ssues & ideas EDITOR DANA BOWEN THE DAILY VOICE, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2013 7 Website design entices buyers As online shopping in Canada increases, compa- nies design their websites in ways to entice buyers By KENDRA WONG among Canadians and companies are increasingly using website design to appeal to customers and en- courage them to return to the site. In a survey by Statistics Canada, Ca- nadians ordered $18.9 billion worth of products online in 2012, up 24 per cent from 2010. Website design has a huge impact on the loyalty of consumers, said Di- anne Cyr, a professor at SFU who spe- cializes in web design and how they correlate with emotions. “The website design is really the in- terface between the product and the customer when you’re shopping . . . be- cause there is no sales person,” said Cyr. “The only way that emotions can be elicited from a consumer is by creating the experience on the interface that ex- cites people, satisfies them or they feel enjoyment from the site.” To elicit emotion from shoppers, websites will have attractive, visually appealing layouts with pictures of peo- ple and some form of interactivity such as comment boxes. Companies use colours like blue and green to elicit feelings of trust. Shoppers feel satisfied if the website is organized and is easy to navigate through product information and the checkout. Coquitlam resident Tammy Chan, spends approximately $200 to $400 a month online on QO: shopping is skyrocketing clothing and makeup from stores including Old Navy, Forever 21 and Banana Re- public. “They have more items online then they carry in A professor at store,” said Chan. SFU “Usually they run la out of my size or DIANNA CYR they don’t have a certain colour in T, store.” he only She noted her way that ability to navigate emotions through a website is a big factor in determining if she will return to the can be elic- ited froma site. consumer “For example, is by cre- Old Navy — their ° site is straight to ating the the point,” said experience Chan. “Once you click on clearance, they show the products right away.” Cyr said a website’s ability to evoke emotions will have huge implications for the company. “If even a small number of people go back to a website and visit it in the fu- ture, over time it can dramatically in- crease revenue for the company,” Cyr said. Trades welcome females John Oliver Secondary encourages females to enter skilled trades By TRICIA LO ohn Oliver Secondary School is hosting a full-day, hands-on event today to en- courage girls to consider a career in the skilled trades. The Women in Trades Sampler event is being put on by the Van- couver School Board and is open to Grade 10 girls from across Van- couver. Around 30 female stu- dents will have the opportunity to try their hands at various trades and hear directly from successful tradeswomen. Ailen Wong, a Red Seal auto service technician, will be one tradeswoman there to share about the job-specific rewards and challenges she’s experienced. The full-day event begins at 9 am. and features a three-seg- ment practical component for each girl. “They actually build a wall in 70 minutes. Then they test it and make sure it'll stand up,” said Joanne Martin, a science teacher and spokeswoman for the event. Besides carpentry, Martin said the girls will also get a taste of welding and vehicle maintenance — many for the first time. The event is being hosted at John Oliver because the school is equipped with the necessary au- tomotive and metalwork facili- ties. Grade 10 students are of par- ticular interest because they are planning for their final two years of high school. One program the event hopes to promote is the VSB’s Ace It program, said Wendy Gilmour, an apprenticeship facilitator with the VSB. The tuition-free pro- gram allows high school students to complete foundational trades training while still in high school. “We have a vast skilled-trades shortage coming up, and we par- ticularly need some of the under- represented groups, like women,” Gilmour said. Today’s sampler is part of a se- ries by the VSB, and past events geared toward First Nations as well as general students. “We want to encourage young people to look at their options,” Gilmour said. “The push for uni- versity has been so huge that stu- dents sometimes don’t think starting out in trades is an awe- some option for them.” “We're missing out on a whole group of students that like work- ing with their hands and that would love to have that option available to them.” UGLY IS THE NEW BLACK AT CHRISTMAS VANESSA SZPURKO photo Shoppers pick up some hideous yarn at an ugly sweater shop on the corner of West Georgia and Granville streets. Studio 58 presents exotic musical bonanza Music from exotic countries featured at Langara concert By JESSE LAM isn’t filled with Christmas music, but mu- sic from different exotic countries, and even a Broadway-style hit. “['m always looking for music that I think they’re going to enjoy, they’re going to get be- hind and have fun with” said Brian Tate, sing- ing and choir instructor of Studio 58. “T like to bring in music from different world music traditions. They get to not only learn T=: annual choir performance by Studio 58 music from different cultures, but it also re- quires them to sing it differently.” The 30-minute performance yesterday drew over 40 people in the audience. First year Studio 58 student Danielle Melvin believes the choir performance is all about having fun. “T think in today’s performance, we were all just having fun with if,” said Melvin. “Our main goal is just to have fun, and I think we achieved it.” Tate agrees that the performance is all about letting loose and having a good time. “T just really want them to have fun,” said Tate. “T want it to be somewhat challenging [for the singers], but it’s not one of their regular courses, so it can’t be too challenging for them.” The audience cheered and applauded when the last song ended, and even asked for an en- core. Tate was glad that the audience was there to share this moment with him. “Well I hope the audience really gets ener- gized by the choir and they’re inspired by the music,” said Tate. “They’re moved by the music. That affects them. They have a memorable experience, and that’s what I want them to feel.” Melvin hoped that the performance gave the audience a little inspiration. “Whenever I see shows, I like to be inspired by what I see on stage,” said Melvin. “So ’'m hoping that we could give a little in- spiration to the audience as well.”