Author: adzst136

For this review, I looked into Salud Juciery’s website. Their website is very simple and clean. The layout is like most other restaurants, with a logo followed by the tabs at the top. Under this, they inserted a photo and a statement about their restaurant. The website I am working on for the final is very similar in regards to the homepage. Off of the homepage there are pages like, “Menu, “About Us”, and “Order Online”. These pages are similar to the homepage because they are short and simple. There isn’t a lot of information to scroll to. The layout including the header and footer stay the same on each page. In the footer, they linked their social media accounts and have a way to get in contact with them. My final website will have these same features.

The color palette is very limited on each page other than the photos. The background is a white/cream and has black text. The only pop of color is in the logo at the top of each page. These colors don’t work well to create a welcoming atmosphere but make it seem modern.

Overall, the website is very plain which makes it easy to navigate. There are clear tabs at the top of each page to lead you to another. The header and footer remain constant to help viewers find the information they are looking for. There aren’t any special elements that keep the viewers attention though. Even on the menu page, the ingredients are just listed under the titles. If there were photos to click on and read about it would be more interactive and fun. The simplistic layout gets the point across but doesn’t offer anything more.

Our website will be pretty similar in terms of information and layout. However, we are going to include more colors and photos to add energy to the pages. For example, our menu page is something you would see at the restaurant rather than just a list of food and ingredients. Salud rarely uses pictures which are very important to restaurants. Viewers immediately judge a place off of what they see online.

Since I am working on a milkshake / cereal fusion restaurant, I looked into http://www.cerealboxinc.com and https://www.playabowls.com. The Cereal Box’s website was very bright and colorful which is how I imagine cereal. Off of the homepage, there are seven tabs for different pages like “Events”, “Menu”, and “Location/Hours”. As you scroll through the home page, the images stay in fixed positions but the information rolls over it. This makes the page more interesting since the images stay in place and then disappear rather than having every object move while scrolling. These photos are also very important to the page. This allows viewers and customers to check out what the restaurant looks like and what types of food to expect. Poor quality photos can turn away customers so it is important to look professional and trustworthy. Menu design is also very critical for restaurants. Again, customers can be turned away if they do not find the menu to look aesthetically pleasing or professional. The Cereal Box’s menu really matches the aesthetic of the food and restaurant. They used bright colors yet again and have a very playful logo. Just looking at the layout and colors makes me want to read what is on it and visit the restaurant. Overall, the website is very organized and clean.

Next, I looked into the website for Playa Bowls. Right away, the logo and homepage described the mood/audience for the restaurant. The bright colors and “beachy” logo match perfectly for a place that serves smoothie bowls and fruit. Right away I was more impressed with their website than The Cereal Box’s. The photographs of the food were a higher quality and very clean. This automatically makes the food they are trying to sell look very appetizing. The homepage had a few graphics on the sides of the page that add to the mood. My favorite part of this page was a gif that changed to show all of the different smoothie bowls they sell. Instead of having multiple photos, they made it almost like a stop motion video. Just like the other website, there were different tabs for different pages. The menu was made up of different photos. This showed the variations of bowls, ingredients, and the smoothies. One interactive element on this page was shown when I clicked on the photos. At the top of the menu, the different bases for a smoothie bowl are listed. If you decide which one you are interested in, you can click it and the website will scroll to that exact location for more information. This makes things very easy to find. These options are also listed at the top of the page and work the same way.

Overall, I’ve noticed that layout, color, and photography are very important when it comes to websites for restaurants. The layout and color scheme should match the appearance and mood of the restaurant. Since I was looking at a cereal and smoothie bowls, the designs were very modern, sleek, and bright. More expensive/fancy restaurants tend to have dark and organic color schemes along with cleaner layouts.

I chose to review the webpage for Bavette La Boucherie. As soon as I opened the page, a motion graphic appeared and showed the logo of the restaurant. Then photos of their food appeared. As the photos changed, there was a transition slide with the logo. This gave it a very interactive feel. As I scrolled top to bottom, I found their hours and information. They also included a summer events chart. The colors did change throughout the page but all stayed very similar. I assumed the restaurant was very modern and organic based off of the browns, greens, and mustard background colors of the page. I kept scrolling until I came across information about the farms they choose. On the sides of the page there were graphics of cows, pigs, and lambs that moved as you scrolled. This made the information seem less formal and boring. The graphics also stuck to the green color used earlier. I felt the overall design of the page was effective. Scrolling top to bottom made it feel organized which is what I would expect from a restaurant. If I had to click on something to be directed to other pages it would have felt very informal. But, towards the bottom of the page there was a section called “Press”. To see different articles about the restaurant, you had to scroll left to right. There were arrows that moved the different options across the screen. This felt appropriate because it allowed that information to stay within a certain region of the page without adding a lot of unneeded space. Overall, the information on the webpage was very clean and organized.

I chose to review Ebay’s website. The homepage is very busy and filled with tons of options. Every possible category was listed- from clothing, to home decor, to electronics. These tabs were easy and placed at the top of the page at your eyes level. I decided to click on the “Home & Garden” tab to see how organized the next page would be. Once again, the items were broken down into groups. They also included pictures to make it even easier to find something specific. I clicked on the “Major Appliances” tab which brought me to another organized page. Here, there were more photos of items like refrigerators, washing machines, and microwaves. Even after clicking on a certain item, there were more options to filter the search. If I was interested in buying a microwave, I could have narrowed it down to brand, color, condition, price, and even expected delivery time.

Even though the homepage is packed with a lot of information, it doesn’t require much time to find what you are looking for. The first thing they advertise is their deals. This takes up the largest portion of the page. When you start to scroll down, you can view trending items and more daily deals. Most people who go on the website are looking for a specific item and wouldn’t be looking for trending items which is why they are located at the bottom of the page. However, the option is still there and easy to look through. All of these options include large, colorful photos of items. Pictures make a person’s thought process even shorter. When people open up a magazine or website they look at pictures first. Advertising products with pictures allows people to spot and recognize exactly what they are looking for without reading anything. However, Ebay also has the option to find an item just by reading and clicking tabs. At the top of the homepage, there is a grey bar which has a drop down menu once you hover over a word. Instead of clicking on photos, I could have found the microwave just by hovering over “Home & Garden” and then reading until I read “Major Appliances”.

Overall, Ebay’s website is filled with tons of options, photos, and colors. Even after you find what you are looking for, you can get even more specific. By using tabs located to the left of the items, you can filter the search. I decided to test how quickly I could find a specific item starting on the homepage. I wanted to find a pair of black sneakers. From the homepage, I clicked on “Fashion” and then “Women’s Shoes”. From there I was able to find a photo of sneakers and then filter the color search to black. All of this was done in under 15 seconds. The organization helps users find their way around the website without any confusion.