ARTM2210 Intro to Web Design
Just another Intro to… siteArchive for Spring 2012 Section B
one page review
The website I chose was called Heckuva’ Frontier Wranglin’ with simply good css. I feel like the sites use of color fits very well. I like the way the website sticks to only three colors. It’s not too much going on and it’s still eye catching. I like how the websites titles are bigger and bolder than the rest of the text. One small thing I like about this website is that next to the titles it has a symbol that tells what that section is about. It’s a nice little edition that adds to the website. The page navigates almost like a Facebook or myspace page. It has the about me section and then contact information and some extra listings. The user has to scroll up and down to navigate the page. Overall I like the page, I think the type face works really well with this page and I like how it’s very simple but straight forward. I would like to see it a bit longer though it’s really short and there isn’t much detail to it.
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Bi-weekly review- Single page website critique
The website had a gray background with gray text with black outlining for the title.. This made the site very easy to read. However, the dimming effect on the pictures was kind of confusing. i wasn’t sure if I could click on them until I got down to the bottom of the page where there was an explanation of the origins of the pictures and how to get the pictures. I think the page flowed easily and could be followed. But the pictures where kind of small even though you could click on the to make them bigger I think it would have been better to make the pictures a little bit bigger. On this site, the user has to simply scroll up and down to go from content to content.
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Single Page Site Critique
I chose to look at the firefly single page website. Out of all of the sites to choose from, this one caught my eye first. The sites use of color is what caught my attention. The background is purple and there is a pink/orangish circular gradient in the center. There are also little pink colored dots that move around the screen. They are portraying fireflies. Since these “fireflies” are moving around the page, it makes my eyes move with them and I see all of the page. This web page reads from top to bottom. It starts as the title, moves down to the search bar, and then finally moves to the content information. The user does not have to scroll left or right, just up and down.
I find this page very easy and fun to look at. It is easy to gather all of the information in a short period of time. Also the use of different fonts and the color scheme make me want to look at it more.
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Sheetz vs. Starbucks
Sheetz:
Sheetz’s website it not large and it is not flashy. It gets straight to the point. You go to their main webpage and it is clearly laid out where to go you then click coffee and it gives you three options. Espresso bar, self serve and the nutrition facts. Clicking either one takes you to a new page within the main page. It is straight and to the point. It is clearly laid out and not overly flashy. It is easy to find what you are looking for and if you decide to do the nutrition facts it works exactly like if you were ordering a drink in the store.
Starbucks:
Starbucks website looks nice but can be overwhelming. There are so many links within links it can be easy to get lost. Trying to find a certain coffee can be difficult cause you need to know exactly what kind it is. The one saving grace is that there is a search bar to at least help you find what you are looking for. If there was not a search bar this website would be unusable to someone who never drinks starbucks.
I would say that starbucks grabs your attention better but it can be a bit much at times. I personally prefer sheetz’s website because it is easier to navigate and makes more sense to someone who just wants to see what kind of flavors they have and the interface for the nutrition facts is the best one i’ve seen.
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Caribou Coffee VS. CrazyMocha….Begin
Crazy Mocha is a different kind of site that I’ve seen in a while. The basic layout of of the site is a slideshow in the middle, the “Crazy Mocha” coffee company written in the top right corner with a menu at the bottom of the page, with a pop-up menu. The colors it uses is a very basic red, black, and white which made up the negative space around the different elements in the web page. It’s a very simple page where you don’t need to scroll down, and you can see everything at one time. Which I think works very well with that basic idea. However I feel this webpage needs work with the menu itself, where the drinks section is still being worked on. I also feel it could have been more effective with the actual logo of the company in the top right corner. Other than that I feel that it is a decent website page but I feel it could use some more work to make it have the same feel throughout.
Caribou Coffee Is a very interesting webpage, it is the near the same page layout where you don’t need to scroll down too far to see all the information. The background uses a light tan and even lighter words within it to describe the coffee. The inner page where everything is placed is very precise in the menu. The colors they use are of their logo and base the different links towards being that tint of blue or the shade of brown. The layout of the page showing the main deals in the middle of the page emphasizes the deals of the day, or week. It is a very effective webpage in my mind very clear, and very easy to navigate.
Who Won: I feel Caribou Coffee did a better job at relaying the information of what the company sells, and the different services they provide. The Crazy Mocha site is an interesting layout but some of the links would not work well due to the fact that they were not complete. The color scheme works well with both sites but the Caribou Coffee site doesn’t just rely on white to divide up the page and make it an interesting page.
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Starbucks vs Dunkin’ Donuts
Starbucks Coffee vs Dunkin’ Donuts
The first site I visited was Starbucks. It was very simple and plain, but not in a bad way. There is one large picture shown and along the top there are drop down tabs with large sub menu’s inside the tabs. I found it hard to navigate some of these tabs because the headings inside them were white and so were the options under the headings. Besides the picture one the homepage, there is nothing that really stood out to me in any way. I had a huge problem with the way everything was positioned on the page. The whole site is set from the left side of the page, which was very hard on my eyes. That was the main problem I had with the site, but everything else went very smooth. The one thing that was easy in the eye was the colors. The colors were primarily black, white and grey, besides Starbucks trademark green. Over all the site was good, but definitely could have used a little more character, in my opinion.
Next, I visited Dunkin’ Donuts. Upon the first look of their site, I was blown away, but not surprised that they used a lot of their trademark, orange color scheme. Like Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts site also consisted of a large picture with drop down tabs above it. I was able to navigate the tabs on Dunkin’ Donuts site far easier that Starbucks. The headings inside the tabs were a different color from the link, which made all the difference in my eyes. The thing that made Dunkin Donuts better that Starbucks was that the site had a centered layout, which was much easier on my eyes than Starbucks site which was based off the left side of the screen. The only problem I had with Dunkin’ Donuts was the colors were to bright for my eyes, but that is nothing that can be chaged due to the fact that orange is their signature color. Overall Both sites had there pros and cons but If I had to pick on, I think I would pick Starbucks. I would be able to get used to the site being on the left over the bright colors of Starbucks.
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Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world.
Tim Hortons and Seattle’s Best are two widely known coffee chains. Tim Hortons is spread throughout Canada and the US whereas Seattle’s Best is a company based out of Seattle, WA and sold around the country.
When one visits the Tim Hortons site, the first step is to choose whether or not the user is a French or English speaking Canadian, or an English speaking American. These options are clearly placed a little below the center of the page next to a large coffee cup that is an attention grabbing graphic. After the option is chosen, there is a strange menu page that pops up, with the option of being closed. However, if the pop-up is not closed, the user is subjected to an unorganized and confusing mess that is meant to be scrolled through. After the actual site is found, there is a much more organized and aesthetically appealing website than the previously mentioned pop-up TH’s menu. An advertisement or Tim Horton’s products is placed almost in the center near the top of the page and has the most visual hierarchy. Next to it are buttons that viewers can click on and see what new products TH has to offer. The top of the page has smaller buttons that can help one easily navigate the site to find information on the company and its products. The Tim Hortons main website is balanced with the use of similar square shapes of various sizes, with an emphasis on promoting new products. The process of getting to the actual website took less than three clicks, however when users want to find information on products it may be easy to get lost due to the pop-up menu.
Seattle’s Best has a website built around a very large image placed in the center of the page. The viewer is drawn to the image that showcases an exciting opportunity to win a trip to Hawaii. The layout of the page shows the navigation buttons placed around the image so viewers can easily find them. Each button has a drop down menu of subcategories that are nested within the main categories. Seattle’s Best puts an emphasis mainly on the trip to Hawaii, but also on new products and information about caffeine levels in their coffee. It is easy to see general information about the chain and the products being sold.
Overall, the Seattle’s Best website has a much more user-friendly website than Tim Hortons. This is due to the overall layout that is easy to navigate, and the use of imagery that helps visual hierarchy play a role in grabbing the user’s attention to important information on the website. Also, since Tim Hortons used a confusing pop-up menu after the language selection page, it makes it harder for users to get to the information the site was intended for in the first place.
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Dunkin’ Donuts vs. Starbucks
At first glance, the Dunkin’ Donuts site is visually more attention grabbing than Starbucks’ site. The color scheme compliments the images of their products making a bold yet fun statement about their company. Starbucks is far simpler in design than Dunkin’ Donuts, but I don’t feel that that is at all damaging. Starbucks projects their image as being a high end coffee shop, and their site mimics that. The site is very sleek, using only sans serif fonts and muted colors. The typography of the site is useful in guiding customers to the correct corner of the site with ease. After navigating through both sites, Starbucks is a lot easier to use at a first glance, as Dunkin’ Donuts spent a vast amount of the layout on their blog and twitter links, where Staurbucks focused on their products as opposed to social media sites. Both layouts are very effective in communicating the business’s message and displaying products while remaining visually pleasing. When examining balance and unity, I felt that Dunkin’ Donuts did a better job of balancing their images and text, where Starbucks’ site is very reliant on text. I think that both sites are strong in their own ways, but in the end, I would want spend more time on Starbucks’ website, not just because of its ease of access and simple image, but because they also have a better product (in my opinion.)
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Dunkin Donuts & Starbucks
I compared Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks website. Each company is very much the same and has the same content on their websites. The homepage of both webpages show a very big picture of the specials for the season. Each company has their logo on the top right and the tabs to each part of the website along the top. When you hover over each tab it shows you drop down menus and pictures of an item that is within the category.
The colors of the Starbucks website are rather plain, and I am someone who enjoys color. It is just a white background with a little splash of green and black. Dunkin’ Donuts colors are brighter, but the use of them in the website draws me in. What I think Starbucks has an edge is that the “Search” bar is on the very top because when I want to search a keyword it is easy to navaigate, but on the Dunkin’ Donuts website you have to scroll all the way to the bottom to find the search bar. The layouts are almost exactly the same, just a few minor differences.
In my opinion I enjoy Dunkin Donuts website a bit more because of the bars on the top with the orange tabs. They do not blend in with the background and it is very easy and simple for one to navigate. The Starbucks website was very bland to me .
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Caribou Coffee vs. Dunkin’ Donuts
For my bi-weekly review I compared Caribou Coffee and Dunkin’ Donuts. Starting off with Caribou’s website, I feel like it is fairly well balanced. It has the different links on the left, a slideshow of pictures in the middle, then on the right has daily trivia, and a few other things. Everything on Caribou’s website is unified, nothing really stands out like it doesn’t belong. Their emphasis is directed right to the center of the home page with a slideshow of pictures that contain new items and items of the month. Also it consists of some facts about their product. Their layout is a little confusing to someone who likes basic websites. You have to look carefully to find exactly what you’re looking for on the pages. Their font is also decently smaller so you really have to keep and eye out for what your interested in. They also use the visual hierarchy but it’s not as clear as some other websites. You have to click the headings to get to the subheadings rather than just having a drop down menu that lists the subheadings.As for Dunkin’ Donuts’ website I feel like it is very well balanced. Their layout is very simple and easy to navigate. Everything on their website is unified by having the orange and white colors displayed. All of the different sections match each other and nothing feels out of place. Their emphasis is very clear on the main page, it is a large picture of their new product the iced mocha, latte, and the heart shaped donut. The over all lay out is very simple but gets the point across. To get their point across they use very good visual hierarchy. They have the title of the sections then in smaller font have a few points on what that section consists of. Also if you run your mouse over the heading it has a drop down menu, which then gives you a list of smaller subsections you can click. I feel like Dunkin’ Donuts’ website does a better job of drawing attention because of their color selection. Orange is more eye-catching than tan and brown. I like Dunkin’ Donuts website better because it easier to navigate and find what you want. The sections they have with the drop down menu make it more user friendly. I had better luck using Dunkin’ Donuts website.
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Starbucks vs CrazyMocha
The layout of Starbucks has a lot of pictures and texts with links is symmetric because they use rectangles boxes when you pass the mouse on the texts and pictures so it has a good balance and a good unity because they basically use the colors of the Starbucks which is black and green and white on the website. The first thing that I noticed when I open the website was the big picture of their sandwich on the left of the page so thats the emphasis point of this website. Overall the website is very specific with everything and easy to find what you looking for.
The layout of CrazyMocha is more simple than the Starbucks one. CrazyMocha website has slides of pictures at their home page and that is the emphasis of the website because is located right in the middle. The balance of the website is more center since they only have a picture in the middle and the other options bar is located in one line under the picture. They use basically 3 colors like Starbucks black for texts, white for the background and red for the boxes.
Although Starbucks website is more complete, CrazyMocha’s website got my attention because of how they set up the pictures sliding on the center is very simple but strong.
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Coffee Website Compare & Contrast
For this assignment I looked at the Starbucks and Caribou Coffee websites. When I first glanced at the two web pages they looked very similar in their layout. After exploring them both more in depth, I noticed that they are not as similar as I had thought. Both websites are set up the same, they have a content bar across the top that shows all of the important topics their customers might be interested in. When you hover your mouse over the content bar on the Starbucks website, a drop down menu appears. On the Caribou Coffee website you can only click these links. Both websites have slideshow images in the center of the screen that feature their new drinks and products.
When comparing these two sites, I noticed that the Caribou Coffee site has more design and and a better sense of unity. The Starbucks website just has a white background which makes it look plain and unbalanced. I feel as though the Caribou Coffee website would appeal more to customers then the Starbucks website.
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Apple vs Supreme: website usability
Apple vs Supreme Review.
I chose two websites to analyze, one being Apple, and the other being Supreme. I first visited apple, in a search to buy a Macbook Pro. When coming to the websites main page, I came a across a little problem in my thought process. At the top of the web site, I was instantly drawn to the Mac tab. When I the page reloaded, I thought I was in the right place but I eventually noticed there was no button to put the product in my cart. I then realized I had to go to the store tab. This was the scenario that happened when I first used their site. After multiple times using it, I learned just to go to the store tab. But for a first time user, this could be a minor issue. After I stumbled across that minor problem, It was smooth sailing from there, everything else was effortless to me. I was even able to find the student version of the website no problem. The student site shows the prices of certain Items with a student discount factored into the price.
The second website I looked at was, Supreme. They are a skateboard brand originating from New York City. When first entering their website, I found It very easy to get were I wanted, I just clicked the shop button. Its was all downhill from their. The next page that loaded was just a bunch of skinny pictures that looked to be clothing, I really couldn’t tell. The website is also flash driven which could be a problem if people don’t have the right software or a computer good enough to run it. After browsing the site for a while, I eventually got used to it, but it took sometime. Overall, I would definitely say Apple has the better website, but I like how clean Supreme’s site is, it is very easy on the eye. After analyzing both site, I realized that a perfect website is hard to come by.
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Wookiee Cookies and other Galactic Recipes.
After a recent trip to Disney World, I have been contemplating purchasing one of the Star Wars cookbooks, but have been too lazy to look online for a copy. Disney World has every Star Wars product imaginable. This assignment has given me a reason to get my online shopping on and actually pay attention to the steps I must go through to retrieve such a literary gem. Both Amazon and ThinkGeek have at least one of the two books. I found Amazon easier because the search bar has a drop down menu where I conveniently selected books and typed in the keywords “star wars cookbook.” Amazon graced my eyes with not only the Wookiee Cookies and other Galactic Recipes, but also the second book, Darth Malt and More Galactic Recipes. I found that the home page was not overwhelming with Amazon pushing products. Also there are multiple ways to easily find what the user wants with both a search bar on the top and a menu on the side with different departments or categories of items that could be purchased on the website. I did not have to “satisfice” because I was presented with multiple viable options that got me to where I hoped to go.
ThinkGeek is always a dangerous website for someone with a short attention span to go to. Though there isn’t a smorgasbord of items on the homepage, the products are just too cool to sometimes fight the urge to click on everything. I found at the bottom of the page, instead of organizing things by category, there were options to choose from popular series or games. I thought this was an appropriate approach for this particular website. On the top everything was organized in categories. Instead of using my first instinct of just using the search bar, I clicked on the fantasy and sci-fi books section to see if I could possibly land upon my desired cookbook series instantaneously. I was delighted to see so many things that sparked my interested, but no dice with the product I wanted. However, the good ol’ trustworthy search bar led me to where I needed to be after I used the same keywords as I did on Amazon. I was surprised to see that ThinkGeek only had the first edition, Wookiee Cookies and other Galactic Recipes. Not only were they lacking in options, but it was more expensive than the price Amazon had to offer.
Overall, I feel that Amazon is a great website if you need to look for something specific, but gives good suggestions for products similar to the one searched. ThinkGeek is good for looking through specialty/odd products if you have the time to “window shop” online.
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TrueSwords.com
When I try to find different items that catch my interest, or certain swords of nearly any calibur I go to trueswords.com. The site is based on being able to get high quality items, be them swords, knives, armor, necklaces, and many more at low prices. The site is very easy to navigate whether you’re just browsing, or if you look through the many categories which are located under the site title. The color theme for this site is blue, brown, and grey. The grey is the neutral color of the site. The Brown separates the borders and inside the brown are the headings. Finally the Blue is where the sub-headings and the different categories for different types of items. The site overall is very simple to use and items included in this site are very affordable for any sword enthusiasts. If you just wanna find very cool things and wanna try to get any inspiration through swords or anything of that nature I would advise to go look at this site.
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Bid on Ebay
When I buy things on the internet, I always head to Ebay. I love the way it is very simple to bid for a product. Ebay also has everything, and I like being able to buy all that I need in one site. I hate site hoping for products I need to buy. I have also sold things on Ebay, and to sell things on Ebay is simple yet very effective. It does not make it complicated, it helps you step by step to make sure you can reach the most customers for your product. Ebay has been one of the top selling sites for years.
The front page is always giving best sellers and ways to navigate around the website. Even though I love being on the internet, some sites are so hard to get around and when that happens i get frustrated and I just leave the site. The way Ebay is set up is easy for me to use., and that is why I continue to use it.
My favorite thing on Ebay is the “My Ebay” tab, it keeps all my Ebay selling, buying and history. I like being able to see who I bought from, and what I have on a watch list. Ebay keeps it very friendly if you are a frequent user.
I’ve always like Ebay over Amazon because i like the way it set up and the way I can sell easily and buy easily on the site.
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Amazon Review – Week 1
Amazon does a great job at making finding and buying products effortless. The search bar is highlighted in an eye catching blue that stands out from the stark white of the rest of the page. Upon completing a search, the items are categorized by either price, relevancy, or rating, and the buyer has the choice to narrow their search further by dividing results by department. Once the item is ready to be purchased, Amazon provides specific instructions that point you to the correct checkout, ensuring customer satisfaction. The design of the site, though it seems simple, is obviously the product of a lot of programming and thought, as a few clicks of the mouse does so many different tasks. Compared to other online marketplaces, Amazon is easy to use even if it is the customer’s first experience using the site.
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Amazon Website Review
I use the Amazon website very frequently to buy my textbooks and rent ebooks for my Kindle. Searching for specific products is as simple as using google. There is a drop down menu that lets you choose what category or item you are looking for. For example there is movies, books, clothes, beauty, etc. You select the category you want then type the specific item you are looking for in the search bar. Once you find the item you are looking for, you proceed to checkout. Here is where the process can become confusing to some people.
Say you want to buy a movie from Amazon. You select the movie category and search the movie you want. When the search list comes up there are many different options you can choose from to buy this movie. You can rent the movie and download it onto your computer or kindle, buy it for your computer or kindle, buy the actual DVD, buy the movie for Blu-Ray, etc. If you choose to buy the actual DVD/Blu-Ray, then you must decide if you want to buy it new or used. Sometimes there are just to many options to pick from and people get frustrated.
Amazon has many memberships that you can sign up for. There is a student membership, a prime membership and many others. If you are signed up for one of these then you have more options to choose from when you are purchasing an item. If you are a member then you must choose an item that coincides with the specific membership you belong to.
For a new user to Amazon, this site can be very overwhelming. Once you purchase a few items from this site and set up an account it becomes easier to navigate your way around it and easier to select the right purchase for yourself.
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