Posts

Posted on

Elements of the User Experience Reading Response

1a. What are the goals of Apple’s website?

  • The goal of apples website is to make the user experience effortless, use it without thinking, helping people work faster and more efficient, and make fewer mistakes.

1b. How does Apple’s website address the needs of a user who has just purchased   their first MacBook?

  • Apples website uses user segmentation and is organized by categories (i.e Mac, iPhone, iPad) to help the user find what they are looking for in smaller groups. Apple also has a support category for more in depth help.

2a. What are the functional specifications of Facebook’s wall?

  • The facebook wall shows your interests, things you “like”, certain friends/groups, and ads

2b.  If you are not on Facebook what are the specs for the signup page?

  • the sign up page asks for your first and last name, email, password, phone number, date of birth, and gender.

3. What are four architectural approaches to information structure? Find one example of each.

  1. hierarchical– Facebook, twitter, any social media that has advertisements, it always comes back to that social media site.
  2. matrix– Clothing websites (i.e Forever 21), you can look by the size, color, price or specific product.
  3. organic- Pinterest- sometimes you cant find the site where it came from
  4. sequential- youtube

4a. What percentage of The Huffington Post index page is navigation, and what percentage is content

  • not really sure about percentage but the navigation had 11 categories & 38 subcategories (content)

 

4b. What about Google, Wikipedia, and Etsy?

  1. etsy- 8 navigation, 42 content
  2. wiki- 5 navigation
  3. google- 5 navigation

How does http://landor.com guide the readers’ eyes and focus their attention on what is important?

  1. it has contrast to draw the readers eye and focus their attention
  2. the layout
  3. maintains uniformity

 

 

 

Posted on

Elements of the User Experience Reading Responce

1a) Goals of Apple:

To acquire exceptionally good products and have a reliable service that comes at a price that best fits their customers and shareholders.

1b)Needs of users:

Apple uses “user segmentation”. By clicking on different options that Apple provides, the user finds what they are looking for fairly easy. And if not, there is a support page that will help them with the harder questions they might have.

  1. Functional specifications of Facebooks wall:

When you first sign up for Facebook it gets you to pick some of your interests and gets you to find some friends so that it has an idea of what to show you on your news feed.

  1. Specs for Facebook signup page:

Email/phone number, birthday, first/last name, password, and gender

4)Four architectural approaches

1: hierarchical

Facebook. There are ads and links all throughout Facebook but they all come back to Facebook

2: matrix

nike. The user can look through size, price, colour, and product

3: organic

inquisitive. The sight my Econ professor used, you could find information fairly easily but going back and forth between questions and the reading is difficult

4: sequential

youtube. Watching videos

  1. Percentage of Huffington post:

It’s a lot to a little

  1. http://landor.com

Always something to look at, lots of pictures

Posted on

Reading Response

Question 1: The main goals of Apple’s Website are to 1) flaunt their newest products and make it very easy to learn more and purchase what they are displaying and 2) provide a support page, where new or returning customers are able to receive assistance with their products and have any questions answered.\

Question 2A: Facebook is a social media website, similar to Twitter. It is a way to stay connected with friends, family, and sometimes complete strangers by reading people’s posts or viewing posted pictures. Facebook’s wall is sorted by newest posts, pictures, and advertisements.

Question 2B: All that is required when signing up for Facebook is an email address, first and last name, birthday and gender.

Question 3: Four archiutectural approaches to information structure are: Hierarchical, Organic, Sequential and Matrix.

Hierarchical – something like a family tree or a mind map

Organic – Wikipedia

Sequential – A book

Matrix – Amazon

Question 4: Huffington Post’s index page is all navigation and a few links to other content. I’d say 98% navigation. Google index page is content with no navigation, Wikipedia is all content, Etsy is the only page that is about 50/50, content/ navigation

Question 5: First, Landor.com is a very simple layout. They use minimum distractions to allow the user the easiest navigation through their website. To help the user understand what is important, bright colors are used to catch the eye.

 

Posted on

The Elements of User Experience Response

  • What are the goals of Apple’s website? How does Apple’s website address the needs of a user who has just purchased their first MacBook? (Chapter 3)

 

 

Apple’s website, being a website with large amounts of information displayed in a clean and simple format, represents all that Apple is.  By thinking about the goals of any company and specifically analyzing Apple’s website, it’s safe to assume that making money as a company is a primary goal.  Their website advertises their newest products, giving information on everything the user will gain by purchasing one of their items.  In addition, Apple focuses heavily on brand identity.  Apple focuses on having a very forward thinking mindset, by always having the newest technology, but creating it in a way that feels very simple for everyone to use.

 

If a user were to purchase their first MacBook on Apple’s website, their needs can be extremely different than another user looking to purchase a Macbook.  Apple works to please many different users by advertising their simple design, user friendly nature, and customizable features.  By constantly having a simple design, users who are uncomfortable with technology and users who can adapt very quickly to technology can both use this item. Apple simplified the information that is displayed and places it in a hierarchical format.  This means that the farther the user scrolls down the main page dedicated to MacBooks, the user learns more specific information about their MacBooks.

 

 

  • What are the functional specifications of Facebook’s wall? If you are not on Facebook what are the specs for the signup page? (Chapter 4: Functional Specifications, Content Requirements and Prioritizing Requirements)

 

Functional specifications are used to help in the process of designing and developing a product.  In the case of websites, it helps programmers understand how something needs to be designed to reach an end goal.  Facebook, when one has an account with them, has a wall that is what the user sees immediately upon entering Facebook.  This wall is a place where the user sees all information posted in chronological order by people they follow or pages they like.  Some functional specifications that would have to be involved in programming that is having the newest posts go to the top of the page.

Facebook has a relatively open platform in the sense that many different forms of content can be uploaded.  Users can post articles from other websites, or upload videos, photos, or just blocks of information.  The content is all represented on the wall, the biggest organization method that I mentioned before, being time it was uploaded.  So the only content requirements are that there is something being posted and since the user is the one uploading it, the programmers simply have to create the space and ability to upload it.

Facebook also has to consider prioritizing their needs.  They want users to participate in sharing information on their platform to keep growing but they also rely on advertisements and large shareholders to financially maintain the company.  So a specific example would be that Facebook needs to reach an agreement where enough advertisements are placed on the platform to please their shareholders and financial needs but don’t place too many where it bothers the users, possibly deterring them from using the site.

 

  • What are four architectural approaches to information structure? Find one example of each. (Chapter 5: Information Architecture)

 

The first form of information structure is hierarchical structure which generally gives different nodes relationships with each other where once an initial topic is selected, more specific topics become available or are connected to the current page.  An example for this form of structure is Robert Morris University’s website.  Upon entering the site, there are broad nodes available that once you select one them, you begin to funnel down into more specific nodes of information.

Another form of information structure is the matrix structure that allows users to sort through information or travel between different nodes using different categories.  This means that users with different needs can search through the same content to find what they are looking for.  The New York Times uses this as one of the forms of organization on their website.  Users are able to determine which category they want to be looking in, when the article was written, or search for keywords in an article.  Overall they use a hierarchical structure and matrix structure.

Organic structures don’t have a definitive pattern.  A lot of websites that use them are vague with their topics or maybe just beginning to explore a topic.  A website that somewhat uses an organic structure is Wikipedia.  Overall there isn’t a form of organization besides searching for a topic.  Within the different pages, other pages are connected to it through in page links or recommended pages based off of the topic you are reading.

Last, the sequential structure is a form similar to reading a book, where the user just goes through a one-line path of information.  After one page is reached, you simply move on to the next page.  A good example for this form of organization is the Boat Pennsylvania Course, where the user goes through online training to obtain their boating license.  Once the user starts the process, they simply go through the series of pages to learn the information and ultimately, if they pass, obtain their boating license.

 

  • What percentage of The Huffington Post index page is navigation, and what percentage is content? What about Google, Wikipedia, and Etsy? (Chapter 6)

 

 

The Huffington Post displays their top stories as well as breaks down different categories of stories.  Due to the fact that their main page is heavily dedicated to their newest stories, and the navigation is only set up by showing the different categories of stories, I would say that the navigation only takes up 20% of the page and the content takes up 80% of the page.

Google’s landing page is simply the google logo and forms of moving to other google pages.  I would have to say, since no content is displayed on google.com, that it is 100% navigation on the page.  As soon as the user searches for something on google, then the content begins to grow to more like 60% of the page.  But the navigation aspect of being able to travel between pages is still the main focus.

Wikipedia is also dominantly focused on navigation as it has such a wide variety of pages that it allows the user to find what they want to.  If the page begins where the user selects the language they want to read, then the navigation takes up 90% of the page and the content only takes up 10%.  When the user searches something, the ratios switch dramatically.  On these pages, the content takes up 95% of the page and the navigation is only 5% as the main form of navigation is to search for an article or begin clicking on random articles and then go to related articles.

Etsy, being an e-commerce website, focuses on helping users find items they want to purchase.  As soon as the user opens the website, they view a mix of options to search for specific items, or items that are extremely popular on the website at the time.  The navigation takes up roughly 30% of the page and the content takes up the other 70% of it.

 

  • How does http://landor.com guide the readers’ eyes and focus their attention on what is important? (Chapter 7: Follow the eye )

 

The visual aspects of a website can help with the success of the website.  By leading the eye to certain elements of the website, it helps persuade people to go through certain parts of the website.  With the Landor website, the eye is immediately drawn to the statement on the landing page.  It describes the purpose/main goal of the company.  Landor uses strong contrast in size and color to draw the user into their site.  Within their navigation menu, their main topics are very bold while specific projects are placed in small text.  It’s a successful website for someone visiting it for the first time as well as someone who has see it before.  The bolded topics help give users a general overview of what Landor does.  The eye is immediately drawn to the large typography with the high black and white contrast.  In addition, Landor is depending heavily on imagery and simple colors of the website to draw the user in to something that looks interesting to them, with the hope that they will dive deeper and look at their work.

Posted on

Reading Response

What are the goals of Apples website? How does Apples website address the needs of a user who has just purchased their first MacBook? (Chapter 3)

The goals of Apple’s website are to make the company money, provide information regarding products and services the company provides, and to give the user a hassle free navigation experience. Apple addresses the needs of a user who just purchased their first MacBook by providing them with a way to learn how to set up and use the product. Apple makes available to you the resources needed to set up a new computer and tries to make the experience as easy as possible for the user.

What are the functional specifications of Facebooks wall? If you are not on Facebook what are the specs for the signup page? (Chapter 4: Functional Specifications, Content Requirements an Prioritizing Requirements)

The functional specifications of Facebook’s signup page are as follows:

  • Provide an area for the user to insert information needed to register.
  • Provide details regarding why certain information is being collected.
  • Include fine print which tells the user what they are agreeing to when they sign up.

 

•What are four architectural approaches to information structure? Find one example of each. (Chapter 5: Information Architecture)

The four architectural approaches to information structure are hierarchical structures, matrix structures, organic structures, and sequential structures. An example of a hierarchical structure is a website like Blackboard where nodes have a parent/child relationship with other related nodes. This means that every link clicked has a place it came from until you finally would reach the beginning of your navigation experience.  A Matrix structure “allows the user to move from node to node along two or more dimensions”. An example of a matrix structure would be Amazon where customers can browse through the different products available using whatever criteria is important to them.  In organic structure. there is no strong sense of sections and the nodes are “connected together on a case by case basis.” This means you can freely move between any information you want but finding your way back to the start would present a challenge. An example of organic structure would be on Wikipedia. The user has access to any area they choose by clicking on the various links but this can also lead to getting lost in the vast expanse of information. Sequential structure is when the information is presented in logical order to meet the users needs. An example of sequential structure would be a website like Apple where the user has to go from one task to another in order to complete the purchase.

•What percentage of The Huffington Post index page is navigation, and what percentage is content? What about Google, Wikipedia, and Etsy? (Chapter 6)

I believe that the Huffington Post index page is 50% navigation and 50% content. This is because although the entire page is full of links to various articles, there are headlines and brief article summaries which is content. Google’s index page is 100% navigation. The user can search whatever topic they choose or there are links to the various Google applications. Wikipedias index page is also 100% navigation. Very similar to Google, the user can search for whatever information is needed and there are also links to the various applications provided by Wikipedia. Etsy’s index page is 75% navigation and 25% content. This is because the majority of the page is made up of various links for the user to navigate around the site. The 25% of content is made up of brief user reviews, a company overview, products advertisements and previews of blogs within the site.

•How does http://landor.com guide the readers eyes and focus their attention on what is important? (Chapter 7: Follow the eye )

This website guides the reader’s eyes and focuses their attention on what is important by using colour and design. When you first arrive on the page your eye is drawn to the white type which if offset against the yellow background. The eye is then drawn to the white arrow at the bottom of the page which directs your attention down and into the rest of the site. These arrows are scattered throughout the site and allow the user to progress between content or into different articles. Throughout the rest of the site the contrasting colours provide an inviting feel and guide the reader to the important information that the company is trying to portray. The interactive links throughout the page change from white to black or black to yellow when hovered over by a mouse. This draws the users attention to these links and focuses their attention on the important information that they include.

Posted on

Elements of the User Experience Questions Answered

  • The primary goal of Apple’s website is to sell their products. When I entered their site, their goal was to sell me the iPhone X first, then other products in their inventory. The iPhone was prominently displayed with an in-your-face photo, a large headline of the product name and two links to either find out more about the product or purchase it. The next item on the list is the iPad with the same headline and links. You then have to scroll to see anything else.
  • When looking for product support for my brand new MacBook, the site was straightforward to navigate. I clicked on support, then the Mac icon. I had to scroll a little to find the MacBook icon for my next click. The first thing I saw upon entering the MacBook support page was the question “Have a new Mac?” and the site tells me that I can learn how to set up my new computer. I clicked on that link which led me to a very clean, concise page with natural to follow prompts for the most common scenarios that new users might encounter and need help. I found the site to be beneficial and easy to use. This experience tells me that Apple cares about making sure their customers have no trouble with their new products.
  • The functional specifications of Facebook’s wall are to be a social content management system. Users should be able to create posts to share with their friends and view posts created by their friends and by businesses and groups that they like and/or follow (middle and largest column in the layout). Easy access to the different areas of interest for the user is on the left of the page (navigation). Search, and global navigation is at the top. Other tools and links to friends who are active and that you can have live conversations with are located on the farthest right of the page. The primary function is to let people connect with each other through various means of communication.
  • The four architectural approaches to information structure and their examples:
    • Hierarchical – https://www.jaspersautorepair.com/
    • Matrix – https://www.walmart.com/
    • Organic – https://www.wikipedia.org/
    • Sequential – https://www.intechnic.com/
  • Index pages and percentage of navigation vs. percentage of content (none of these sites has a literal index, so I assumed this meant the home page):
    • Huffington Post – 60% nav/40% content (percentages are my best guestimate)
    • Google – 99 nav/1 content
    • Wikipedia – 95 nav/5 content
    • Etsy – 75 nav/25 content
  • Lander.com uses bright red buttons to draw your attention to the desired shop now button. The shop now button was the first thing that I saw when I entered their site. The next thing that I noticed was the extra large banner ad for their Labor Day sale which included a rather nice photo of a black backpack with a gray background. They have very nice product photography and a lot of white space, so the pages don’t feel cluttered or crowded. The color scheme of black, white and gray helps the bright red to draw your eyes around the layout. The colorful, but not too bright photos help to draw your eyes to each product without overpowering the red highlights that are the main focus on each page.
Posted on

Review 4: Comparison of Competing Restaurant Websites

As our project consists of mainly Mexican style entrees, I have taken the opportunity to do some research on similar restaurants to see if there are any direct comparisons.

Our website is for a theoretical eating establishment called “It’s a Wrap!” which features many different choices of food, largely inspired by mission-style burritos and wraps.

The business I have decided to spend the most time looking at would be Chipotle. Chipotle is an American-based chain of casual Mexican-style restaurants. Today, they are easily worth over two billion US dollars in total assets.

If you were to look at both of our webpages, you would see that both feature a scrollable homepage with similar styles of presentation. Both feature a sliding photo gallery of different meal choices and selections, along with snappy catchphrases to catch the viewer’s attention. Both use very basic color schemes and let the imagery do most of the work.

As a comparison I can say that it is very apparent that our group website pays homage to Chipotle, as the website itself served as inspiration in the development process. Both feature very similar designs but also both serve the same purpose at the end of the day.

Posted on

Review #2

Single Page site review

 

I chose to review the site Jdillachangedmylife.com. The site is very basic in it’s elements, but it is displayed quite beautifully.  The homepage is a complex animation showing the musical artist J Dilla the design and color schemes are unified but also diverse and the overall design feels really unique. By incorporating this animation the stage is set for the site to succeed.

To navigating down the site you must scroll down through the page. As you scroll the page is designed to stop at a certain point to display the entire page. Each page has a different song that plays, Also each page has a unified color background that compliments the album art of the song. As well as the details about the song such as title, and a link to play the song.

The use of texture here is limited, the album arts have drop shadows that cause them to pop off the screen but otherwise the page feels very flat in it’s design but perhaps this was intentional. The animation on the page however does have a lot of texture. Some of the video clips are lo-fi and grainy and it compliments the urban aesthetic of the page. J Dilla himself was very closely connected to the city of Detroit and this animation displays the streets of Detroit efficiently. Textures and shapes are used to portray brick and stone just like on the street.

Overall the page is basic but also interesting, the strongest segment is the animation and also it’s ability to use color in a unified and connected way. The contrast here is really nice. All in All I would say the page works well as an overall design and my only “complaint” of sorts would be that the information and songs included are rather limited.

Posted on

Review 4

Trevor Young

Ames

4/18/2018

Review 4

 

I reviewed http://southsidebbqcompany.com a local food truck and brick and mortar restaurant located in Pittsburgh Pa. The South Side BBQ Company focuses on Barbeque food.

My initial thoughts on the website is that it appears rather amateur. Certain aspects of the layout and design feel very outdated. As I loaded up the site I had immediate memories of the way the web looked in the mid 2000’s. My first gripe would be the obnoxious fire jpg used as the background. Yes, I understand they are a BBQ truck and therefore use flame to cook their food. However the background picture is obnoxious and cheap looking. A quick fix would be to lower the opacity on the background in an attempt to make the page look less harsh.

In regards to the layout of the site I find it to be pretty average, some thing work well here and some are just confusing. There are multipole pages that all serve their function well. An About page with pictures an info. A calendar page that lists where the truck will be and included a link to the location on google maps which is nice. All the information is here but it’s formatting is strange at time. The “Menu page is just a list of the food items written in text in centered font. This is jarring and the text is the same size and style as the majority of the rest of the pages text. Another clear example of poor layout is the home page, where a large portion of the top third of the screen is blank. The company name and email address are typed in the top left corner but much too small in size.  To the right of this is the address and phone number of the restaurant and truck in smallish type. Then three jpgs take up a chunk of the screen. Two QR codes for mobile apps and a company logo. While the QR codes and mobile apps are nice to have, placing them at the top of the page seems to be a mistake in my eyes.

The color scheme is unified throughout, sort of a rustic red and dullish yellow. And while I personally don’t enjoy these colors all the texts and attributes are viewable. The color is lacking in some areas as the page begins to feel more like a sea of white. Perhaps the strongest section of the site is where color is used most adequately and that is the calendar page. Where the red on yellow text is readable and looks complimentary. There is unfourtnetly little to no use of texture on the site. The companies logo uses this nice rustic texture that feels very vintage and fits the theme of homecooked BBQ but the rest of the site is very flat in it’s design. There is one nice drop shadow, again on the calandar page, that works well but the majority of the site seem to be lacking in this area.

While aesthetically the site in below average the navigation is adequate. The nav bar is not much of a bar as it is floating words in space, but they all link correctly to the correct page. The site is easily navigable where it be in it’s calendar phase of it’s contact us page where the user is given a forum to fill out.

In comparison to our website (TheBastardChild.com) I feel that are site will be much more modern in it’s design. Our site features a more up to date color palate as well as amore contemporary look and feel.

Overall the site is lacking in a lot of areas but it is serviceable. It can be rather ugly to be frank and at times can be difficult to use but overall It is very much a “local webpage” in it’s feel. This is a page about local food after all and it feels like they are not interested in the “polish” that may come from a more professional design.

Posted on

REVIEW 4

The fusion restaurant that our group created is called “That’s a Wrap!”.  It is a burrito based fast food style restaurant that has a wide variety of different wraps.  The competition that I chose to compare to “That’s a Wrap!” is Moe’s Mexican grill.  Moe’s website has an overall great layout.  The main page is covered with videos, gifs and clickable links.  The site uses a font that is consistent with the whole site.  Also, the grid works well with the site.  It makes it easy to navigate.  The only adjustment I would make to the layout is the Moe’s logo.  It looks somewhat pixelated.  Moe’s website picked great colors to represent their company.  The colors they use are white, red, yellow, green, and purple.  These limited colors help the website look cohesive.  The texture is displayed in the nutrition section of their website.  Moe’s has photos of all the ingredients that go into their food.  This allows the viewers to see the texture of each product that they are serving.  Overall the navigation is decent throughout Moe’s website.  All the information that is needed is on the main/home page.  My only complaint is when you are navigating through the main banner.  Each section in the banner menu, catering, nutrition, rocking rewards, find a Moe’s all go to links inside the page.  When you click the link franchising it takes you to a whole new website.  I think this can be confusing if someone is trying to navigate through the website and accidentally clicks on this link.  One way the That’s a Wrap website will stand out compared to the Moe’s website is the simplify.  Our website only has four pages.  I think Moe’s has a lot of unneeded information on their pages.  The average customer wants to see the menu and where they can purchase.

Posted on

Review 4

For your final review choose a website that could be considered competition for your fusion restaurant. Discuss the website’s use of the following three elements: layout, color, texture and navigation. Then critique their effectiveness at guiding the user through the content. Lastly, compare this site to your final project’s design, and suggest how your website will stand out.

For this final review, I chose the website http://humblepotato.com. The website Humble Potato is a neighborhood eatery, where they serve their interpretation of comfort food with a Japanese flavor twist. They are influenced by urban arts and cultural diversity. Their restaurant is located in Culver City and Westchester. Their website is very casual and gives the audience a very relaxed feel. The website is also very clean, when you first click on the website, you are greeted with a slideshow of their food, drinks, and various areas of the restaurant. Right under the slideshow, you see their mission statement. Below that, they have a tile of images of their menu. When you click on the image, a new tab opens and takes you to their Instagram page. Their homepage layout is very simple and balanced. The layout of their website is very similar to our website because we also tried to use our images to tell the story and the text to be there as an assistance. I wish that they would have used a different typeface for their mission statement because everything is so casual and relaxed. With that being said, because their typeface is not consistent, it is hard to guide a user through their content because everything look like a separate identity.

Comparing our Mashed Restaurant with Humble Potato, I feel as though our website is a little more consistent with our typeface. We have a more consistent with color theme as well unlike Humble Potato, they have a lot of strong reds and yellows from their food; however, they chose to use the color blue as their menu. The blue is a good color to choose but I think that, they could have used a color from their food to use for their branding. Their typefaces are not consistent because one their first page they used a sans serif typeface and then on their other pages they used a more slab serif typeface. It feels as though each page is supposed to be part of a different website, it does not feel unified. They also focused on using their logo as their site ID like we did. As you click on each page of the website, they used a dark gray to show that you are currently on the website but it is a little hard to see because it is not much different from the black. On our website, we chose to use a different color so that you can see which page you are on easier. Regarding aesthetics, our websites are pretty similar, we are both going for a more casual and relaxed feel to it and they are definitely going to be a big competition. I think our website would stand out more because our typeface is consistent and our colors coordinate with one another. In addition, our layout is easier to navigate through and our navigation bar is easier to distinguish than theirs.

Posted on

Review #4

For my final review, I chose a website that could be considered as competition for my group and I’s fusion restaurant MASHED. The website I chose was Honey Grow. Their website uses a grid layout for pictures, which my group and I thought was interesting but also very busy. When creating our own fusion restaurant website we wanted it to be minimal but on the contrary, detailed.The colors of the Honey Grow website are very bright and colorful as opposed to our website which we chose a color scheme for which can be described as neutral with a pop of color. The navigation of the Honey Grow’s website is at the top but can also be accessed by clicking on some of the pictures. In my opinion its a nice option but its still very busy. Aspects of the Honey Grow website that I enjoyed the most was their blog page, and they had social media icons at the top of the page as well for easy access. I also appreciate all of the pages separately. I think the the type is consistent throughout the website and the page layout of a photo, text, photo, text is really nice. The only problem I have with their site is their homepage. I think They could still have the same pictures with a better effect if they had it in a slideshow form or maybe even a video. The photos are all very strong and I think they should all be showcased evenly, if not they are overlooked and the user may not know where to go firsts because they are so overwhelmed. I think that MASHED and Honey GRow have the same idea as far as the customization of food.I think that our homepage is more welcoming than Honey grow’s because it is not as busy. Our layout and color scheme has a different feel as well, but we draw the users into the store by sharing events and introducing them to our team.They have a “Buy gift cards” section but we are going further than gift cards because MASHED will soon offer Merchandise. I think our idea and content go well together and will be able to surpass the competition of HOney Grow. The only other thing that I wish that we would have included would have been a Blog page, I think our followers and potential new customers would enjoy that and get a better feel for what our company is all about.

 

Posted on

Carmen Swasey Review 4

For my final review I think choosing the site honeygrow.com is the best choice. What Honey Grow specializes in is stir-frys and salads. The way that the site is set up is that it has a nav bar up top, had a few photos as you scroll down. The color, I am a fan of. Im a huge fan of simplicity and I think that this website does it really well. The photos make the color really pop out and give it texture and depth. The navigation is very easy to use. There are many options in the nav bar and when you scroll over to the location it automatically drops down so you can see where to visit it. I think that the effectiveness of this site really draws you in. The homepage is their menu which makes you hungry and then when you scroll up to the nav bar, the locations automatically drop down. Thats super effective and draws people in to go visit it. I think that comparatively to our site, MASHED.COM, it has actually a lot of similarities. It has the same kind of simplistic design and also stands out with our photos. I think that what makes our site stand out, is the simplistic designs and the homey feel to it we draw people in.

Posted on

Carmen Swasey Review 2

I chose to review ebay.com. Again along with amazon, it is a great site with useful tools to decipher through what you are trying to look for. The drop downs that relate to different departments are super helpful. I think the colors of the site actually make it easier to find what you are looking for. There is less going on and it uses simpler colors. It is interesting how the site has the departments listed on both sides of the search tool bar. I think that is a bit much and would make it less cluttered even if they took one of them away or made the homepage dedicated to departments and searching for items. I also think its great that ebay uses paypal. Thats a huge thing that amazon does not have. Overall,  Its a great site and has it credentials.

Posted on

Review Three: Local Restaurants

In this review I was be going over two different websites that are run by local businesses in the Washington county area. These websites being Sarris Candies, (located at https://www.sarriscandies.com/) and a local Chinese restaurant that I enjoy called Wong’s Wok. (located at http://www.wongswokwashpa.com/)

These websites differ greatly, but I want to describe both before I make comparisons.

Sarris Candies is a restaurant / confectionery located in Canonsburg. When you access the website, you are greeted by images of sweets and candies with links to their special catalogs. When you click on specific chocolates, you are taken to that product’s page and from here you can choose to select the quantity that you specify. Overall it’s a clean website and looks very professional for a local business.

The other website is a local Chinese restaurant in my area that I really enjoy called Wong’s Wok. The website is rather basic and plain, stating the address and an option to see the menu in an online .pdf format. It doesn’t have much, but it shows the menu for ordering with a number to call, so what more could you want from a local takeout restaurant?

Comparing them, it is clear that Sarris’s is much more balanced and professional. As such, their website is nicer to look at and has more features than Wong’s Wok. It is unfair to judge both businesses as they sell a different product and one is much more popular than the other, but both websites serve their purposes well for their respective owners.

I hope you take the time to visit both locations!