Category: Site Review

Studio Dunn is an interior design practice in London. My first thought of the website was that it was very modern looking. It almost reminded me as if I were looking at a home magazine. I think that the color and texture used made it very distinctive as to what the website was there for. I also enjoyed the navigation technique for this single page website. You did not have to scroll up, down, right, or left; instead there were arrows on the right side of the page that pop up as your mouse scrolls over them that lead you to the next set of images. Because this is a website for interior decorating, there are a lot of images used. The arrows made it much easier to navigate and I feel like it made the website look cleaner. In the upper right hand corner there is a button with three lines, symbolizing more content, which takes you to the “about me” portion of the website. Here there is a short summary about the company, its history, and what they do. They also provide contact information in this section. The only issue is that in my browser, the words began to run together at the end of the type. It would be more beneficial to the reader to make sure that the words are spread out enough on every browser. I think the use of images and the arrows makes the site extremely easy to navigate.  There is not a lot of buttons that have to be clicked, which can be confusing to some people. I like the short and sweet About Me section, as it is almost as if they let the work shown in the images speak for itself. Overall, I think that the design for this website was done extremely well. It has a very modern look to it, which greatly fits the Interior Design theme. It is easy to navigate and appealing to look at.

The site I chose to review is [https://2016.cssconf.com/]. I chose this site because the choice of color pallet immediately drew my eyes to it. The contrast of bright colors such as bold blue, magenta and lime green on the pastel pink really stood out to me.

Another thing I think worked well for this site was it’s use of transparent, gradient, organic-blob shapes and transparent zig-zag boxes. As I scrolled through the site, I was happy to see these shapes repeated. What disappointed me, however, the middle of the site, because the color and textures used in the previous section just disappear, which I found odd and inconsistent.

The site is divided into three sections: About, Videos & Slides, and Sponsors. I felt the ‘About’ section and ‘Sponsor’ section were both executed very well. However, I felt the ‘Videos & Slides’ section was extremely bland and repetitive. I understand that the designer probably felt that by taking a minimalistic approach, the site’s design wouldn’t take away from the content it was showcasing; however, I feel the site would look much better if they would have continued the colorful shapes and textures throughout this portion (as seen in the ‘About’ and ‘Sponsor’ sections).

Another thing I think worked well for the site was it’s use of alternating background colors to divide the sections of the site. For example, the ‘About’ section of the site has a light pink background, then the next section, ‘Videos & Slides’ has a white background, then the third section goes back to the light pink background. This helps clearly differentiate the sections without having to read through all of the content or rely heavily on the navigation bar in order to find what you’re looking for.

Overall I really enjoyed this site. However, I found it rather strange that a website that was built to showcase a CSS Design conference would have a very boring ‘Videos & Slides’ section. But besides the odd inconsistent portion, I would definitely consider this one-page-website to have a successful use of color and texture.

For my first review, I decided to take a look at the website of one of my favorite clothing brands, Supreme. Their website is supremenewyork.com, and they’re based on a skateboard/streetwear company Supreme that has been around since 1994. I personally have never liked their homepage, it’s very minimalistic and the setup is nice, but the look isn’t very pleasing. Nonetheless, the homepage is extremely easy to navigate. It shows you the logo and gives you options to visit an about page, an information page, review clothing catalogs from previous seasons, and also an option to shop online. The online shop for Supreme’s website is very cool, and is personally one of my favorites. It opens up with small rectangles pictures of all the sites various clothes, with options to click on them, or simply browse the site’s catalog. The site runs very smoothly, and in essence is very pleasing to work on. They do a good job of keeping everything up to date, and overall I really like the site.

I personally never shop online for anything. When I want to shop I like to go into the stores and talk to sales associates who can answer the questions I can’t solve. That being said I did take the chance to finally sit down and decide what I want and need in order to build my very own desktop computer tailored for my specific needs. Like I said I like having sale associates to answer my questions, but obviously there aren’t any online; so I did my research and created a list of what exactly I needed from my computer. Finally, it was time to see how well www.newegg.com is at helping me find what I want.

When I opened the homepage I immediately was able to find the appropriate tag to continue my search. Not before Newegg’s rotating images caught my eye with their “Unleash The Power” ad which prompted me to explore the link. The link did end up needlessly broadening my search after I licked on the More Deals button from computer components to their entire clearance catalog, but 2 clicks of the back button and I was back on the Home page and moving towards what I wanted.

Finally, I was looking at a video cards, one of my top features, when I found the EVGA GeForce GTX 1070. I was looking at the specifications of the card when I saw it list Interface, know I wasn’t a hundred percent sure what they meant by interface so I was going to waste 5 minutes to google the answer before proceeding. However, just before leaving the page I noticed that interface was a hyperlink that when I clicked on it showed a definition of the world. This saved me time and allowed me to continue my shopping at a steady pace. I finished my shopping and reviewed over my shopping cart to see if there weren’t any items doubles of items or unneeded items. Low-and-behold I had added fans to my cart that I no longer needed so I moved my cursor to delete them.

All and all www.newegg.com worked wonderfully, yes I got held up at times, but I never once had to leave the website to find my way back to where I was. Newegg had even given discounts to every item and given me a promotional gift card. This website made me, a first time shopper looking to build their own desktop computer, a sense of security and confidence with the choices I made.

• Michael Carbonara

Newegg has been my go-to website for years now when it comes to electronics. I’ve watched the site change and evolve over the last half decade, and I’m familiar with how the site works in its current state.  That being said, I do have some critiques.  First of all, the site comes off as a slightly more cluttered, less visually appealing version of Amazon.  The general layout is the same: Welcome banner, search bar at the top, and products below.  All the core components are their, but they seem to be arranged in a less efficient way than the competitor. Searching for and a product is simple, and it “doesn’t make you think.” You know instinctually to type what you want in the search bar, select the product from the auto-suggestion drop down menu. I chose a somewhat specific product (Intel i7 6700k Processor) and the process was as smooth as I could have hoped for. It was the top result on the page and I was viewing it in 2 clicks. As I hovered my mouse of the “Add to cart” button, another element of the page loaded on a delay.  My cursor was now above an option to add a 1 year replacement plan for $25.  I don’t know if this was intentional or if my internet was simply lagging a bit, but it acted as a hiccup in the buying experience and threw me off for a second.  Regardless, I managed to add the item to my cart.  Unlike Amazon, which offers a “proceed to checkout” option, I found myself on a page encouraging me to choose from one of their numerous protection plans (again) and a “proceed to cart” option. The whole process felt like I was dealing with the annoying associate at the register trying to sell me on additional charges I didn’t want. I understand this from the perspective of Newegg, but most people already know ahead of time if they’re going to get a protection plan. Eventually I made it to the checkout which was a smooth and easy process. I was able to checkout as a guest and had the confirmation page within a few minutes.  Overall, I think NewEgg is functional and gets the job done, but could use some visual tweaks.

Review 1:  Thinkgeek.com

The website that was chosen to be reviewed was thinkgeek.com. I tested its ability to navigate and how much the website “made me thing.” I went onto thinkgeek searching for something related to pokemon. I immediately saw the search and knew where to type in my search. I used it and found what I was looking for. I went back to check if there was another way to find the desired results. Through use of the intuitive tabs, I found the pokemon tab and it led me to the same results. This was useful knowing that if I didn’t want to search through the website, all I had to do was just type in my desired search right at the top of the page, but I could also use the tabs that are very self-explanatory to find the products. Thinkgeek gives you the option without making it confusing. I’m able to easily scan the site and find the things that interest me quickly. For the most part, you can tell where you can click without wondering. There is a good variety on screen to really pick and choose where you want to focus on. It is quite easy to find the products you want. Users do not have an autofill dropdown box when you are typing though, so spelling is up to them. That would be the biggest improvement I would offer to the sight. The autofill option would make it a more intuitive and pleasant experience. The front page also does seem to be a little over cluttered so maybe taking out a few of the elements can really bring it together more.  Overall though, it is a strongly intuitive site that holds your attention and navigates easily.

Tristan Coyle

For my website review, I decided to review one of my favorite store’s website, Tilly’s.  Tilly’s is a clothing store that is headquartered in Irvine, California.  The website displays their clothing lines, and is a place where customers can purchase the products.  The website has a very clean look.  It has a plain white background, with a black and gray banner, and pictures of the clothing centered.  There is a search bar, centered and high up on the home page.  This is extremely useful if you already know what you are looking for.  Below the search bar is a header with page tags that when hovered over, a drop down menu pops up.  There are many options here to click to move to other pages.  Under the Women tag, they have nine categories, which are featured, clothing, swim, intimates, shoes, accessories, beauty, deals, and outlets.  Each page loads relatively fast.  There are no ads placed on this website, which makes sense because Tilly’s does not want you to leave their page.  They also have a responsive and functioning shopping cart.  Not only does it show what you saved, but also shows what other people bought with the items that are in your shopping cart.  Once the customer picks what they want to buy and precede to checkout, their checkout is safe and secure with McAfee services.  GeoTrust, which is the world’s second largest digital certificate provider, also verifies Tilly’s.  From being a frequent shopper at Tilly’s, I have not experienced a negative time on their website.  They have done a great job with keeping up with traffic, updating new lines, and getting their old lines on sale.

The site I chose to review is etsy.com. Etsy is a site where artists can buy and sell artwork, antiques, and art supplies. The website layout it pretty simple in my opinion. When you first view the page it explains what etsy is all about. It also has a search bar, which allows you to bypass having to go through the plethora of categories on their navigation bar at the top. As you visit the site more frequently, the site keeps track of your most recently viewed items and begins to suggest things for you. My only problem with this website is that you have to scroll down pretty far in order to figure out how to sell items on etsy. If I wasn’t already familiar with etsy’s selling process, I would have been rather frustrated with the lack of available information regarding starting a shop.  Overall, etsy will continue to be one of my most viewed sites; however, I definitely think there is room for improvement design-wise.

www.sephora.com

For my first review, I decided to review Sephora. Being a makeup artist, I am constantly looking for new products and browsing new websites to find them. Going on Sephora’s website, I wanted to see how the website navigation was assuming I was making a purchase. I searched the product “Champagne Pop” by BECCA. As soon as I searched it, the product I was looking for immediately came up. Viewing the product, it was easy to access the details about the product, the description, the price, etc. The “Add to cart” option was fairly large and easy for the viewer to see. As soon as you add a product to your cart, there is a pop-down menu with the options to either checkout or continue shopping. If you choose to continue shopping, the “Checkout” option is large in the upper right corner. I feel as if Sephora made the website very easy to navigate. It is easy to search things and the site is rather self-explanatory. Even if you are not sure exactly what it is that you are looking for, everything is categorized and the filters are very specific. I feel that even someone who may not be great with technology could navigate this website, which is a key element for something that has a large target audience.

New Egg

Lately I’ve been looking to buy a second 23inch Asus monitor for my laptop so I decided to review newegg.com. Although I was able to find the exact monitor I was looking for, I think the website could be more visually appealing. While first arriving on newegg I noticed the calm color scheme and easy to navigate search options. However when I scrolled down the interesting color scheme completely vanished and I was left looking at the best selling items surrounded by a clutter of ads. Although the blandness of the web page and the ads littered throughout don’t make newegg that visually appealing it more than makes up for it with its indepth search options. First I started my search by using the navigation bar conveniently placed at the top of the webpage. While I knew exactly the requirements I wanted, I started by searching 23inch monitors. This brought me to a page filled with various 23inch monitors, but what was impressive was the amount of specifying search options the left side of the page had to offer. Some of the helpful search options were the manufacturer, condition, price, seller, customer rating and many more. Overall I was able to find exactly what I was looking for due to newegg’s advanced and various search options. However, because of the mass amounts of ads and interactive items on newegg, the webpage could use improvements directing the users focus on where it needs to be.

Jordan Thompson

Review 1

The site that I will be reviewing is Musiciansfriend.com. Musicians friend is a website for online shopping for musical instruments such as guitars, drums, keyboards, amps and many more versatile musical instruments and accessories. When I initially went on to this site, I found that it seemed very clustered to me. It was a lot to take in and try to skim through, but there was a “shop by category” in the top left side that caught my eye. When I came to navigating my way through the site, it became very easy for me. I play guitar, and have done so for the past five years, so I figured I would pretend to buy a new guitar. Navigating my way, and searching and finding the guitar of my choosing was something that I found to be fairly easy. This site is actually a very easy one to navigate around in, and I would definitely recommend it to a friend. My only fault that I see is that when I first went on to the site, it was a lot for me to take in. I don’t know if it was because of the font style, the amount that was on the front page, or even the color scheme, but my only wish is that the home page was more inviting and easy to look at. Overall, I found this to be a great website, and I would definitely use it again and recommend it to friends and family.

www.musiciansfriend.com

The two sites I chose to explore and compare were peterallens.com and burgatorybar.com. Both sites have very different layouts that pertain to their target audiences’, and create the atmosphere of their restaurants. Peter Allen’s is a high-class authentic Italian restaurant, while Burgatory  is a sleek and comfortable gourmet burger joint. The layout of their websites express the feeling each is trying convey.

Both sites open up to a homepage with a slideshow in the center, and a navigation bar either across the top or along the right side. The nav bars allow the user to hover over different tabs that open up to lists of available pages in order to access more information. They both possess balance throughout the site, functioning with ease. Each has a number of pictures followed by descriptions and information. Unity is found in Peter Allen’s by using an italian inspired color scheme of reds whites and greens. Burgatory uses a color scheme of browns and reds that pair extremely nicely. The use of a distressed background gives the site a rustic feel that matches their restaurant very well. Together these two sites have very different layouts, but each works in its own way. Peter Allen’s has an extended drop down menu that requires you to scroll the full length of the page.  Burgatory has a very condensed site that requires minimal scrolling. Everything there is at your fingertips, making it simple to maneuver.  Following Krug’s 5 important things Burgatory thrives by making everything visually clear, organzing the main areas and tabs, and making the clickable areas very obvious. Peter Allen’s on the other hand is a job to navigate, scrolling to the bottom of the page and back up over and over again, and not knowing what to click and what not to click.

In my personal opinion Burgatory is a more effective website. The format of the site is so simplified that anyone can use it, it instructs you were you can find everything without confusion, and it holds your attention with witty remarks and punny jokes which I thoroughly enjoy. Its decompressed nav bar makes navigating the site very easy. The way the site is set up shows the actual vibe of the restaurant itself and gives you a taste of what you can expect your experience there to be like.

The two restaurant sites I selected to review are Six Penn Kitchen and Burgatory. My first impression overall is that both offer useful links to navigate and find the information a visitor would be looking for but neither have a search bar for quick navigation. Though this could be a problem, I was able to easily find important information like menu, location, and hours. Six Penn’s layout is clean and very easily read, also it provides links on the homepage that one would need to find all information about the restaurant. Throughout the Six Penn website, there is a cohesive design and color scheme, with emphasis on the navigation bar that is located on the top of every page. Burgatory’s site also has a lot of the same good qualities as Six Penn. The two restaurants have different atmospheres, Burgatory is more laid back and so is their website. It feels a little more inviting but still offers all the necessary information needed. Burgatory’s site has all of their locations at the bottom of every page as well as hours, but the hours could be more prominently displayed. Overall, both website are easily navigated and have an appealing layout and design. The Six Penn website is simple and easy on the eyes while Burgatory’s site has a little more flair. I do not think one is better than the other, but Burgatory’s site draws my attention more because they have a gigantic milkshake or burger in the center of their site.

Danielle Bobish

Web Design

Prof. Ames

Review#4

The competition of our restaurant in terms of content and menu is Ihop. Ihop is known for selling a variety of breakfast delights that caters to all hours of the night and day. The layout of Ihop separated into 9 horizontal rows, 7 if you don’t include the navigation bar/header and media bar/footer. Each row is categorized by a topic that is mostly illustrated by pictures. The main source of unity is color from the pineapples, lemon and tea drink in the top photo, to the sunshine gradient in the next row, then to the slight differentiation of the cheese and fries, to the lights in the restaurant, and then to the eggs and snap chat symbol. The color yellow is said to be a happy color and bring joy to people, but it is also eye catching and allows people to navigate from one section to the next. Blue is also used in a creative way, in the background up top, to the buttons and then to the countdown symbol. Even though there are a variety of textures in this web page, it is unified by color and it works. The texture is not always something to be identified by an object though, the text gives off a fun character that helps with the texture. Paradise is spectacled, but it doesn’t detract the user from navigating the page. Besides the navigation bar at the very top, the page is a single scroll downward. Your eyes are drawn to the center of the page and from there you are met with a variety of advertisements and clickable options.

In conclusion to Ihop as a working website, I believe it is successful at guiding the user through the web pages and giving the user just enough control to feel in control. Colors are used to help give our eyes relief and trail to follow as we scroll. This site is very fun and definitely reflects the character of the actual atmosphere of the location (robsinson). My website caters to the same crowd of late night bites but adds a twist to the idea. Our company is called Whiskey Waffles. We are a late night crowd appealing food craze that caters to the 21& up crowd. Because we are located on the south side and have a lot of night life traffic, our website is to reflect the atmosphere of our joint. We used dark colors to give the effect of little lighting and grey wood is to implement a rustic feel. Our color palate is very neutral containing a lot of greys, blacks and whites. We want minimal lighting in the restaurant and to overall be a fun time and place to be to get your munchies on. My website will also stand out with a creative layout that is more modern. Like most websites, images are a main feature that helps cater the user through our site. Images help create satisfaction and weather or not a user decides to visit us in person is how they determine this.

http://www.ihop.com/