"The Future of Retail" by Nicholas Negroponte

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/6.07/negroponte.html?pg=1&topic=

1.  Does Negroponte explicitly state his thesis? If so, identify it. If not, write your own thesis statement for his essay.

            Negroponte does not explicitly state his thesis in this article. An appropriate thesis could be: “In the very near future, it is likely that online shopping will dominate over ‘traditional shopping.’ However, social factors and the ‘experience’ of shopping will keep retailers relevant.”

2.  How does this reading relate to Norman’s concepts of user-focused design?

            Negroponte agrees with Norman’s concepts of user-focused design. Norman emphasizes the importance of designing objects that are easy and convenient for consumers to use. For example, Norman mentions that the user should not have to read the instruction manual for a device every time he or she uses the product. Similarly, Negroponte states that “in the digital world, consumers hold almost all the power, which is a nice change.” With this, he is referring to how, when shopping online, customers are able to browse, shop, check out, and more – all at their own convenience and pace. While doing actual retail shopping, a customer often has to face issues such as difficulty finding a parking spot, annoying and/or rude staff, long checkout lines. None of these problems exist with online shopping. Thus, Negroponte feels the same way as Norman, concluding that design should indeed be quite focused on the user.

3.  Negroponte published this in 1998; to what extent do his ideas remain relevant today?

            I feel that Negroponte’s ideas are somewhat relevant, but only in that user-focused design is incredibly important. Additionally, some of his ideas about the importance and relevance of online shopping continue to be relevant today. However, I believe that Negroponte’s viewpoint was a bit too extreme. While internet shopping is quite popular today, I do not think that it has in any way begun to completely wipe out traditional shopping.

4. What predictions would you make about the Future of Retail?

            I do not think retail will change terribly much in the near (or not-so-near future). While certain items may be more convenient to buy online – DVDs, books, etc. – there will always be those items that just have to be touched/felt/tried on before they can be purchased, such as furniture, clothing, shoes, and groceries.