Today I am going to give you my opinion of problems with certain websites as well as what some websites are doing correctly.
SpotMetering
http://spotmetering.com
With this particular website, I noticed that it was very dark and unorganized which for me is a turn off when looking at websites about camera exposure. Another thing was that if you don't know what spot metering is you have to scroll so far down on the homepage before you get a definition. When looking at the website, I had no clue what it was about except cameras and pictures not too much upfront information. And the final thing I found was the contact information (I.e. Social media, email, or mailing address) was harder to find.
To fix these problems I would use possibly a light gray or white as the background shade so it looks brighter and more professional. Also for the unorganization of the site, put the definition of spot metering right at the top of the homepage so it's easy to see and people can now tell what the site is about. And finally for the cluttering of the site, maybe use only a few pictures of different exposure and use section tabs with 1 picture to show what all the exposures are when using a camera.
RoverP6Cars
http://www.roverp6cars.com/
The 3 major problems I found with this particular car parts website were I was confused about what the site was for exactly since all I saw were some picture of classic cars and color wording about cars and parts. To me the homepage was disorganized and cluttered, with too many distractions. The side tabs were too distracting with the car picture behind each section word. It made me not want to even click on the sections. And finally the the contact information was hard to find. They had their Facebook link in the middle of the homepage the contact information on the very bottom left side. With all the pictures, words and colors going on, it was hard for me to concentrate on just 3 problems.
The way I would fix all 3 of these problems is to find out what's the important need to know information for visitors to the site and that is what should be on the homepage as well as their contact information in an easy accessible place. I would also get rid of a lot of the pictures cause they take away from what the site is about which is selling car parts. I would have some pictures,but not mostly pictures. I would also make the text all one color and take away the car side pictures for the different sections.
ExMouth-View
http://www.exmouth-view.co.uk/
For me this site didn't have enough upfront information about what the site was about. After reading a little I found it was about a hotel. There wasn't enough about the hotel and where it was located for me. There was not about section, which was disappointing. Also there was no address listed for contact information. Contact infor was minimal and very obvious to the eyes. It was not where I expected it to be. Finally, it didn't seem like this particular site had any social media to contact them at just 1-800 numbers. In this day and age I feel like you should have social media for customer service purposes if you are a business.
My way to fix these issues would be to make a Twitter or Facebook page if they don't have one. If they happen to have one put it on the site's homepage. I would also put more information about the hotel, like the history and why people should stay there. And finally I would make it easier to find if you are not from that part of the world. The location is a little confusing, so possibly put in a map of where the city is and what landmarks are close by.
Apple
http://apple.com
Apple is an amazing example of how a website should be set up if you are a business. The layout is easy to navigate as well as the being clean and organized. The site is also simple but productive for visitors and customers. There is enough detail and information about what the site is for and each product on the site. I love the ability to chat with someone if you have any questions right there as you are on the site. The ability to customize what you are buying on the site is a major plus in my humble opinion.
Ford
http://www.ford.com
Ford, like Apple, is a great example of what and organized, easy to navigate, and informative website looks like. I like how informed the site is with explaining each product, deals ,and pricing. The customization of the products is a great touch as well because it gives the customers the ability to design their vehicle exactly how they want it. The easy to navigate and obvious noticeably social media and contact information is always a something I look for in a website. Ford's website does a great job of that.
The way a website is designed,aestheticated, and branded definitely affects my reaction to it. If the website is organized and easy to navigate, I'm more likely to stay and look around for awhile and possibly purchase something. Where as if the site is jumbled. cluttered, and disorganized I probably will leave the site without thinking twice. The way the site looks is important to me as much as the way it is branded. If a site is branded well it makes me want to stay and browse longer. I don't like things to be super distracting when visiting a website, the. I can't focus on what the website is all about.
Hi Kylee,
ReplyDeleteI also examined the Spotmetering website, and while I know light meters exist, I also was put off by the site's organization and lack of clarity about what they were promoting. I was confused at first. It was too hard to get to any "good" information, even if the user might be interested. I agree with your assessment completely. While this guy may be brilliant, his website is a complete turn off.
Sherri Moore
Hey Kylee,
ReplyDeleteTotally agree about Apple's website on how simple, and fun it is to navigate. I didn't know Apple's website had an online live chat. Thanks for letting me know I must have missed it. I agree with the fact that keeping it simple is effective.
Hi there Kylee!
ReplyDeleteGreat job with this weeks' blog post. You and I actually selected the same sites for almost exactly the same reasons. I, however, put my positive reviews and negative reviews in two different posts, I kind of wish I did it your way - it seems more organized and easier to read.
I completely agree with your critique of the SpotMetering site being a detriment to itself. You'd certainly expect to see bright colors, vivid imagery, and perhaps some artistic photo manipulation techniques to display his skills, but instead he drowned it all with dark backgrounds and binary code, which has little to do with taking good photos. Oh well, can't win them all.
I also agree that Apple (as well as Ford) were excellent examples of how sites should be designed, and I even sat for a while viewing the source code (most of which was protected) to see what the designers may have been thinking when they designed these works of art. They are very different from each other, in their own respects, but make us feel the same way as viewers visiting a page. I'm not surprised a bit when I arrived at these two sites, however - Apple is.... well, Apple, and Ford is one of the top market American Made vehicles in the world - they may not have had the same advantage of having developers of all sorts at their disposal, like Apple, but they certainly had the money to hire them. Ha.
Again, excellent post. Keep up the good work!
Respectfully,
Jennette