2. Awards & Education;

Introduction

The first HMV shop was opened in 1921 at 363 Oxford Street, in one of London’s most prominent shopping districts. Since then, we’ve developed into one of the world’s leading retailers of music, video and games, with stores across the UK. We focus on providing an authoritative breadth and depth of offer that is, we believe, superior to that of our competitors.

Launched in 1998, hmv.com is now one of the most visited retail sites in the UK. It offers a massive selection of music, video and games as well as digital products like the HMV player – a streaming music service with access to over four million tracks. As the world becomes more digital, HMV is adapting and growing our online services to remain at the forefront of new retailing.

Who We Are

Over the years we’ve changed a lot about how we look and feel to customers. Most recently, we’ve updated and revitalised our brand under the Get Closer banner. New colours, new graphics, new stores and new approaches combined
with our new focus – get closer to the music, film and games you love – have positioned HMV in a place we know and love. The stuff we sell has to be some of the most exciting products on the planet: the music that defines who you are, the movies that change the way you view the world and the games that let your imagination soar. And it’s not just our customers who love it. We’re passionate about it too. Our staff live and breathe music, movies and games and spend a lot of their free time immersed in all three.

Some things don’t change though. We’ve still got Nipper, our beloved mascot. We’ve still got a store on Oxford Street. And, most importantly, we’ve still got to sell great stuff that people want, in the way they want it.

Challenge

Our challenge is a digital one. While keeping within our brand and adhering to the highest standards of usability, design ways for customers to quickly and easily find and buy what they want from hmv.com. We’d like you to focus on improving user experience within some specific parts of hmv.com - product detail pages for CDs, DVDs and games, search results, and our homepage. Direct links to these pages, along with a little more context of how we’d like to improve them can be found in the project pack.

Objective

The ultimate objective of everything we do is to offer our customers the best experience we can. Our belief is that the best online experience, combined with great products, leads to profitable sales. For example, adding ratings and reviews to products improves conversion because Design ways for customers to quickly and easily find and buy what they want from hmv.com customers want peer-generated opinion on the product before purchase.

Mandatories

• Everything must fit within our existing brand.
• All processes and designs must meet the highest standards of usability.
• All designs should be DDA (The Disability Discrimination Act) accessible.
• Designs should be achievable, practical and affordable.
• Processes and designs should assume the use of existing digital tools.