So You Wanna Do It Like Amazon?

Today being Veteran's Day in the US (Remembrance Day in Canada), I thought it would be fitting to share a presentation from a web usability veteran - Jared Spool. His presentation Revealing Design Treasures From The Amazon is one of the best (and funniest) I've ever seen.

Spool explores the hidden secrets that every ecommerce professional should pay attention to about what makes Amazon so successful:

• The simple Yes/No question that increased revenues by more than $1 billion
• The elegant subtlety of Amazon’s security system
• Why Amazon’s business model is more than meets the eye (and why designers need to care)
• The wins and losses that Amazon has had with social media functionality

Though Jared agrees "doing it like Amazon" is often not a smart approach, he does leave us with ways we can learn from Amazon's successes - and failures.