I chose to compare the websites created for No. 9 Park and Six Penn Kitchen. They will be compared on their layout, balance, unity, and click ability. When looking at the homepages for both websites, Six Penn Kitchen is much easier to read and understand. No. 9 Park is very text heavy on its homepage and a couple other pages making it slightly overwhelming to search for information. In addition to the text heavy pages, the lack of emphasis between different parts of the page make it extremely confusing on what the viewer should read next.
Six Penn Kitchen was laid out in a very clean manner, allowing the user to reach their destination in no more than three clicks. Each page listed in the global navigation bar is very clear and understandable. The user to sure to find the information they are looking for when using this site. Emphasis is used very successfully within this site, especially in the menu. They focused on ensuring their menu was easy to understand. They have clear color distinctions that create a hierarchy of information. The most important information, or the headers are a bright green that stand out boldly from the background. Next in order falls the subheadings, often the name of the food, in white that also stands out from the background and from the green headings. Last, Six Penn Kitchen made their descriptions of the foods a light tint of grey allowing it be read but not overwhelm the user with information. Their layout throughout the website is centered which could be varied up occasionally to create more visual excitement but it makes it very easy to use because the user knows what to expect. The global navigation located at the top of the screen assures the user that they can easily return to the home screen or visit another major topic of the site without having to search randomly around the site. As Steve Krug explains, “Web navigation compensates for this missing sense of place by embodying the site’s hierarchy, creating a sense of ‘there.’” The navigation is the basis of this website, making it extremely easy to use.
No.9 Park is less understandable. Steve Krug talks about killing happy talk in websites because it takes up space. He explains, “Unlike good promotional copy, it conveys no useful information, and it focuses on saying how great we are, as opposed to explaining what makes us great.” No.9 Park uses happy talk right on their homepage, making it feel very crowded. They attempted to get the user’s attention with the small paragraph of happy talk along with moving images of the food, and different drinks they specialize in. But it all feels very overwhelming for a homepage. They attempted to create a hierarchy by changing the color of text but they needed to incorporate that more into the page itself instead of only using it in the navigation bar. The number of clicks needed to achieve finding information varies. It is somewhat confusing arriving at the full menu and some of the pages were given vague titles, leaving the user unsure of what they are about to look at. On all the pages, there is a lot of information; but not a lot of useful information. Especially in the process of trying to find the menu, the user has to sift through paragraphs of information because the sub-navigation links to the menu don’t stand out. Every page is laid out the same, with the global navigation bar on the left and all of the information justified to the right. The most confusing part is the location of the sub-navigation bar as it seems to disappear in the pages.
Six Penn Kitchen is much better at catching one’s attention than No. 9 Park. The simple layout and sparse use of text make it extremely easy on the eye. The navigation is much simpler than the navigation used in No. 9 Park. It simply takes a lot less thinking to use the Six Penn Kitchen website than the No. 9 Park website.