TO: Baotong Gu, PhD.
FROM: Karen Sichler
DATE: September 17, 2024
SUBJECT: Snag Tights, www.snagtights.us
Overview
In the following analysis, I will discuss the layout of the landing page of Sang Tights. The brand was created by Brie Read who used her background in computer science and psychology to create a survey for UK women to investigate if her experiences with buying tights were a singular or universal phenomenon. According to her findings, Read found “a mix of a commoditised [spelling in original] market, product decisions made mainly by men (who are not generally the end customer) and also because women have become so used to poorly fitting tights they have accepted that this is just the way it is.” This analysis of the Snag Tights website will focus on the desktop version. Ultimately, Snag Tights presents a cohesive visual display.
Background and Description
Snag Tights is a Scottish-based apparel company with an emphasis on hosiery. The original site’s offerings included several varieties of tights as well as “chub rub” shorts which are anti-chaffing, lightweight shorts to be worn under dresses or skirts. In the intervening 4 years, the company has expanded to include intimates, dresses, skirts, loungewear, trousers, and accessories.
The intended audience is anyone who wishes to purchase and wear their apparel. Because of their emphasis on inclusivity in all areas, the audience is not limited by size, abilism, or gender identity. This is evident on the original landing page for the site. The “above the fold” images emphasized both size inclusivity and style options, both issues for bodies that did not conform to traditional standards of beauty:
Analysis
Once you move beyond the looping video clip of the two women with different body types happily trying on colorful tights at the very top of the page, the consumer/site user is presented with several rows of cards. Six rows contain 4 cards per row, 2 rows contain 2 cards each, and 1 row is reserved for a single card on the desktop site. Even though a grid can be used to standardize content thereby making navigation easier, Snag Tights concurrently exploits the ease with which the end user navigates the site while utilizing cards to create multiple points of entry for the consumer/user through design and card size. Rather than a simple line-up, the online storefront becomes more of a chose-your-own-adventure journey for the consumer/user as you travel down the page.
Although the cards move between sizes, they still adhere to a modular grid. Therefore, the design leans towards a modified hierarchical grid design. The decision to move between sizes while maintaining the justified rows presents a clean and polished landing page aiding in easy navigation. The use of a single model in each card with unobtrusive, but legible, text labels also unifies the visual presentation. The different sizes, however, allow Snag Tights to highlight products in multiple ways. The first two rows give access to the types of apparel a consumer/user can purchase. However, the layout honors the primacy of its original lines of tights and “chub rubs” as the two reside in the prime website real estate in the top, left-hand corner. This demonstrates an understanding of the development of both the site and the company.
Once you move past the individual categories, the consumer/user is offered a bifurcated entry point with the choice between accessories and all products if you do not feel like picking just one. Again, this plays directly into consumer/user desire while allowing Snag Tights to highlight a singular product line.
The consumer is then treated to additional points of entry depending upon the consumer’s shopping mood. The consumer can easily find the product they are looking for and purchase it or take inspiration from one of the following categories. For example, you can peruse new arrivals
or the Halloween section
or even shop by “vibe”
Used for presenting a considerable amount of information, the grid layout used by Snag Tights is no different. The choice to employ the grid is an excellent one due to their expanding wardrobe of products. As more product lines are developed, they can be effortlessly accommodated within the current design. The grid layout provides the consumer/user easy access to the type of product they are interested in as well as be potentially introduced to a new product line.
Finally, the white space or “gutters” between the individual cards and the rows is used judiciously through the landing page. The vertical spacing between the images, regardless of size, is narrow. The smaller size allows for quicker scanning of the page and looks better on mobile screens. In addition, the narrow gutters used with the apparel categories or the shop-by-vibe section give the visual cue to the consumer/user the two are distinct groups. The wider horizontal gutters allow the different categories to breathe and denote where one group ends and another begins.
Conclusion
User interface design patterns are the means by which structure and order can gel together to make powerful user experiences…Products should consist of such good interactions that users don’t even notice how they got from point A to Point B.
– Interaction Design Foundation
Like many good designs, the landing page of Snag Tights is deceptively simple. Through its inviting presentation, understanding of design, and appreciation for its customers, Snag Tights has created an easy-to-use site. As this critique emphasized the landing page layout, many other elements merit consideration. For example, the use of cerulean and white as the background colors for the site are both pleasing but create an excellent contrast when viewed on either a desktop or mobile site. In addition, the use of actual clients as models creates an additional level of engagement and comfort for users of the site.
However, one of the most interesting aspects of the site is the written rhetoric. From its earliest inception online, Snag Tights announced to consumers that they had “changed” the tights industry due to their belief “that anyone who wants to wear tights should be able to have tights that genuinely fit in comfort, regardless of size, shape, age or gender.” While many other brands have promised liberation, it is not a turn of phrase used only during Pride month, for example. Upon review of the current “our philosophy” and “fair fashion” pages, Snag Tights engages all three traditional rhetorical appeals. First, by providing feedback from its customers, the site offers logical evidence as a means to persuade potential customers.
