Amazon.com is an example of a web application site. You can access Amazon.com to look for specific types of things (that you need or are interested in), which is why it qualifies as an web application site. Everyone knows they can find good deals on Amazon, which is why so many people use it frequently.
Upon first glance, Amazon's site is fairly cluttered and reminds one of the classifieds section of the newspaper. However, this is kind of the point of the website, so in that way, it works. As with the classifieds section of the newspaper, things are fairly easily categorized on Amazon's site. Along the left are links to different departments with subcategories in drop-down (to the side) menus. Across the top, in the very small and almost squished banner, there is a place to sign in to receive personalized recommendations based on what you view and buy. There is also a place to sign up if you are a new customer. Other links across the top are "Your Amazon.com," "Today's Deals," "Gifts & Wish Lists," and "Gift Cards," as well as "Your Account" and "Help." Below these links is a banner that holds a search bar and a menu for departments as well as a link to your cart and your wish list. At the far left is the Amazon.com logo, which is actually a link to the homepage and when you hover your mouse, the rollover includes a box around the logo to make it appear like a button and the word "homepage" appears (this only occurs when you are on a page other than the homepage). The main section of the page includes a moderately large advertisement. Right now, the advertisement is for Kindle with a link to see more from Kindle. To the right is an ad for another great deal: external drives under $100 (at the moment), and a link to see more of them. Also going down the right side is a paid advertisement, "Free Song of the Day," "Bestsellers" list, "Save with Amazon.com Visa Card," and another paid advertisement. In the main section of the page, under the main advertisement, there is a section for "More Items to Consider," which shows you what you looked at recently and suggests things related to that product that you might find of interest. Beneath that is a section for items "Related to Items You've Viewed," which suggests things of the same topic. For example, yesterday I looked at the book, "Essential ActionScript 3.0," so it suggested more books about ActionScript, whereas in the "More Items to Consider" section, it has it listed that I looked at Kindle and it suggests a different sized Kindle, a leather cover for Kindle, and a clip-on light. The next section down is items "Inspired by Your Browsing History." Earlier yesterday and a few times before, I've looked at a book called "How to Cheat in Adobe Flash CS4: The art of design and animation," so in this section, other Flash CS4 books are listed. The next section is "Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Looked At" and it shows that I looked at a packaging book and it lists some package books and some folding books that other people have looked at when they looked at the packaging book I looked at. The next section down is "Customers with Similar Searches Purchased" which shows the book I looked at and then tells me what people who searched for "ActionScript 3.0 books" (for example, in this case) actually ended up purchasing. The two sections underneath that are "Save up to 35% on Our Bestselling Fitness Equipment" and "Everyday Essential Accessories." Finally, at the bottom of the page, there is a section of "Your Recent History" that contains your recently viewed items, your recent searches and browsing history, and an option to continue shopping which features some things you might be interested in based on customers who bought things that you've viewed and what they also bought. At the very bottom of the page are some more links under the categories of "Get to Know Us," "Make Money with Us," and "Let Us Help You." Beneath those, is the Amazon logo and different stores for different countries and different Amazon affiliates (Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, Amazon Windowshop, AmazonWireless, Askville, Endless, IMDb, ShopBop, Warehouse Deals by Amazon, Conditions of Use, and Privacy Notice). If you navigate to another page, there are more options along the menu bar at the top for your convenience that refer to the specific category you are in. There is also a breadcrumb trail to show exactly where you started your search all the way to where you are now, so that you can easily backtrack and go down a different path.
I think Amazon.com makes it very easy to find exactly what you're looking for fairly quickly and due to the way it breaks up information, I think it really helps the viewer get the most from the site that he or she possibly can. It may not be the most attractive site, but it's simple and user-friendly.
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