complicated by the two, very different, main categories of users: experts and novices.
The challenge is to set up a virtual space that can mirror as closely as possible the experience in the physical space, regardless of whether the user ultimately will or can come to the store itself. In other words, the web site should provide just enough information to get a customer to want to visit the store in person or call on an item, without frustrating them by providing too little information. The ultimate goal for both experts and novices is personal contact (in person, by email, or on the phone). Competition: One more issue is how to position the store on the web in comparison with other guitar/music stores. The following local stores could be considered your direct competition both in the real and virtual world in terms of their size and geographic proximity (listed in alphabetical order): Alexandria Music, Acoustic Axis, Apple Music, Atomic Music, Classic Axe, Foxes Music, Jerry’s Music. It will be important both to differentiate your website from theirs in terms of design and feel while providing the same kinds of information. Although there are many others in the area ( Guitar Center, Washington Music Center, Victor Litz, etc.), their product mix is much larger and although the store also competes with them, customers recognize that they are a different kind of retailer from Action Music. For online-only buyers who come to you through a Gbase inventory search, the competition is in some sense every other music store out there. But for this group, the only thing that matters is the inventory item itself, so the store’s virtual presence is secondary to the “gear.” Design Elements Design and Navigation. The design should reflect the store, which means a homey, welcoming feel rather than a high-tech one. Colors should be warm, the text should be easy to read and brief, although expanded content also should be made available. You mentioned several sites whose navigation you liked: Phil’s and Willie’s. Although very different sites, their common feature is the breakdown of products (guitars, amps, effects, accessories) into many subcategories. Thus, the Action Music navigation should be straightforward and the site shallow rather than deep, so that users see an overview of subcategories without having to click through more than two pages. This can be achieved either with drop-down lists (like Willie’s) or simple tables (like Phil’s). Pictures are vital, and the site should include new pictures of the store, staff, and products. You have everything necessary to achieve high-quality photos: the camera, the photographer, and the software. At a later date, we can work on adding other simple graphic components, such as pictures of knobs as navigation buttons (like on Stevie B’s Total Guitar site). Implementation This project will require a good deal of input from you as you know the products, customers, and staff best. To complete a successful site launch, we will want to establish and agree on the following agenda items, although given how the store functions and the demands on your and my time, these can be addressed at various times in the process. I am not including a specific timetable at this point, because there are too many factors that affect this aspect of the project. Content
Design
Usability
I do not envision this site going live until the end of the summer, in time for the beginning of a traditionally busier season. Not only are there likely to be bugs to work out, but you have to be happy with it as your “face” on the web. There currently are no costs associated with this project: my time is unpaid and we already own the necessary design software. You may decide at a later time, however, that the project would be better off handed to someone with more advanced design skills, but the already agreed upon architecture and content would be well enough along that that potential cost would be reduced. I look forward to working with you. Sincerely, Sarah E. Baker |