Hi there,
The following is my personal review/evaluation up to this point.
I hope this answer helps and if you require any clarification or
additional assistance, please let me know.
Cheers,
Tox-ga
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***Issue 1 : The top-banner.***
To casual web surfers looking around for products they want, the
banner is an element that gives off the first impression. The quality
of the banner represents how professional the business is, and this
banner is failing to carry out its purpose.
1) The logo, which is well designed, looks pixilated and bothers the
eyes of those looking at the banner. Because logo is the most
outstanding part of the banner, this needs to be addressed. Most of
the logos are produced in vector-based programs like Adobe Illustrator
? meaning that the produced logo will not lose its quality when it?s
resized. The same is not true for compressed format like jpeg files ?
and I?m assuming that the original logo was saved in non-loseless
formats (like gif or jpeg files) then resized to fit the banner. The
solution is to have the original designer of the logo resize the file
again in its original format.
2) The slogan on the banner doesn?t really scream ?our products mean
business?. The slogan should be written in such a way that it talks
to the target audience, not having your jigs talk to the fish.
3) The shark on the banner doesn?t seem to be related to the theme at
all. The images used in a banner should represent something.
The color scheme used on the banner, however, is well thought out and
should be kept the same. It is unfortunate that the rest of the
webpage doesn?t really offer the same contrast or synergy.
***Issue 2 : Menu-bar***
First of all, the most widely used desktop resolution nowadays is 1024
x 768 or 1240 x 1024. Gone are the days when 800 x 600 was the
staple. At both resolutions, the text used in the menu-bar doesn?t
stand out nearly well enough. The size should be increased by at
least 1 point then bolded.
Secondly, the color used in the menu-bar is out of synch with the
color scheme used in the top banner. The color should be kept the
same OR sharply contrast each other ? the choice should be made in
order to provide the most comfortable surfing pleasure. In this case,
I?d recommend going with the type of deep green-blue used in the
banner. This provides more contrast for the white text in the
menubar.
Lastly, embossed menu-bar buttons aren?t smart idea. It provides too
much distraction away from the text ? which is what you?d want your
customers to be focusing on. Surprising amount of attention can be
gained by spacing out simple geometric shapes ? rectangles in this
case ? properly. Try changing the buttons into simple, mono color
rectangles.
As an afterthought, the menubar should always be aligned in such a way
that it keeps in line with the top banner and doesn?t intrude the text
of the main body. Currently, the page switches the placement of the
menu-bar when the resolution changes. Also, the selected section of
the menu-bar should be highlighted in contrasting colors ? yellow or
orange for the selected button and black text is usually the most
common color scheme for pages dominated by blue.
***Issue 3 : Background color.***
Usage of dark color in the background color is often aided by white
layers where the text / product images will be placed for most
website. This is to have the observers? field of view naturally focus
on a certain area where the important information placed ? this is the
same reason why detectives / police will use flashlight for the search
in a dark room rather than turning on the light. Currently, the
bright blue color distracts viewer?s eyes and widens the field of
view. This is not a pleasant effect. It should be changed
immediately to a much, much darker color. Usage of gradient ? fading
of one color into another ? is also commonly used to provide the
distinction between the most important text or images (which will be
placed on the top) and less important issues which will be placed at
the bottom.
***Issue 4 : General sizing / spacing problems***
Empty space is as important as the space used for text and images.
Currently, the spacing between groups of images and the description
text is not efficient at all. For example, the merchandise / online
catalogue pages shows several pictures that really have no excuse for
not being the same size and having some space between them.
Resizing them to the same dimension and separating each cells will
show more consistency, allowing for more presentable online catalogue.
***Issue 5 : Too much variation in colors.***
The general consensus behind color scheme of a webpage is that the
simpler you keep it, better it looks. Currently, the website uses
plethora of blues with different hues, neon green that really looks
out of place, and not enough contrasting colors to focus the viewer?s
field of view on important information. The current color scheme
should be more homogenized to focused use of navy-blue, light metal
blue (blue with more grey mixed in rather than bright light blue),
white and controlled usage of orange.
The text should mostly be kept in either white or black. Only
exceptions should occur when a page has two separate main ideas ?
which doesn?t seem to happen a lot in the current version of the
website. Different sizing, placement as well as good usage of
supporting color are the best way to go. Too much variations in the
color of the text just makes the page look really busy.
Finally, flashing text is generally never good on any websites.
***Functionality Critique***
For some reason, menu-bar completely disappears on the ?purchase
online? page. This should be addressed. Also, clicking on the logo ?
placed on the top left side of a banner- should lead the customer back
to the main page of the website.
Privacy policy, terms of use, and FAQ sections could be duplicated on
the top section of the page. More importantly, when offering online
purchase services, one should design the site so the customers have
easy access to his cart to review the information. This option is
currently only offered in the ?purchase online? page, which is
isolated from all the other sections to begin with due to the absence
of the main menubar. Good place to place the ?view cart? is at the
top of the each pages, along with FAQ.
Also, the news headlines placed on the mid-bottom portion of the page
doesn?t seem to much purpose other than filling up space. The
front-page usually should serve as the means to provide the customer
with most recent news of the products being delivered to them, not
something that they can read off of any webpages or magazines.
Finally, the product descriptions should have only ONE unified section
to allow users to have easy access to all the information they want.
Currently, they?re spread over 3 different pages. One page can have
different sub-sections to allow for easier navigation and information
gathering.
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