Gucci 2.0

Adverblog is agog over the new Gucci Web site, which they call "a unique, innovative yet very luxury online experience." They also toss the word "genious"(sic) into the mix.

Why are they so excited? Because the site forsakes Flash for "a much more innovative (and brave, I would say) solution: Web 2.0 technologies - Javascript and Ajax (no, not the football team! :-), just to name a few."

I'm a sucker for anything that sounds that good, but is it? In a word, no.

The slow load time (at the moment I'm on a Mac running Firefox 1.5.0.7, over a DSL connection) left plenty of time for anticipation to build. The "pick a country" splash page reminded me that all good things come to those who wait. Then the main event arrived.

Okay, the sliding image is cool, for about half a second. But the navigation is a mess. The product arrays are confusing and lack cues to differentiate similar looking products. The iconography is non-intuitive. If you're really intent on surfing Gucci style, you might take time to sort it out. But I don't have that kind of patience.

If this is a "luxury online experience", give me poverty. Please.


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