Let’s face it: we all love book recommendations. It’s evidenced by how often we use Amazon’s “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought…” feature. It’s why you read this blog. If you also happen to be creative, or a visual learner, or just like looking at book covers or web diagrams, you should explore Yasiv, an Amazon books visualization and recommendation site. The brainchild of Andrei Kaschcha, it is still in its nascent stages, and its homemade feel is quite charming.
Users have the option to search a book and then watch, as if by magic, as that book’s cover materializes in the center of the screen. Blossoming lines will then radiate out from the cover, pointing to other magically appearing book covers, creating a webbed network of a number of related and recommended books. Here is an example of a search run for the popular novel, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
According to the website, “Yasiv is a viual recommendation service that helps people to choose the right product from Amazon’s catalog…it shows what people are buying with other products. A link between two products means that they are often bought together. By simply observing the network of products one may guess what has more popularity and what has less.”
Users can navigate easily through the interface. If they click on a book, a pop-up window will appear featuring a larger image of the book cover, a synopsis, pricing, and additional information. A textbox on the left side of the screen lists the books by popularity.
Jump on the bandwagon now. Certainly as the site develops and works out its kinks, it will become a powerful and important tool for readers.
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