Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Web Design Critique by an Amateur



The Good – Two websites and what they have done right!



This is a clean, simplistic website that gives you the information you need to learn about the products on the home page.  It is a clear example of what Steve Jobs stood for – clean, minimalistic, and beautiful. 

Also, in keeping with Steve Jobs philosophy of going his own way without input from the public…. I didn’t find social media icons.


Another clean simplistic website that showcases the main points above the fold and has the social media icons along with the necessary information on same page.  I liked the site map that is clear and easy to read.

The Bad -  Two website that have at least three potential problems for visitors. What could be improved on the websites and why?



This website is too busy…. I didn’t know where to look first.  Interesting that there is a page called “Ford Social” at the top in the first position….. however, I didn’t find the social media icons and didn’t figure out how to interact without some effort.

In any case, the aesthetics with the various pages with scenery and Ford cars makes it somewhat appealing. You know you are on the Ford website with the prominent branding on each page.

By organizing and utilizing drop down lists, they could make the site much easier to read, keep the scenery visual to portray the versatility and appeal to the public.



·       You need to scroll down to view the introduction to the company.
·       Regarding the announcements on the right side, I continued to click on the announcement as I do with most other sites to read the entire message before noticing the “Read the full announcement” at the bottom.  
·       The social media icons are very small …. at least they are above the fold.
·       The Shop, Solve, Learn, Contact that is on the home page is written on it’s side which is hard to read; the good is that it is on every page

The company needs to decide what is most important and place that on home page above the fold.  Is social media important to this company?

The Ugly – Three websites I don’t like and why!


http://tectorch.com  ---  Home page is too busy – eye hits the headline and then flitters around the page trying to decide where to go first.

http://www.richsoil.com/raising-chickens.jsp --- Okay, it’s not my cup of tea and hard to read.

http://www.gforceracecars.com/ --- I don’t like the flashing “*Features Products*” 

Aesthetics, Design and Branding


This class is teaching me so much about what I need to do for my business and the website I have…. Which needs to be redesigned according to what I’ve learned so far.  However, it’s probably best to wait until the end of the class.

The design, aesthetics and branding impacted my reaction in a number of ways.  I’ve always believe that “less is more” and found the sites that were easier to read allowed me to learn more about the products and to navigate to where I wished to visit easily.

Since social media is just reaching it’s tipping point, I wasn’t too surprised to find some sites not embracing it.  I believe we will see a change within the next couple of years as most companies will increase their interaction with the public and their customers.

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