ARTM2210 Intro to Web Design
Just another Intro to… siteArchive for Summer 2012
Imagining Peace
The website http://imaginepeace.com/ has a giant banner on its front page which takes up more than half of my screen and depicts a hills with a car parked next to a giant beam of light reaching into the sky, with quotations from John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the left. I do not know what the picture is supposed to represent exactly so the only the quotes are conveying any meaning to me. They describe the site as the ‘biggest online peace event’. This is too vague for me to understand exactly what the website is for. Under ‘what can I do?’ all of the suggestions are just ways to advertise the website.
Below the picture of the hills is a section of the screen devoted to actual content of the website such as advertisements for Yoko Ono’s music and updates on projects she is working on. This section of the screen is smaller than the picture at the top of the screen, which seems rather backwards. Shouldn’t the content of the site get more space than the title? Below this there is a link to the Apple App store so that you can send the website a picture of yourself smiling and your location in the world. In Yoko’s words, this is because “My ultimate goal in film-making is to make a film which includes a smiling face snap of every single human being in the world”. Thanks to the rates at which old people die and babies are born, this goal is obviously impossible, so whatever. The bottom of the screen provides links to Yoko Ono’s Facebook and Twitter.
The background of the site is a picture of the clouds, which is a constant among every page of the site. Everything else is presented in self-contained boxes, which can scroll while the clouds stay still. This leads to a consistant visual style that lets me know this is all part of the same website. The site is relatively simple and easy to navigate, so it gets points for that. Also some pages are programmed to play Lennon and/or Ono music as long as you stay on the site, which is a nice feature I guess.
The site is navigated by a horizontal menu bar with vertical scroll-over lists of content below the picture of the hills (a search bar is also provided for us here too). The manifesto/FAQ tell us that “Together, we are creating a world of Peace, Love and Freedom, all while the negative forces try their hardest to stop us,” And that “The way we are doing it is by being conscious of the ‘Power of Togetherness.’” That’s about as in-depth as the website gets, so frankly I do not know what this site is for. I guess it looks fine visually, but I really do not know how Yoko intends to bring about world peace.
WAR IS OVER is one project that has its own page on this website. It’s just a bunch of posters that say ‘war is over’ in tons of different languages that Yoko encourages us to print out and hang up all over the place. Obviously war isn’t over, so I don’t get it. Finally, the last option on the menu directs us to a page that has information on various charities that you can give to. This is the first thing I’ve seen on the website that actually does any tangible good as far as I can tell, and I had to go to the very end of the menu to reach it. That’s not good placement.
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Final Review
For my final review i am comparing my website to thegreatflu.com. While the great flu is a game it is difficult to find a comparable website to a zombie awareness one. The great flu could be interpreted as an awareness tool. It gives the user options on what to do and what to distribute in order to stem the expanding flu. The player can distribute gas masks, education, and even release a vaccine after playing the game long enough. This could be used as a way to show what is needed in the case of any kind of viral or bacterial infection could let loose. Which ties in well with my website which talks about what is needed and what is useful for the zombie apocalypse; which would be caused by something viral or bacterial. Considering that it is never said what the flu truly is it could be interpreted as the zombie flu. Seeing as how two zombies in pop culture are from the rage virus and the green virus this is very possible. This also gives the player the view of a government that is trying to save the population from dieing. This game gives a good view of the other side of what the apocalypse would be like.
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Guerrilla Girls…. NOT!
First things first, the name of the site is Guerrilla Girls and the tag line is included right in the logo which helps its audience identify what the site is about. As Krug mentioned in one of our readings… nothing beats a good tagline!
Moving forward, looking at each page, they stayed with a very basic structure throughout which helps to keep the navigation simple. While the navigation is simple, the site is not interactive; it’s more like a newsletter as there is a wealth of information displayed on each page. There are no links that carry you away from the website and there is only one-way to navigate throughout and that is the menu bar.
Next, the use of colors they used to create the site are very basic but the header colors are vibrant and eye catching. According to Principles of Beautiful Web Design, color is very important. The color lime green represents excitement, motivation, anticipation, money prosperity, hope, growth, luck and employment. The color purple, which goes good with green means thought, universal identity and oriented to self-knowledge. While the colors speak volumes, the combinations of the lime, purple, grey, red and black do not work for me. It is too much variety and it looks pretty hideous, less is more!
When talking about texture, there are very small amounts of texture on each page. Some of the animations add texture, some of the titles add texture but for the most part, the site is pretty flat. There isn’t even texture with the use of fonts as the font is pretty tiny and there is a lot of it which seems a little overwhelming to me. The site is more like a big Facebook page. The use of imagery is lacking as well… the site is just boring!
Overall, I am not fascinated with this site at all. Although it is easy to navigate and there is a wealth of information listed within it, it’s ugly and lacks interaction
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Bi-Weekly 4
For my final bi-weekly review the website iSideWith.com was used. At first look at the site, the site has a nice blue texture in the background which helps bring out everything. One thing, the site has is a test you can take which takes your political views and compares them to all the candidates that are running in the election. When I took the test, my results for the candidate was Ron Paul. It compares what other people in your state agree with what candidate also. The site has a lot of articles about the candidates as well.
I think the test is an excellent way for people to start getting involved with the election, but the site does not really have what the candidates stand for at hand. For people who do not want to read the articles will maybe bypass the site to find another that meets their needs.
The design and layout is a nice easy layout for the viewers to navigate the site. The blue background is a nice color that does not draw the viewer away from the site. Over all the site works well with the test, but getting easy information about the candidates might have the viewer frustrated in all the articles of reading.
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Last Bi-weekly review
For this weeks bi-weekly review the site assigned to me was yesiamprecious.com. First, the objective of the site was to raise money to fight cancer, donating all profits to LIVESTRONG. The main function of the site was to track the progress of Precious(bike) and Janeen(rider) on the 4,410 mile ride across America. Team Fatty equipped Precious with an on-board brain to record temperature, humidity, speed, cadence, grade, direction, and roadkill. They also provide a video to show how the brain was built and used.
The layout of the site is mainly a two-column spread with one row of statistics in the middle of the page. The colors of the site coordinate with the colors of the bike. The colors scheme uses earth tones of gray, black, and bronze-orange. There is a texture to the site, which I believe to be cement. An image of a beach with the sun setting is the absolute background, perhaps representing reaching the west coast. For me the visual hierarchy takes me right to bike first then to the map and statistics. Overall the site is simple and sweet for a one page site.
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Final bi-weekly review
For my final bi-weekly review i was assigned a website involved with staying active, which goes along with the one i’m creating. The overall set-up of the site is pretty good at first glance. The color scheme goes good, blue and green. It makes the site have a lively feeling, which goes along with what the site is about. Some of the text is pretty creative in that they use a graffiti style, which I find really cool because that is the style I’m into. It goes along with the feel of the site, usually, skaters and other extreme sport athletes have that certain street, hip style.
As for format, it is well designed, everything is laid out right in front of you and is very easy to navigate. On the homepage, they have pictures that change between several photos, which is a good idea so it’s not just a plane looking site. Although there is no texture, the site still works because of everything else. The white background and the colors and text all work together to make the site visually interesting.
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bi weekly review
For this weeks Bi-weekly review I have chosen the website Adultbicycling.com. The website coordinates with the site that I am creating in that it highlights the health benefits and safety tips. The site provides several links to other cycling articles and directions to some of the local trails and bike paths in the area. The site is only three colors. White, grey, and several shades of green. I feel that the green was a nice touch simply based on the fact that bikes are eco-friendly. The navigation is very simple and in the standard top fixed position. This site is not very large making the navigation very easy to work through the site. Adult Bicycling does have some texture to the background of the site. It seems to be watermarked gears for a bike. It does a good job of breaking up the solid green.
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Zombie websites
The website i chose to compare to my final website was the center for diesase control’s zombie awareness page. There isn’t much to the page as it is just a simple article. It isn’t very flashy or interesting but it does get the point across. That point is of course zombie awareness. The CDC gives the reader many examples of what to do during a possible outbreak. This advice of course also transfers over to any natural disater or other kind of outbreak. Things such as keeping canned goods and keeping bottled water available. They also talk about meeting points and where to go if something happens. It also gives a brief history of zombies and possible variants of an outbreak. My site however will be more visual. It will feature more robust images and a more interactive display of the information. Instead of just being like an article my website will be more like reading a comic with cartoonish pictures. But the information will be as robust as on the CDC page.
http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2011/05/preparedness-101-zombie-apocalypse/
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Rob Dyrdek Foundation
I chose Rob Dyrdek’s skateboard foundation to compare. As i looked through the site, the navigation seemed to be straight forward. All the tabs for the different pages are lined up at the top of the homepage.
As for the color, it is pretty dull. All the pages to this site are a straight teel color. A good thing about it is that the color isn’t distracting or loud. It helps with the composition because you know you are still in that particular site since all the pages are the same color. Personally, i would have added more design to the pages to make it more exciting to the eye, but it isn’t too dull. They have pictures and news about expanding the sport of skateboarding.
For the texture, there really isn’t any. As I stated before, all the pages are a plain, teel color, which isn’t a bad thing though. By keeping it more on the simple side, it kind of makes the site work just as well. Instead of texture, they have various videos, pictures, and diagrams of what this foundation is about. It’s not about necessarily skateboarding, but about creating legal places for people to skate, like skateparks or plazas.
In comparison to my site I’m creating, it is simular, but mine is more about the physical activity and staying active rather than creating places for skating. I think they go together because both have a goal to better people, whether if its staying active or staying out of trouble.
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Why What’s Rightfully Yours Inc is BETTER!!
The website I used to help aid in the creation of my website is called She Incorporated Women.com (http://sheincwomen.com/). I plan to discuss the websites use of color, texture and navigation. I will then critique their effectiveness at guiding the user through the site and lastly, I will compare this site to my final project design, and suggest how my website will stand out.
She Inc is an organization that is run by women for women. I chose this site because it was user friendly with a simple layout. In comparison to other websites, the navigation is short and sweet… nothing too difficult and easy to follow.
According to Principles of Beautiful Web Design, color is very important and after reviewing She Inc’s color scheme… I found that the use of color says a lot about the site. They say the color red has a reputation for stimulating adrenaline and blood pressure and it’s also known to increase human metabolism; it’s an exciting, dramatic, and rich color. They say reds also a color of passion. She Inc uses a pale red in its logo and navigation. I believe the red shows the passion behind the company and its paleness keeps the site feminine. It is also said that the use of white helps promote the idea that this is clean power. The majority of She Inc is white and it supports the spiritual background of the group or company. The tan is a subtle accent used to help the information area pop on top of the white. The last color She Inc used is black. It is suggested that black is a color of power, elegance, and strength. Based on what I have read about color, it is safe to assume that just based on She Inc’s choice of colors, they are passionate, spiritual and they hold a wealth of power about the topic at hand.
As far as texture, there is very little texture used in the middle of the page. The small amount of texture breaks the page up even without the lines. The textured area is consistent throughout the site, showing where the important information is located on each page. The use of the lines show a little depth but I feel like there are too many and it breaks the site up a little too much.
She Inc is very effective at guiding the user through the site. One feature of the site that kept me was the use of the running clock for the next event. It brings this simple layout to life and there is no question that the information is current.
Lastly, in comparing this site to my final project’s design, I feel that they are very similar in simplicity. I chose to use a bright red with my site because the cause is a passion of mine. With this color choice, my goal is to get women of all races and ages stimulated to take a stand and fight for what they want and deserve. I chose to use a white background because even though my site suggest women fighting for rights… it’s with the law making it a clean power. And I used texture a little different by adding a gradient background. The gradient added color while keeping the important or wealth of information in white. My site has the ability to stand out because of the bold choice of colors along with its simplicity. My site will not be one that takes you so deep that you need to get back to the home page to start all over. I plan to keep the navigation simple with the 3 click rule keeping life simple. I want my site to be used more as reference to getting legal issues taken care of.
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Globalissues.org and Me
The website related to my issue that I visited was globalissues.org at http://www.globalissues.org/issue/67/nuclear-weapons. Its color scheme was mainly white and a very dark gray with some light blue highlights and some red text. The title bar at the top of the page has a linear gradient that takes it from the light blue of the title to the white that dominates the article. Sections of text have red titles, which may be intended to warn of the seriousness of the topic.
Depth is shown any time the author quotes a source, as the quote is placed in a box that casts a slight shadow on the white background. It also turns up in the buttons at the top of the page, which feature text with a slight drop shadow. Hovering over the button will darken it so that it looks as if it has been pushed in.
Almost all of the relevant information can be found in one column so it’s pretty much impossible for the user to get lost. Links to all of the page’s sub-sections are provided at the top so you can jump right to what you want to read. Three of the article’s section’s apparently got too big and were given their own pages, so there is a break in the middle of the article that’s basically half a page of nothing. This edit probably could have been handled better.
As far as navigation is concerned my website will be largely similar except the column will scroll horizontally to make it into a timeline. My website design will be simple but I will try to make it more relevant to the subject material by using colors that suggest a nuclear wasteland environment. It is my hope that the animation first seen when you enter the page will help this website stand out.
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McDonald’s vs. Sheetz
The two burger chain web sites I chose to compare were McDonald’s and Sheetz: McDonald’s because it seems to be the quintessential American fast food brand and Sheetz just because I like it.
The McDonald’s website felt kind of like a handcrafted scrapbook, with some of the lettering scribbled messily, colored circles that looked like they had been cut out imperfectly, and a background that reminded me of paper. The site is navigated by a bar on the left of the screen that expands when you scroll over it. They keep their logo in the same spot (upper left) on every page, which helps create unity. They have a page dedicated to their ‘values’ such as improving animal welfare standards and practices and making green restaurants, which helps me to understand what they’re about. Their promotion page for Spicy Chicken McBites is interactive and engaging.
They really seem to keep unnecessary words off of their page, which makes it easy to use. One thing that threw me off though was that the bottom half of the search bar has letters that are gray, making the buttons seem unusable at first. I can’t figure out why they would do this.
Sheetz’ home page only uses about a third of its space, with a giant red border around the text box that grabs your attention. Once you click on your first subtopic, however, you are taken to a very different page, with either dollar bill, asphalt street, Sheetz logo, red striped or brick wall repeating backgrounds. This design seems disparate thanks to the constantly changing background. There doesn’t seem to be a color scheme, or at least not one that’s present on enough of the pages to make them feel like part of a whole.
It also seems harder to use since the information categories are distributed across two directions, with topics going horizontally across the top and subtopics going vertically down the left side. McD’s navigation was much easier because it kept everything together. Overall McDonald’s has the better website because it was simpler and more visually consistent.
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Bi-Weekly Review 3
For my bi-weekly review, I found the 2012 Presidential Candidates website, http://2012.presidential-candidates.org/.
While looking through the website, the navigation seemed easy at first with everything on the side bar or top. It lists the parties and views for the candidates. They listed everyone who is a declared candidate for the presidential election which does give the viewer an idea about who is running.
The color of the website is very dull. The only thing that stands out on the site is the name of the site at the top which is blue and on the side bar, the Profiles and Issues headings. The background is gray and really has no texture at all to make the viewers stay on the page.
The site has a lot of information to give the reader, but it is so compacted with different candidates and links, the reader can get lost in the site and not find what they are looking for. My final project takes the top candidates from the Republicans and Democrats parties along with the Independent candidate and compares them side by side for the reader to get quick information about the candidates. The reader will be able to see the candidates’ views on tops like health care, abortion, and social security quickly to help them decide on who to vote for in the election in November. My final project gets the information out there without looking through pages and pages of websites and having the reader getting lost.
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What does Facebook know about your behavior?
Facebook KNOWS ALL!!!! I’ve always been told once you tell Facebook.. it’s stamped for life, so make sure your comment or status is appropriate so that it does not come back to haunt you later on.
Facebook knows if your married, have kids, where you work, your friends, your birthday, and depending on what you blog from… it may even know your current location. Facebook also knows the products you prefer as well as what type of music you listen to. If you think about it, especially with Facebook being public, you should limit the amount of information you share. Not just among friends and family but with Facebook alone. Even though you’ve made your page private, others still have access to your information. I’ve heard of cases where the police use Facebook to catch criminals and I’ve even seen instances where people have lost their jobs because of post to Facebook.
Not only does Facebook know ALL of your business… but if you attempt to delete your page… first, the option to delete is not easy to find… but most importantly, your page is not deleted… Its just deactivated which says to me… WHOEVER can still access your information!!
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Burger King and Wendy’s
I chose these two websites because they are two of the biggest burger chains in the world. These websites exeplify balance, unity, emphasis, and layout. The layouts on both websites are very well thought out and took lots of planning. One thing that both websites put front and center is the food. They advertise the new specialty food and make the viewer want to try it. Such as on the Burger King site they have a huge vibrant picture of their new sweet potato fries, They also show their new fozen lemonades and their summer line of BBQ sandwiches. Wendy’s also has huge vibrant pictures but it isn’t to show off their seasonal line of food. They show off their berry almond chicekn salad. But they also show how they are committed to fresh beef for the burgers. They are both set up the same way with their navigation bars at the top to get the viewer to the menu and beyond. The user doesn’t have to think about how to find anything because it is all laid out at the top in big letters to help them get around. The theme is also very unifying as it looks the same no matter where you go on the website and has a consisten look to it. They are balanced well as it looks like it is laid out with thought. The wendy’s site has more balance however as no part of the page has more dominating it than the others. These websites are all thought out well and clearly took a lot of time and effort to make them so easy to the viewer. The viewer does not have to think or even try to look to find what they need to. It is all right there for them to see and very user friendly.
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Burger King vs. Wendy’s
The two burger chains i chose were Burger King and Wendy’s. The visual hierarchy between the two are relatively the same, there are some differences though. Burger King’s homepage puts a noticeable emphasis on their products by having the pictures the largest thing on the page. The first thing they want customers to see if the food. Wendy’s is very simular in that concept except they have more obvious clickable’s and instead of having a single picture like burger King, Wendy’s have that, but with a fixed background behind everything. Both pages are split into halves but personally the wendy’s site attracts my attention more because of the use of different colors and added headers, its more visually exciting. Burger King’s is again very simular, but with a less variety of colors and headers.
Wendy’s has more headers and under those, there is smaller writing for the details about that product, where it came from, how it is made, etc. Burger Kings has the same, but little or no details about the product. Both are set up with links across the top, but Wendy’s site you can scroll down to see what else is there while Burger King’s site is just one page with no scroll.
Overall, both these sites are very simular, but it’s the smalls things that make a difference between a more visually exciting webpage.
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Burger-Weekly Review
The two burger chain websites I have chosen to review are White Castle and Sonic. Comparing the visual hierarchy, Sonic has a very strong emphasis on photos that customers upload to the site. They make the photo the entire background of the home page with the tag line “This is how you Sonic.” Sonic’s site has very little noise to not conflict the photo, leaving all navigation relatively small and fixed to the top and bottom of the page. The site does feel pretty balanced with a slight weight to the right side of the page. The only improvement that I would make is to the clickable tabs. There is no real indication that certain things are clickable or separate tabs without prior knowledge of a typical website layout.
White Castle’s site is separated into thirds. The emphasis is focused in the bottom third of the home page, promoting new products. I feel this was a good design, to see the new products square at eye level one must scroll and expose more of the site. White Castle also allows customers to upload photos to the site, consuming the middle third. There is more noise to the White Castle side, but necessary and organized. There are several obvious clickables with headlines like Learn More and Submit.
Overall I feel that Sonic has a more interesting site with high customer engagement. Also when opening the site your faced with a promotional pop-up for summer smoothies at Sonic. This promotion has what I thought was an endless scroll of anything from interesting facts about summer, to flavor combinations, and other entertaining phrases.
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Bi-Weekly Review 2
For my bi-weekly review, I compared Burger King and Sonic’s web sites.
First comparison of the web sites has me picking Burger King over Sonic. Burger King has a colorful and more attraction to their website than Sonic’s. The food that is offered is shown in the middle of the page plus you can see the layout and links to navigate the site a lot better than Sonic’s. Sonic’s layout is harder to see because they have a picture in the middle of page that makes the links small and hard to see to navigate. Sonic also does not show the viewer what they offer.
Navigating Sonic’s site does have a few features Burger King’s site does not. Sonic has a trivia page while Burger King only has company information and locations. Sonic also offers viewers to join a Sonic Fan Club plus sign up for a MySonic card to attract more people to their locations.Sonic has merchandise available for customers to buy also.
Sonic and Burger King both have a menu and what is new on their sites, but what makes Sonic stand out is that they have a nutrients link so viewers can look before they go out.
Overall, Burger King has the easier layout at first glance but Sonic has the more information and user friendly site for viewers.
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Wendy’s versus THE KING!
The two burger chains I used were Wendy’s and Burger King. While both sites have unity, emphasis, and similar layouts, if I had to choose which site I think is better at first glance, I would go with Wendy’s.
In comparison the sites both open with similar layouts. They both have slide shows of featured items with the company’s logos in the upper left hand corners. Even though the layouts are similar, Wendy’s layout fits the screen and Burger Kings layout is only half of the screen. While the half of page does not take away from its usability, it’s very boring and un-inviting. The menu bars across the tops are similar except, Burger Kings’ bar actually looks like buttons where as Wendy’s only uses the hover technique. A new web user may never find these buttons because they do not appear to be buttons.
Wendy’s site is very balanced with not only the use of images but with the use of color. Burger King’s site is not balanced and the colors are very dull, which screams “FUNERAL HOME” not “BURGERS!!!… Come eat here!”
When you click on the menu options of both sites they both use drop down boxes. Wendy’s drop down options are more direct where as Burger King’s basically gives you the entire menu in small print, forcing its visitors to read. When you select menu on the Wendy’s site, it gives you image thumbnails of pictures for you to choose from. You can also choose from the list of items or choose by clicking a picture, which is a very nice feature as you can just about click anywhere.
Overall, Burger Kings site requires your reading glasses which is something that folks tend to stare away from while using the Internet, Wendy’s makes it pretty simple for you. In example, under careers on the Wendy’s site, you pick your area of interest; you are then re-directed to find a store near you that is hiring by simply entering your zip code. On the Burger King site, there are a bunch of boxes to read before you go on to the next step.
Lastly, Wendy’s prides itself in their responsibility to their customers. There is so much emphasis on it that they included it in their menu bar at the top of the page more then once. That says to me that you are going to receive a good quality hamburger when you frequent their establishment. The Burger King site touches briefly about their commitment to premium ingredients but they do not make it a big deal like Wendy’s.
In conclusion, after reading Klug’s, five important “things” to make sure users see and understand, I am certain that Wendy’s is the better site. Wendy’s has: the more prominent things at the top of the page, each subtopic listed under its topic is related, there is great hierarchy, they use conventions and they avoid the use of needless words. Although the background is a little noisy, it is inviting as they use images of their quality ingredients. Wendy’s has the better site hands down!
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TicketWeb.com
When purchasing concert tickets off of TicketWeb.com the process can be summed up in 5 clicks of the mouse. In my case I knew the venue and the date of the show I want to see through a separate website, Mr.Smalls.com. When choosing to purchase tickets online, TicketWeb first list the events and in this case I chose Sleigh Bells on July 18. This click takes you to the main page for the even and list the general admission price, amount of tickets, and the delivery type. Delivery types listed are UPS 2day, General Mail, and Will Call. In my case I chose the general mail option and was given the option to add to cart or check out directly. After clicking check out a small survey appears as to how one found out about the show and if you would like to receive more information about future events. Next is the billing information page. If you are a member to the site your information is filled in automatically, otherwise punch in the numbers and billing address and click preview order. The final page overviews the order, highlighting the number of tickets to be purchased and cost including service fees. The final click is to confirm order. After reading and going through the process, I understand the variables and complicated options that goes into making the process simple and easy. The search bar makes it easy to navigate exactly where you want to go and likes to Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace allow one to share the information to others.
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CCS.com
The process for purchasing a skateboard can take a little time, depending if you build your own board or not. Personally, I like to build my own board because I can choose whatever i want to be on the board. In order to do so, you have to first look for a deck you like. Then every other step after this can be done in any order. Overall, you got to scroll through and find at least five different parts in order to build a complete skateboard. This can take time, especially if you dont know which parts you would want right away. After you’ve chosen all the parts necessary, it is now time to go through the checkout process. To checkout, click the shopping cart, where you placed each item you needed. Once you are in the shopping cart, click checkout and the following screen will show five steps in order to complete the order.
When you order products online, the store needs to know where to send it, so at the checkout screen it will first ask for the mailing address followed by billing address and shipping methods. After those three steps are complete, it is now finally time to pay. Since it is an online order, you have to use a credit or vista card to purchase anything. Type in the card number followed by the expiration date and security code then continue. Finally, the last page is a confirmation page, click submit, and you just paid for a product online. To be safe, i usually print out the recept and have it e-mailed to myself incase of any problems with delivery. Depending on which method you choose, your product will be sent to your residence in a certain amount of time, usually within 7-14 days.
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Nick G Review 1
I went to barnesandnoble.com to look up the book Star Wars: Darth Plagueis. There was a search bar right at the top of the screen so I saw it immediately. ‘Darth Plagueis’ came up as a search suggestion by the time I had typed in ‘Darth’, so I clicked it. There were two results: the book and the audiobook. Positioning my mouse over the book’s cover revealed a ‘Buy Now’ button which I clicked and was asked to fill in my information so it could be shipped to me.
I was only three pages in by the time I had found the book I was looking for and had it in my shopping cart. At no point was I forced to think about the process at all, really. The search bar was where I expected it to be and there was plenty of white space so that all that stood out to me was the search results. I recognized each page as part of the same site and the main page used proximity successfully to separate books into different categories such as bestsellers, staff picks and Father’s Day gift ideas. Overall I thought it was a well-made site.
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Amazon.com
The process to find and purchase an item are within 5 clicks on amazon.com. If one knows what they are looking for all they have to do it type the item in the search bar. it should then be as simple as scrolling through the first page and finding what the item is. Then the item is clicked on and it takes oneself to the product page where there are reviews and specifications. Then in the upper right hand corner there is an add to cart button. If one is already a member with their information saved it is then two clicks away. Once in the cart all that has to be done is to click checkout and it then goes to a payment information page. If the payment information is saved and has not changed all that is needed is to click order and the process completes. A lot of work had to go into making such a simple process. It can allow someone to buy a product in a minute or two if they know what they are looking for. After that it sends a confirmation email. This process is very easy and is probably a reason as to why amazon is so successful. To offer such a streamlined process is what makes customers keep coming back.
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Bi-Weekly Review 1 Amazon Critique
Jenifer Moore
Amazon.com
Based on “Don’t Make Me Think”, Amazon.com is a user-friendly website for making purchases. The page is made up with three column navigation: the left column is your shop by department area, the middle column, which includes your search bar and Amazon’s top selling items and the right column, which includes the upcoming holiday and ideas. The bottom portion of my page contains rows of my recent browsing history, which helps out because I may have done a search earlier in the day, found what I wanted and closed out to purchase at a later time.
Moving forward, the product I choose to purchase on Amazon was my required text for this class. It was easy to find because as soon as the site loads, the search bar is at the top of the page, very easy to find and it did not require specifics as I just typed in the title of our text and a drop down list appeared to assist in searching for everything that had that title or name attached.
Once your selection appears in the user-friendly drop down box and you are re-directed to your selection, you can almost click on anything up to and including the book cover to select your item. The far right column shows your shopping cart so that there are no surprises at checkout. Although your buttons within the shopping cart column do not illuminate as you pass them, they sit up as if they are buttons making it easy to find.
After selecting your item and adding it to your cart, the next page displays your shopping cart and in BIG GREEN letters at the very top… you are advised: what items are in your cart, what the cost of your items are, what your gifting options are, whether or not you qualify for free shipping, and your editing options
The most satisfying feature to me is that the next page either gives you an option to sign-in, sign-up, or the ability to continue without a password. At times, if I am forced to set-up an account I am discouraged and I almost never complete my order. The button on this page is also a nice feature as it advises that you are signing in using their secure server for your credit information. I am already a frequent flyer so my account comes up with all of my shipping and billing information.
The next page is a bit redundant but it verifies your shipping options, your shopping cart and once again it gives you gifting options. The next to the last page takes your credit information. Another nice feature is that the site retains your payment information as well as your gift card balances and your payment is as simple as a click. The last page gives you one last chance to view your order making certain all is in place and the last click is placing your order. After your order is placed, one last nice feature is that you are automatically sent an email that confirms your order and any tracking information.
Overall, Amazon.com is very user-friendly and there is not much thinking to it at all.
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Bi-Weekly Review 1
Barnes and Noble has an easy site to navigate and purchase items. While I was going through the site for a CD to buy, the search engine at the top of the page made the CD I wanted to show up fast and easy. Clicking on the item lead me to another page where it talked about the CD’s price, information and reviews another customers had wrote about it. The page also has a button to press to purchase the CD. The button lead me to a page where I can enter my billing address in along with buttons to go back and continue shopping or to continue to pay. The continue to pay button leads me to a page to enter the payment method along with shipping. To continue the next button leads us to the billing and payment page to make sure everything is correct, once I checked everything I hit the button to put the order through where the last page confirmed my order and had a link to send where I can print it out for my records. The site was really easy to use and user friendly.
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