Ganggang's Technical Page

Evaluation of Ashley Furniture Industries INC

2008-11-09T15:27:00.002-08:00

Today I'd like to evaluate the website of Ashley Furniture Industries INC at http://www.ashleyfurniture.com/Home.aspx

Navigation/Architecture

There is a primary navigation on the top, including "Showroom", "Where to shop", "About us", "FAQ", "Careers" and "My Favorites". "Showroom" provides pictures of furniture sorting by type., i.e., living room, bedroom, home accents, dining room and home office. "Where to shop" provides a map and allows people to search branch locations over the nation. "About Us" is the introduction of the company. "FAQ" answers all common questions customers may ask. "Careers" provides information for job hunters and "My Favorites" is designed for the members of Ashley. They are very clear and systematically.

When I rollover a link its font color turns from black to white. When I click it, its background turns from light gray to orange, so I can always know my location in this site. I can also click the logo "ASHLEY" on the left top to go back to the homepage.

This site doesn't have deep structure. The primary navigation is on the top and secondary navigation is on the left. I think it is a standard and good design. At least I am familiar with this structure and can get used to it pretty quickly.

Content/Typography

The hierarchy of the typography is apparent. They use different font and weight to separate title and content. The labels of navigation are also very clear. I can find the information I want according to the labels.

Grid/Structure

The structure of the page stays consistent as I go from one page to another. The primary navigation is always on the top, secondary navigation is on the left column and content is on the right column.

Take homepage as an example, the focal point is the flash image at the center because it is animation (slide show), takes 60% of the whole page and have many different colors.

Iconography/Imagery

There are many photos of furniture on the site. I think it is necessary because it is the best and easiest way to show products to people. And the number of pictures is fine.

Color Palette

When I am looking at "Careers" page, there three main colors: white is background, black is text, and orange is highlight text background. There are also a little gray, yellow and blue for image color. I think orange is a warm color, it is an excellent color to show a home-like environment. I think that's why Ashley chose orange as the basic color for the whole site.

Site Focus

The purpose of this site is to do advertisement of Ashley and sell furniture. The most useful feature is to let user search branch locations by clicking a map, inputting zip code and selecting mail radius. It is very convenient and user friendly.

The only thing is that sometimes the speed is slow, perhaps due to the flash content on this site. But personally speaking, I like the design of this website very much.

Evaluation of Digital Salon website

2008-11-09T15:27:00.001-08:00

When I'm google searching graphics design websites I find there is a site called "Digital Salon". The graphics on it are awesome but the design of this site needs many improvements.

Navigation/Architecture

There is a primary navigation on the top, including "Painting", "Visual Poems", "Fluxus", "Blog", "Books", "Tools", "Links", "About", "Stuff" and "E-mail". I think these groups make sense. I am able to find different types of artwork, related articles, introduction and contact ways according to the navigation. It provides all necessary functions of an ordinary site. But I think they are somewhat too detailed. I'd like to group "Painting", "Visual Poems" and "Fluxus" as "Art Types", put "Books" and "Tools" into "Links", and put "stuff" into "About" because some of them have the same features or heritance relationship to others. I'd like the new navigation to be:

Art Types
  Painting
  Visual Poems
  Fluxus
Blog
About
  stuff
links
  books
  tools
E-mail

After simplified, the architecture of this site would have more clear structure instead of just flat.

When I rollover and click a link, its appearance doesn't change so that I don't know which page I am in. Also, almost all subpages except "Tools" loses primary navigation so I cannot go back to homepage. However, although "Tools" page keeps primary navigation, its structure looks different, which only includes four links ---- "Main Page", "Blog", "Links" and "E-mail". Actually I would put the primary navigation on all pages and keep it the same. Open subpages in the same window rather than a new window. Also, I'd like the color of labels looks different when I rollover and click the links in order to make this site more user friendly.

Content/Typography

I think the typography is not apparent because all of them are default font and size in html. I'd like to change primary navigation to be more clickable, like jpg image or button-looking etc. And make title and content different.

I feel confused when I click "Tools" label. I suppose to find something related to art design, digital design tutorials and so on. But there are only some camera photos which bring me to amazon.com. I think it would be better to named as "shopping guide", "buy tool" etc.

Grid/Structure/Iconography/Imagery

The structure of content changes a lot from page to page. Only the same thing is that the logo "Digital Salon" is always on the top of every page. But I think all pages should be more consistent.

When I look at homepage, I first notice the logo "Digital Salon" because it has black background and white font. Also, this logo has large size and drop shadow. So it jumps in my eyes very quickly.

I think the number of images is fine because of its gallery feature of graphics design. But I would like the images to be smaller and displayed in many columns instead of one column, so that people don't need to scroll down the page a lot.

Color Palette

On homepage there are six colors: white for background, black for logo, red, gray and green for images, yellow for advertisement. They separate the page into three parts: logo(top), content(middle) and advertisement(bottom). These colors are bright and fresh. People can read everything easily.

Site Focus

I think this site is to show different kinds of art work of Digital Salon and build a community for the members in it. The most useful feature is that it allows users to search camera and photo and get their price. But it is the part makes me confused. I'd like to change the name "Tools" to "Shopping Guide" as I mentioned before.

Evaluation of Lemon Bay high school official website

2008-11-09T11:45:00.001-08:00

Today I choose the official website of Lemon Bay high school to evaluate. The URL is
http://www.ccps.k12.fl.us/schools/LBHS/

Navigation

The entire page is made by Flash. There is an intro page, after click it, the primary navigation appears on the left side, including "activities", "our staff", "guidance", "library" and "community". "activities" includes news and events. "our stuff" includes the introduction of teachers. "guidance" refers to programs and academic information. "library" shows schedule and events about library media center. "community" links to alumni website, school advisory council, parent association and so on. I like the scientific looking design of this Flash page. The primary navigation and its content are connected by a metal stick. When I roll over a link, its color turns from blue to orange. After I click it, its content is refreshed on the billboard. But after I go into this page, its link changes to blue again, so it is a little difficult for me to find where I am. So I would like to keep the link orange when I am in this page to make the architecture more clear.

When browsing the primary navigation I am always in the same page (home page). But when I click a link in the content one the right side, for example, "Charlotte Country Public School Official Calendar" in "activities" page, it opens a new window, I need to close it to come back to home page. I would like it opens in the homepage itself, just replace content area and has an arrow pointing back to the previous page. But I think since the home page it made by Flash, it might be difficult to implement this function.

Architecture/Grid/Structure

The architecture of this site is somewhat deep. Even if the home page only has a primary navigation, the content of every link has many sub-links to non-flash page. I think if the site has a simple structure, it is better to use Flash but if it does not, such like a school, shopping site etc, it would be better to build an ordinary html site. Although a Flash site can generate some creative appearance, it is hard to keep it consistency on every page if this site has deep structure.

Take "activates" page as an example, the first thing I notice is the picture of student sport team. Because it is in the center and it is the only picture in the content area. Also, it contains many bright colors and represents "activities" pretty well.

Content/Typography

I think the hierarchy of the typography is apparent. They use strong weight to highlight headlines. And the labels of navigations are also clear. I can find the information I want by looking up the labels.

Iconography/Imagery

There are photos on every page. For example, when looking at teachers' photos on "our staff". I think the number of pictures is okay but I would like them to be smaller because they take lots of spaces, which make the font size small and a little hard to read. I think there are also several other ways to solve this problem, such as make the words less and make the billboard bigger.

Color Palette

On "guidance" page, there are five colors: blue for entire background and headlines, white for text background, black for text color, yellow for primary navigation and green for highlighting important information. I think these colors are quite different from each other, which can tell different kinds of information easily.

Site Focus

The objective of this site is to do advertisement of Lemon Bay high school. The most useful feature I think is "community" part. It provides a platform of communication to bring alumni, parents and other people related to this school together. Generally speaking I like this website, although the flash technology causes some confusion when switch among different pages, the overall style is creative and fantastic.

Evaluation of Natalia Devalle's personal website

2008-11-08T20:14:00.001-08:00

Today I'll evaluate Natalia Devalle's personal website. She is a web designer from Argentina. The URL is http://nataliadevalle.com.ar/

Navigation/Architecture

There is a primary navigation and a pipeline on the home page. The groups on primary navigation are "me"(self introduction), "say hola"(contact), "lifestream"(diary, interests, hobbies etc.) and "portfolio"(artwork), which are very personal stylish descriptions, clear and dramatic.

The architecture of this site is flat. I’m able to browse everything by clicking only the primary navigation. I think it is a good design because as a personal website, it doesn’t have complicated content so it’s not necessary to have deep structure. Simple is the best.

When I rollover links on primary navigation, a circle appears on "me", a line appears under "say hola" and "portfolio", and a curve appears under "lifestream". After I enter that subpage, I can tell where I am by looking up the big yellow subtitle on the right top of the page. I think it would be better to keep those rollover styles after click to make the architecture more clear.

Content/Typography

The hierarchy of the typography is apparent. The techniques she uses to make head more prominent than others are font type and background color. Titles use handwriting style font and yellow background, while text content uses Serif font and black background.

I think the labels of navigation are clear. For example, if I click “lifestream”, I can know what kinds of music she usually listens to, what topics she like to talk about, what kinds of TV programs she is interested to watch and so forth.

Grid/Structure

The structure keeps consistent of each page because the proportion of grid is always 40% left vs. 60% right part ---- primary navigation on the left and content on the right.

Take as an example, the focal point I think is Natalia ‘s picture. Not only it is the only image on this site, but it has bright color and inclined placement.

Iconography/Imagery

There are images added to the page “lifestream” and “portfolio”. I think the number of images is fine since each item has one matching image, and they illustrate Natalia’s artwork and interest appropriately.

There are two flags at the left bottom corner of this site. At first I didn’t recognize what it means, after click them I find it refers to different language version. I like the design idea but it would be clearer to use just text “English” and “Spanish”. Because there are many countries whose official language is English, the British flag here is a little confusing.

Color Palette

There are three colors on homepage: black for background, white for text and yellow (or light green?) for text highlight. The reason for choosing highly different color contrast is to make the main content clear and easy to read.

Site Focus

As most personal websites, the purpose of Natalia's site is to show herself, her unique style to the world. The most useful feature I think is it supports both English and Spanish version, which can largely expand user group. The only thing I am confused is the flag symbol as I mentioned in “Iconography/Imagery” part, but it is not a big deal. I got used to it quickly. Personally speaking, I like her design style pretty much.

Evaluation of Iconbuffet.com

2008-11-05T05:41:00.001-08:00

Iconbuffet.com is a site sells icons, so it lets the icons rule. I'd like to evaluate this website.

Navigation/Architecture

There is a primary navigation at the top, including "Stock icons", "Free Delivery" and "Blog Forum, and a pipeline at the bottom. I think these groups make sense. "Stock icons" is the preview of all icons, "Free Delivery" provides download service for members. "Blog Forum" is a place for communication and interaction among members.

When I click links on primary navigation, the background color of links changes from dark gray to white and the text color changes from light gray to red, which clearly tells me where I am. But I don't like the links' appearance before click because dark gray background and light gray text are very close to each other. It is hard for me to read the text. I'd like them to be more different.

This site has at most two levels of navigations. In "Stock Icons" page, there is a secondary navigation sorted by different types: "By Category", "By Style" and "By Family". In "Blog Forum" page, there is a secondary navigation including "Everything”,” Swap Meet", "Show Off", "Blab" and "News". I think these groups are clear and systematically but the style is a little confused. The secondary navigations on these two pages look quite different from each other. I would change them to the same style to make the site consistent.

Content/Typography

The colours and typography are solid and strong, projecting a trustworthy brand while not getting in the way of the proposition. It uses bold font to highlight subpage titles. The labels are also clear.

Grid/Structure

Except for the difference of secondary navigations I mentioned in "Navigation/Architecture", generally, all pages stay consistent as I go from one page to another. The sections on both "Stock Icons" and "Free Delivery" are the same: left column takes 80% and right column takes 20%. On "Blog Forum" page there are three columns because it needs to show the number of comments. But it looks fine because the left column still takes about 80% of space, which looks the same as previous two pages.

In "Stock Icons" page, the first thing I notice is the big title of "Stock Icons". Not only because its big bold black font, but also its center placement.

Iconography/Imagery

There are many icons and thumbnails on the site. Lots of them are interesting and attractive. I think the number of image is fine. And I can understand most of the icons. If it is difficult to understand, I can look up the category.

Color Palette

There are many colors on "Free Delivery" pages. White is the background, red is for logo, black is for primary navigation, yellow is for page title, blue is to highlight "sign up" and other colors like purple, pink, green etc. are used to display different icons. Although there are many colors, all of them have the same subtle and smooth texture so they look harmonic.

Site Focus

The goal of Iconbuffet.com is to sell icons. So the most important part is shopping cart. I like the design of this website because each part is concise. The only thing I would improve is to make the pages shorter so I don't need to scroll down to view the bottom.

Evaluation of BestWebGallery

2008-11-05T05:40:00.001-08:00

BestWebGallery is a collection of web sites which have good design ideas. It provides gallery, search engine and other useful features.

Navigation/Architecture/Content/Typography

There are two primary navigations and a secondary navigation on every page. One primary navigation includes "Gallery", "About", "Submit" and "RSS". "Gallery" lists snapshots of the collection. "About" is the introduction of BestWebGallery. "Submit" allows people to post comments and submit good websites which can add to this collection. "RSS" allows people to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites they are interested in. They save time by not needing to visit each site individually. I think these groups make sense. Another primary navigation is on the right with title of "Category". At first I thought it is a secondary or third navigation, but after a while I found it always keeps the same as I click links on top primary navigation. I think it is designed this way because of there are many subtitles but not enough space. But this kind of design is a little confused before I get used to it. I would put all primary navigations together.

I can tell the difference of hierarchy between primary navigations and secondary navigation by their font size. Primary navigation has bigger size than secondary navigation does. When I rollover the links on the top primary navigation and secondary navigation, their colors change from gray-blue to white. After I click, they stay white so I always know where I am. However, when I click the links on right navigation, their color don't change, only the content area changes. So I'd like to make it the same as previous two navigations.

This site doesn't have deep architecture because it only has two levels of navigations. I think it is a good design. Since all categories are parallel to each other, a relative flat architecture can give users a clear and obvious scene.

Grid/Structure

Because this site use google search engine, when I click all links in the secondary navigation, it will bring me to google search result. Sometimes it opens a new window, sometimes it opens a window in itself. So in these cases I need to close new window or click back arrow to go back to the previous page. I think it would be a better way to put new windows in a frame inside the homepage so that people will not get lost and the grid can also keep consistent.

When I look at "Ajax" page, I'm focus on the images in the content area because they have bright color and take large space.

Iconography/Imagery

As a collection website, there are many images on it. It is okay but I'd like to see less images per page. Take "Flash" page for example, I need to scroll down to see all images on this page, and the page number is also at the bottom. I'd like to add more page numbers and keep less images in one page without scrolling down, which would be more user friendly.

Color Palette

In "Submit" page, there are mainly four colors: black for background, white for text, blue and red for advertisement. They separate this page to three parts: top, left and right. The dark background can make light contents clearly. I think that's why these colors are chosen.

Site Focus

This site focuses on collecting good website for reference. It connects to google search for more related links, and also provides a keyword search bar on the secondary navigation so that people can search information in site. The most useful part is "Submit" feature, which supports interactions between this site and users. People can leave message, submit the websites they think are excellent, which is a efficient way to increase the collection of BestWebGallery.

Evaluation of bex esler website

2008-11-05T05:39:00.001-08:00

Rebecca Esler is a web designer from New Zealand. Today I'm going to evaluate her website http://www.bexesler.com/.

Navigation/Architecture

There are two labels in primary navigation: "my portfolio" and "my notebook". "my portfolio" shows everything about Rebecca, including her projects, resume and contact information. "my notebook" refers to her reference, including other links about web design and events/exhibitions coming up. I think these groups are clear and make sense.

If I click "my portfolio", there is a secondary navigation appears on the right, which is a list of her previous work. When I rollover links, the color of labels becomes darker, and after I click them, all navigations keep their original look but only the page content changes. Sometimes I don't know the exactly page I am looking at, especially the first time I browse this site. I wish the current label could be highlight.

On the top center there is a big logo "bex", I can click it go back to the homepage, which is very convenient.

I think this site doesn't have a deep structure. It has two levels of navigation systems at most. It is a good design, which has clear construct and costs no time to understand it.

Content/Typography

The hierarchy of the typography is okay. But I would change the font of primary navigation to be bigger and bold. Currently it is not that clear to me --- black font with regular weight on gray transparent background. The font of secondary navigation is also small but it is fine since its color is white and easy to read.

I think the labels of the navigation are clear. For example, when I click a project name, I can see brief description under a list of snapshots.

Grid/Structure

The structure of pages stay consistent as I go from one page to another. The logo and primary navigation are always on the top and content is in the middle. When I look at "my portfolio" page, the first thing I notice is the snapshot of Rebecca's project. Because it has bright color and big size, also, its alignment is in the center.

Iconography/Imagery/Color Palette

The images are in both "my portfolio" and "my notebook" page. I think the number of image is nice. They bring people's interest to view but not overuse.

Take "my portfolio" as an example, there are mainly three colors used: black, white, gray and brown. There is also some brown in the background and a spot of green for highlighting the label "contact me". These colors separate the page to three parts: gray for navigation systems, white for images and black for text content, which look consistent and harmony.

Site Focus

The objective of this site is to do advertisement. As most web designers, Rebecca builds her personal website to show her artwork, attract customers and communicate with people. The best features I think is that people can browse all websites she designed before in "my portfolio" page. This collection is very useful for customers to learn Rebecca's style.

Evaluation of Mozilla.com

2008-10-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

According to a ranking of "10 best-designed web sites in the world", Mozilla.com(http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/) is "Clear, open, fresh, simple. When you arrive at this site, you're under no doubt what the site does, or where to start looking for what you want. The design is positive and happy. A winner." So I choose this site to evaluate.

Navigation

There is a primary navigation on the top, including "Products", "Add-ons", "Support", "Community" and "About". Each title has its secondary navigation.
There is also a pipeline at the bottom. I think these groups make sense. "Products" shows two main browser/email system -- Firefox and Thunderbird of Mozilla. "Add-ons" are gadgets and plug-ins attached to the browser. "Support" is customer service, tips and helps of using Firefox. "Community" links to other websites about Mozilla. "About" includes introduction of company, news, career information etc.

In primary navigation, the label "mozilla" appears more prominent over others. Because first, it is bold and has bigger size; second, it has more spaces between other labels. Actually when I click it, it always brings me back to the homepage.

The primary navigation keeps the same when I go into every subpages. But it disappears only when I enter "Add-ons". The way I know where I am is that the large title "Firefox Add-ons" at the top of the page.

When I click on one of the navigations, the color of the label changes from black to dark gray. I think it is hard to recognize. I would like it to be more contrasting.

But they use a big subtitle right under the primary navigation of every subpage so that I can always know where I am.

Architecture

This site doesn't have deep structure. It is up to two levels according to the site map and pipeline. When I roll over the labels in primary navigation, it scrolls down and shows secondary navigation. I think it is a good design because there must be many details under each primary navigation, it is necessary to have sub groups to make the structure more clear.

Content/Typography

I think the hierarchy of the typography is fine. They use strong weight, large size and different color to separate headlines from contents.

Generally speaking, I think the labels are clear. But in the secondary navigation under "Support", there is a label called "Other Firefox Support", according to Gavin's lecture, people don't like clicking "Others" or something they don't quite familiar with. So I would like to delete this title and put its content into "Firefox Support Forum".

Grid/Structure

The structure stays consistent as I go from one page to another. All pages are divided by two columns and have the same background color and style. When I enter "About", first I notice the big white subtitle "About Mozilla" besides a cartoon icon. Because it has big size, bright color and placed in the center f the page.

Iconography/Imagery

There are many cartoon images in this website. I think the number of images is okay. They look cute and can bring people's interest to click them. I can recognize the symbols quickly because they are right beside their titles and represent the meaning of the titles. For example, on "About" page, you can find many creative and lovely symbols but all of them are easy to understand.

Color Palette

On "Support" page, there are five colors: black, white, blue, red and yellow. Red and yellow are used for search bar. Blue is the background and text color. Black is the primary navigation and white is the color of titles. I think these colors are bright and high contrasting, which are easy to separate different sections on this page.

Site Focus

In my opinion, the objective of this site is to do advertisement of Mozilla's product and let people to use them and buy them.

On "Support" page, there is a search bar which allows me to find answers about technical questions. In "Add-ons" page, there is also a search bar for searching information related to add-ons. But actually I don't use search engine if I'm not familiar with a subject. And usually I just browse what's new on the website and seldom search for a specific thing.

The most useful part is that I can download latest version of Firefox and Thunderbird on their homepage, it is very convenient.

Generally speaking, Mozilla.com is an attractive website. I like their style of design. The things I would improve is that I will change all the labels including "others" to more specific words.

Evaluation of Alex Dukal's Website

2008-10-09T19:33:00.000-07:00

Alex Dukal is an illustrator. His website is interesting and characterful. The URL is http://www.circografico.com.ar/.

Navigation/Architecture

The homepage has a primary navigation including "Home", "Portfolio", "Blog" and "Contract", and a pipeline at the bottom. In "Home", there are secondary navigation "News" and "Flicker" show as two columns. "Portfolio" displays Alex's work, "Blog" links to his articles related to every artwork, "About" is his biography and "Contact" shows his address, telephone and email. These groups make sense. I think it is designed like this because Alex wants people to focus on his work and himself.

When I click every link, there is a little black arrow below it so I know where I am. The prime navigation is always on the top when I switch between subpages except "Blog" which links to his Blogger so the format changes. But he makes a link called "Alex Dukal Portfolio" connecting to his homepage on the right menu bar so I can go back to his website.

This website has a flat structure. I can access any page within the site. I think it is a good design because it is simple and clear. People may get tired if the structure is too deep.

Content/Typography

The hierarchy of the typography is apparent. All links in navigation systems are bold in order to separate them from content text. Also, "Alex Dukal" has larger size and "Illustrator" use Italian to be more highlight. Generally speaking, the labels of the navigation are clear, only "About" is not clear enough, I would like it to be "About me" or "Biography".

Grid/Structure

The structure of the pages "Home", "About" and "Contact" are the same. They are divided into two parts evenly, which looks like an opened book. "Portfolio" page has three evenly parts and Blog has two uneven parts (I think this is due to the restriction of Blogger format). But the whole style keep consistent in all the pages. All the backgrounds have the same texture, also the font and color system.

Take "Home" page as an example, I think the focal point is the artwork picture right below the primary navigation. I first notice it because of its large size and center position.

Iconography/Imagery

Since the goal of this website is to show people Alex's artwork, there are many images in this website. I think the number of image is fine. There is an arrow symbol in the right side of the big picture on homepage. I think this symbol is simple but clear. After click it, I can enter the "Portfolio" page, which is the most important part of this website.

Color Palette

In "About" page, there are four colors: white, brown, black and light steelblue(I'm not sure how to describe this color shown in background :S). Black and brown is to separate Alex's image and navigation system from text content. White and light steelblue combine with each other to represent the background. I think these colors are chosen because of the special artistic character of this illustrator.

Site Focus

The objective of this site is to show Alex Dukal himself to the world, including his biography, work and news. I think the most useful part of this site is the "Portfolio" page. We can browse all Alex's work by clicking thumbnails. The only thing I would improve for this page is to separate these thumbnails in different pages and use arrow to guide people switch among them so that people don't need to scroll down this long page to see the image at the bottom.

Evaluation of Placebo's Official Website

2008-09-26T06:47:00.000-07:00

I like the band Placebo pretty much. Today I'll evaluate their official site http://placeboworld.co.uk/.

Navigation

There is a primary navigation on the homepage, including “news”, “tour”, “discography”, “archive”, “exclusive”, ”shop” and “links”. I think these groups make sense because “news” is to tell fans what the bands are doing recently; “tour” provides performance schedule; “discography” lists all their albums, singles and DVDs;”archive” shows band’s pictures in different period; “exclusive” provides other information like interview clips during each album released, and joining mail list choice; “shop” contains ringtone download, t-shirt, souvenirs and other related products; ”links” brings people to Placebo’s other sites on YouTube, MySpace etc.

The primary navigation is always on the top when I switch between different subpages. When I put my mouse on one link, its color becomes red and after I click, it becomes white so I always know where I am and I can always go back to the homepage by clicking the icon “Placebo world.co.uk”.

Architecture

This site has a simple structure. When I click a link on primary navigation, the secondary navigation appears on the left. When I click a link on secondary navigation, its content shows in the main window. I think the secondary navigation is necessary because it shows a clear structure without bringing people confusion. For example, if I click “tour”, I can see all the schedules from 1995 to 2007 list on the left. Then I can choose any year I want to look at easily.

Content/Typograpgy

This site uses weight and size to show different appearance between labels and contents. For example, the font in primary navigation system is bold and has larger size. The content in main window is normal weight and has smaller size.

I think most labels of the navigation are clear. But I would like to change the label “archive” to “pictures” because archive includes many things such as files, images, videos and so on, but when I go into this “archive” page, there are only pictures in it. So if the title just simply called “pictures” it will be more clear, and easier to understand.

Grid/Structure

The structure of pages stays consistent as I go from one page to another because all the colors and layout keeps the same. The only changes are the content of text and its secondary navigation system. When I look at the “discography” page, I think the focal point is the cover of every album. Because their colors are quiet different from the background color and the albums on the top bar are also moving, which attracts my attention as soon as I open the page.

Icography/Imagery

The images on Placebo’s site are their albums’ cover in “discography” sub page and members’ pictures under “archive” sub page. I think the number of images is fine. But I would like to see more pictures of them because I am their fan. :D

In "shop" page there are some icons telling people what kinds of product they sell. From mobile shop, digital downloads to clothes. The icons are obvious and pretty easy to understand. Additionaly, they are beside the introduction of product. It takes me little time to understand them.

Color Palette

In “news” page, there are four colors: white, black, red and blue. Each of them has unique function. Black is background, white shows main content, red is the date of news, and blue represents links that bring you to other pages. I like the dark background because it makes all lighter colors pop out on it.

Site Focus

The object of this site is to publish latest news, tour schedule and sell albums and related products to Placebo's fans.

The most useful features I think is that they put "latest news" at left column of homepage so I can not only get their news at homepage without clicking "news" but also browse other information on main window.

The only thing I would improve is that I find the information of buying albums is under "discography" link but not "shop". I understand this design because it is convenient for people who want to buy songs when browsing discography. But since songs are their main products to sell, I would like to add this information to "shop" page in order to let people find "buy album/DVD" in both links.

Evaluation of Brill Publications Homepage

2008-09-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

When I visited Brill Publications Homepage(http://www.brillpublications.com/) for the first time, I think this design is interesting. The designer wants to show some unique ideas. But when I looked at it carefully, I found some problems.

Navigation & Architecture

There are three primary navigations on the main page: "ride the lift", "quickstart lift" and "become a member", and a pipeline at the bottom. At first I didn't figure out the meaning of primary navigation. What does "lift" mean? Is Brill Publication a hotel, a factory or something else? When I click the "ride the lift" button, I realize it is a metaphor because the animation changes as I am going to take an elevator. The secondary navigation looks like a list of buttons showing different floors. When I click a button, the "lift" moves and take me to a "floor", which is the third level. Then I need to hover all the images(clothes, magazines or doors etc.) to find whether they can be clicked(the color of image changes when hovering) so that I can go into deeper levels. So the architecture of this site very complicated.

I think I can tell where I am when in the first three level. Although it is a little bit difficult, I can still find a hint -- a guide or a billboard saying "back to lift" -- to return to the secondary level. And when click "foyer" on the secondary navigation, I can go back to the main page. However, because the navigation system is not flat, when I am in the forth level, there is no link that takes me back to the elevator room, which is not convenient.

Content/Typography

In lift room, they use different colors to show the labels on secondary navigation. But I don’t think it is clearly enough. For example, I guess the two “now leasing” may be the most important links because they are red. Then I click one of them but only see a billboard showing some contact information. If I click the capital letter link “CLICK HERE”, I find the link is broken actually, which is frustrated. And I am confused is that the two “now leasing” links are the same. I don’t know why they put two same links there. Maybe one is enough. If I have a chance to improve it, I would like to change all labels to the same color except “coming soon”.

Grid/Structure

I can say that the first three levels are consistent because the environment is a lift with its floors. However, all the pages in forth level(and after) are independent. Some of them have totally different styles and their own navigation systems. They look like ordinary web pages(no elevator appearance) so I always confused whether I am still in Brill Publications' web site. For example, if you go to "ride the lift" --> "gift shoppe" --> click a cloth --> "MyStory.iD.au". You may get lost.

In "the issue" floor, I think the focal point is three blinking magazines in front of the desk. Because the main color of this room is gray but these covers are red and orange so they are easy to recognize. When I put my mouse on it, it gives me a hint that it is a link.

Iconography/Imagery

This site mainly uses flash and images in their first three levels. The icons are used everywhere. Any image can be a link. A dog, a close, a book, and so forth. But there is no hint along it only if you hover it. And some icons hide in secret. For instance, in floor "my story", it seems there is nothing on the table but when you slide your mouse on it, a cell phone appears suddenly and you know oh it is the contact information link. So it requires people carefully enough to find all the clickable icons. It took me some time to get used to them, longer than I spend on other websites.

Another thing is they use animation to do voice introduction but not text. For example, the televition in lift room and gift shoppe page. I like the way they express the idea but the disadvantage is if the computer is in mute mode by default, the user will not hear anything.

Color Palette

Take lift room as an example. They use four colors: brown, black, red and silver to mimic the environment inside a lift. I like the colors they choose because they are smooth and realistic. The navigation system is silver so it can pop out. (But I don't like the music much. Especially, when I writing this evaluation, I hear this music millions of times and I really get bored of it. :S )

Site Focus

I think the purpose of this site is to sell products and do advertisement. The only thing I am confused is that why they create such a complicated scenario which actually doesn't improve the functionality of this site. I need to wait a long time before I get to the core parts, which are usually after the forth levels. I believe some people will give up before they find those pages. Whenever I go back to lift room, it always takes me to the first floor so I need to start over if I want to go to another floor. Also, my way to browse subpages is to click links from top to bottom if the navigation bar is vertical, so when I in lift room, I click "roof garden" first. However, that is the least important part of this site-there is only an image there for decoration, and cost longest time to get there.

I think the most useful part of this site is to bring people fresh air. The designer has a courage to try something different. But since websites are for people all over the world, they need to follow some trends, or most people's habit to make them easier to browse. If I am the designer, I would like to make this site much simpler, maybe delete the scenario part.

Evaluation of Incline Capital LLC Homepage

2008-09-09T07:20:00.000-07:00

Currently I am building a website for Incline Capital LLC, which is a project of professor Grace Wong in Real Estate Department, the Wharton School. My task is to implement all layouts and functions designed by others.

The basic design idea of this site is to let the menu bar, text area and background image place on the top of a flat, light-blue glass with reflection of images in the glass and shadow under it, which intends to show a three dimensional appearance.

Here is the homepage of Incline Capital LLC:
http://www.inclinecapital.com/

My evaluation is as follows:

Navigation

There are one primary navigation system on this website, including Company, Focus, Investment, Contact and Home. Each of them (except "Contact" and "Home") has a secondary navigation. Whenever people click a main link, its sub directories will appear in an indent format, which looks like the tree structure in Windows file systems. The advantage of this design is to display the hierarchy clearly so that people can always know where they are within the architecture of this site and can always go back to the home page by clicking the link “Home”.

Architecture

As the vertical indent format of navigation links shows, the architecture of this site is simple and clear, which is up to only two levels of directories. Although people need to click sub links to view more information under a certain subject, it is still easy and convenient.

Content/Typography

The font of all the text is Century Gothic in original design. I changed them into Arial because first, the width of Arial font is thinner, which means I can put more words on one page without scrolling down (people are not willing to scroll down page when browsing web pages); second, it is easier to recognize since the background image is bright.

The techniques to highlight content are bold weight, such as 'Incline Capital LLC' in Company introduction, and underline decoration, such as 'Target Markets' in Focus introduction.

I think the labels of the navigation are clear because when I click a main link, it shows me both general information of this subject in the text area and sub links in the menu bar. When I click sub links, more details about this subject continuing appears in the text area.

Grid/Structure

I used 'div' tag to show contents of all the subjects in the same page (frame) in order to make the structure of the site stays consistent as people go from one subject to another.

In my point of view, the focal point of this site is the rolling images in background. First, these images are very bright and colorful. Second, they are animation. Sometimes the images fade out and appear; sometimes they go up with their reflection going down. That’s why I always pay attention to them (Another reason I’d like to watch them is because it cost me plenty of time to make this flash file lol).

Inconography/Imagery

The background is constituted by six paintings of UPenn campus. If the main purpose of this site is to show images, it is a pretty good design. But if this site wants people to concentrate on its text, these images may be somewhat distraction. Personally speaking, I’d like to put only one image with light color as background.

In original design, each sub page has decoration pictures. Considering the extremely colorful background, I deleted all the unnecessary ones, only left two icons. Both of them are in the Founder introduction sub link. One is the founder’s picture, the other is an envelope icon for contact. I think they are quite easy to understand.

Color Palette

This site includes almost all the colors I can tell, and 90% of them are in the background images, including black, white, blue, red, orange, green, purple and yellow.

These colors, as a whole, are used to emphasize the main parts of this site. For example, the part above the glass (without reflection) is the core, which includes menu bar and text area, while below is decoration. I think the reason for choosing these colors is to attract people’s attention. When people staring at part of an image, they may wonder what the other parts look like. When the image moving up, they get an answer, just like watching a movie.

Site Focus

I think the purpose of this site is to attract customers to invest and provide consultations. It doesn’t allow people to search but provides a special permission for its customers. In the Login page under the main link “Investment”, people have the right to login and view some documents only if they are the customer of Incline Capital. For security aspect, I think it is the most useful part of this site.

Generally speaking, I think the object of this site is clear and the design idea (three dimensional looking) is creative. The improvement I would make is to change the background images such as reduce the number of color and simplify the animation, in order to let people easier to read the text.