Design exploration- Starbucks

It is absolutely mind boggling how much time a person can spend looking at different websites. The endless video’s, animations and varieties of design are overwhelming. I spent about 4 hours just surfing the web and only looked through a handful of websites. One thing is for sure, those websites had the purpose of keeping me there and it worked!
I played games at the “Got Milk” website. (Click on the picture to play the game)

Got Milk?

Watched documentaries about the Burger King Whopper and interacted with the moods of Getty Images

Get in the mood with Getty Images

After all that I felt it was time to kick back and relax with a cuppa Starbucks coffee and check out their interactive website at the same time.
It was actually refreshing to find that Starbucks website is simple, down to earth and relaxing, just like their coffee.
The background with its simple chalk board, indicating education and learning, the accompanying sounds of writing with chalk and the distant sounds of nature in the background helped make my experience a pleasant one.

Relax at Starbucks

The menu is simple and clear. There are only three items that can be explored, the different types of coffee, a place to find your “perfect cup of coffee” and a place to enjoy art created by baristas.

The menu items are large and fill with color when moused over, inviting the user to click and explore further. If the user is confused they can navigate by clicking on the more traditional links located at the bottom of the page. When mousing over, what looks like tabs at the bottom of the chalk board a variety of different coffees fan into view.

A nice touch is that when the “invisible eraser” erases the previous window from the chalk board, a colorful soft residue from the chalk is left behind like a lingering memory, just like the taste of great coffee.
Down to earth with a touch of culture, art and relaxation and a pleasant lingering taste to enjoy the day with.