Author: cxtst161

Competitor’s site: https://rmu.andrewyames.com/artm2210-intro-to-web-design/artm2210-intro-to-web-design-assignments/artm2210-review-4/

            I researched the website for the “Church Brew Works” which is a popular restaurant in Lawrenceville. The Church Brew Works is somewhat of a fusion restaurant as it combines the architecture of a church from the 1800’s with the dinner choices of many different cultures as well as a variety of alcoholic beverages. The website appears to utilize “hierarchical architecture” as you are greeted with a series of tabs on the left side of the screen. “Brews and Menus” are listed first as they are the most likely to be what users are looking for. Clicking the “brews” button will open a window asking the user if they are 21 or older which is always hilarious to see. Unlike the “brews” section, the “menu” button opens a pdf of the restaurant’s current menu rather than a list of choices. The site uses a very attractive combination of blue and yellow as well as some stained glass artwork. A series of still photos featuring the establishment’s interior and exterior alternate while you browse the homepage. One flaw of having the clean and colorful composition of the site is that some of the still photos look very blurry and out of focus when positioned next to the crisp and clean artwork.

            I would say that The Church Brew Works website is very similar to my groups website in several ways. Both of the sites have links to social media and are divided by tags such as “Menu, beverages, history, etc. While our site has the user navigate using buttons at the top of the webpage, the church brew works navigation occurs with buttons placed on the left of the screen. Our site also tries to convey a stronger sense of class or “expensive taste”. While the church brew works is NOT cheap, their website implies a stronger sense of culture and family rather than elegance and prestige. While the sites are visibly different upon first inspection, they are very similar in regards to layout.

I observed the websites of “Six Penn Kitchen” and “No. 9 Park” for the purpose of this review. While both of these websites serve as homepages for restaurants, they could not be more different in my opinion.  First I shall review the layout of both the sites as well as recall my experience navigating them. “No.9 Park” has a much more professional look to their website.  Due to the nature of their food choices (more expensive than average meals) they have opted for a more developed site to give a classier feel. It uses a neutral light grey background to enable the viewer to observe the site with little eye strain. It also uses a scrolling parallax effect which appears to be common for restaurants attempting to appear luxurious.  I think the organization is great and is a great example of Krug’s “scene from a mall” example from the text. As soon as you open this website you are greeted with the beginning of their menu. This eliminates any useless searching to find what most users are observing the site for in the first place. 

            Six Penn Kitchen however, couldn’t be anymore different than No.9 Park’s website. When I opened the website for Six Penn Kitchen I thought I had made a mistake as It didn’t appear to be a finished or completely developed website. The first thing I naturally did was find somewhere to click as the site’s only visible information is a sentence announcing the establishment’s closing date. It appears that all of the “clickable” areas do not have any effect on the webpage. In the bottom there are squares of different colors that may at one time housed the different food offerings at the restaurant. Krug stated in the text that in his opinion whenever you visit a website you are first likely to be looking for something which will lead you to “ask” or “browse” first. Upon realizing that this first homepage gave me little to no information about this restaurant, I did in fact look for anywhere on the page that I could find information. The only thing that can be learned from this webpage is that they are closing on February 17^th, and that they serve steak and one other dish judging from the only visible pictures of food. 

Link: https://compass.works/

            I found “Compass” while browsing many sites featured on onepagelove.com. Compass is a service that helps users improve their own webpages. When a user submits their webpage to Compass, they will then receive a short and concise video from one of the staff members. This video will attempt to tell the user what they believe works well, or does not work so well with their current website. I think this formula is very user-friendly. The one-page layout allows the viewer to easily comprehend what this webpage’s purpose is and also how to use it. The webpage uses black and yellow text as well as graphics that do not seem distracting or hard to read. The webpage has the viewer scroll down to learn more about Compass’s features and background information. When viewers first visit the site they are greeted with a short video of the founder “Stephen” explaining what exactly the webpage’s purpose is. The longer you scroll down the more information you will find. This includes how the reviews work, why they are helpful, and eventually pricing and purchasing options.

            I think this webpage is designed very well. I have never heard of paying a company to review your product only so you can improve. Within seconds I was able to understand what this webpage was for and how to operate it. It conveniently places all the answers to commonly asked questions at the top of the webpage and places the more intricate information towards the bottom. It uses a series of simple to comprehend notes that contain small graphics. This site is a great example of how a one-page site can serve as a clear and concise method of delivering information.

Website=”Sweetwater”https://www.sweetwater.com/?mrkgcl=28&mrkgadid=3230723992&rkg_id=0&campaigntype=paidsearch&campaign=*Sweetwater%20-%20Branded&adgroup=Sweetwater%20-%20Exact&keyword=sweetwater&placement=google&adpos=1t1&creative=219897786869&device=c&matchtype=e&network=g&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2ay5hMmE4wIV0MDACh38XQ2AEAAYASAAEgKBr_D_BwE

Sweetwater is a very popular website where users can purchase musical instruments and music related products. They have a wide variety of guitars, drums, keyboards/synthesizers, and studio equipment such as microphones. The website is very user friendly as I have never had a problem finding products in the several years I’ve used the site.  To test the website’s capabilities, I entered “Jazzmaster” into the search bar. I then was pleased to see several Jazzmaster guitars organized by price and brand. Sweetwater sorts all of it’s products by brand whenever you search for something. For example, the more expensive Fender Jazzmaster guitars appeared first while Fender’s less expensive Squier Jazzmasters appeared below. 

            The website makes it very easy for first time users to find exactly what they are looking for. The top of the webpage contains five options of navigating the site. These options are: “Shop by Category”, “What’s New”, “Deals”, “News and Research”, and “Support”. Most users will be drawn naturally to the first option of “shop by category”. Hovering the cursor over the “shop by category” option will allow a secondary drop down menu to appear. The menu displays all of the types of products Sweetwater carries. One of the best features of Sweetwater is that the website has no shame in telling you that they don’t carry a product. For example, searching for “Danelectro” guitars result in a message that they do not carry Danelectro products. This can save users a lot of time instead of continually searching a website for products they do not carry. Sweetwater also allows you to search for products utilizing a variety of criteria. You can search by brand, price, body style, 6 string, 7 string, and 8+ string. This website is one of the most popular musical instrument suppliers in the U.S.A. It’s easy to use, detailed, and allows for a carefree shopping or browsing experience.