Week 3 Part A - Website Design

  "Well-Craphted" Websites

In my social media course, we explored some of the key principles in successful website design this week. The acronym C.R.A.P.H.T.E.D. brings focus to the following design principles:

• 
  

• Concept and contrast
• Repetition
• Alignment
• Proximity
• Hierarchy
• Typography
• Ease of use
• Depth of content

Of the eight websites that were given to the class, I enjoyed visiting the California Center for the Arts, Escondido and HeadHunter Hairstyling the most. Even though there were more than two well-designed websites, I appreciate the clarity and simplicity that these websites offer. Each has a clear concept. The California Center for the Arts focuses on promoting events. There is a clear hierarchy as the event listings have the bigger tiles on the homepage. There is a good contrast with a large eye-catching image at the top of the homepage. The principle of proximity is also well-executed. The "Find your center" icons are in one grouping and the "Featured Events"  tiles are in another grouping.

The Headhunter Hairstyling was the easiest website to navigate. There are six pages (a good amount) with the same links at the the top of each page. There is a positive repetitive formatting in the website, which makes it aesthetically pleasing. It also benefits the viewer that each page is pretty short, so not much scrolling was involved.

Both of the websites look professionally done. Due to that attention to detail and composure, I would feel very comfortable doing business with both organizations. The visually appealing nature of the websites also invites me to spend more time exploring the pages and their services.

Not so well-craphted...

The feelings and interest that were sparked by the first two websites were in contrast to what I experienced in visiting gatesnfences.com. In short, the homepage is crowded. This website lacks contrast. The font has similar small sizing across sections, wrapping around small photos. Many of the photos look too similar for me to distinguish the differences in the products. The busy nature of the homepage also makes it difficult to navigate. There are too many options. A reader could navigate by using the buttons on the far left, the links for the gate openers in the middle, or the links woven in the text.

This might be surprising, but I also thought the website for Penny Juice could use a few changes. Visually, it is very appealing. The colors are bright and fun, and the website follows the concept of being a product for children. However, they are sending the wrong message with the formatting and use of the hierarchy principle. Due to a large, rainbow of text and its position at the top of the homepage, the most important piece about the product seems to be the number of flavors. The marketing should be highlighting how healthy the juices are for children as the most important selling point. There were also several duplicate links on each page of the website, making it seem a little less professional.

Gatesnfences.com did not seem like a professional website at all, and that influenced my perspective on their business. If I were a potential consumer, I would be too overwhelmed with the website to do buy their products, even if they were good quality. Gatesnfences.com should split up their products across more pages and have a search feature or a single box of scrolling images. Keep it simple!

__________________________________

I read and commented on the blogs of Marla, Engir, Cara, Julia, and Heather for their research assignments.