Week 3 Part A: Aesthetics, Design, and Branding
A good website is critical for a businesses success, in this assignment we were asked to give feedback regarding 4 different websites below is my feedback.
Jami Lin's Passions
The first website that I looked at was Jami Lin's Passions, upon first glance we are met with an extremely confusing website. We have no idea what this website is selling and the homepage is over filled with clutter. The amount of clutter is overwhelming, it appears this website for for anti aging cream but it also has tabs for interior design and fend shui. This website gives no indication that it is professionally done as it appears that the person that made the page tried to cram as much information into the homepage as they were able to. There is a sense of irony that the page advertises interior design and has such a flawed home page, to make the site better the first thing that needs to be done is to focus on what they are trying to promote. If their intent is to sell ageing cream they need to remove everything else that is unrelated to this topic so that customers will avoid confusion. The home page needs a complete remodel, with less tabs sometimes less is more and when you are trying to sell a product you want customers to have the information they need right away without having to click all over the page.
Gates N Fences
The second page that I looked at Gate Openers Gate Operators Driveway Gates Wrought Iron Aluminum Gates (gatesnfences.com) is another page filled with clutter. The first issue that I see with this page is the different fonts that are used for the tabs on the left side of the page, this is not only confusing but an eye sore. The different sizes of font is also confusing as we are unsure what we are supposed to be looking at, and lastly the home page is just filled with too much information. It is very easy to tell this website is not professionally done as the page doesn't look at all professional. To improve this website, I would move all of the pictures into a separate section of the page. Remove all of the cluttered words on the left side and put that into a drop down section instead, take the paragraphs and add an about me page and place it there. If these actions were taken it would create a more seamless experience for customers that explored the page.
Penny Juice
On the next website, Penny Juice of America | Juice Concentrates | Davenport, IA this website is very simple and straightforward. While it appears that the website was not professionally done as it appears to be done on a small budget, the color scheme is vibrant and fun. We understand exactly what they are selling and that the target market is for young children as two young children are featured in the background, the page is clutter free as well. The design, branding and aesthetics of the page give me a positive feel towards this brand and I would be more inclined to try this brand over others for my children.
MGBD Parts
Lastly, on MGBD Parts (roverp6cars.com) while this website appears to be slightly cluttered my eyes are drawn and intrigued my the moving advertisements. The website does not appear to be professional as it doesn't have that seamless feel to it with a lot of pictures and text on the home page. One of the things that I like on the page is all of the different vehicles that it has pictured, it seems that they have a focus on parts for older vehicles. I also like the fact that the text on the side is able to be clicked on and it's not just there for aesthetic purposes, which helps give it a slightly more professional feel.
Blogs I commented on:
Hi Natasha,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your article. Yet, I think that maybe some of these websites are just older and were professionally done years ago when the internet was not nearly as capable as it is today. The reason I say this is because I have been in the web development game in the past and am still surrounded by a lot of web developer friends. Some of the things that I have seen businesses pay a lot of money to create are horrible looking. Obviously this isn't always true, and a lot of people build their own horrible looking websites.
It is not always even the web designers fault, sometimes the customer demands things a certain way that is the opposite of what best practices dictate... But they are the person with the money so, whatever.
I agree with your analysis on the cluttered, confusing examples I looked through. It makes me wonder how these people are even in business.
Hi Natasha,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing thoughtful analysis! I enjoyed reading your blog:) I also thought Penny Juice is very simple and easy to understand the company, but if it has done on a small budget and it does not seem professionally, I liked the design because this website is selling a products for kids, and the simple is the best for them.