The first site I chose was Manoloblahnik.com. This simple, but elegant, one-page website, is very limited in its design. The homepage has the title and global navigation on the left, and one photograph on the right. When one of the options is selected, another list of navigation appears to the right. The selected section changes so that the user knows where they are within the navigation. Once a final option is chosen, the content appears where the picture was on the homepage. The user is unable to scroll, and has to click arrow buttons to go back and forth between the content. This is especially frustrating when attempting to scroll through a body of text. The navigation is simple and easy, but accessing the content is difficult.
The total feel of the page is successful. The balance of content and navigation is the most unique part of this website, which is not seen very often. The flow of the content is unified until the “Where to buy” section is reached. The elegance of the page is lost, maybe because of the amount of content that is needed in this section. If this information were organized in the same way as the rest of the content, such contrast wouldn’t be noticed. Perhaps it is because this section is lacking a photo. With such a small amount of content, a small and simple layout works well.
In contrast, Thefryecompany.com uses a more generic type of navigation, one seen on most websites. The website name and the global navigation live at the top of the page. As one rolls over a section, another secondary navigation panel drops down. There one can select the type of shoe they are looking for. Upon selection, the user is taken to the next page, where the shoes are listed, and the global navigation header is highlighted. Options to refine the search, or customize the shoes via color, size, etc. are also given. However, there is no indication anywhere on the page telling the user what secondary navigation link they selected. The user could be in the new arrivals section and have no way of knowing so. Breadcrumbs are necessary when a website has a lot of content.
The layout here is nothing unique, as compared to the previously mentioned website. The navigation is at the top of the page, which was previously mentioned, and the content lives underneath of it. All of the options at the top of the page are very similar in size and color, which makes it hard to determine which are more important. As one gets further into the website, emphasis should be made on the global navigation so the user can easily get back to where they came from.
Both websites work well because they have two contrasting purposes. The first site is mainly for information, and the second site’s purpose is to sell something. As far as eye-catching, Manoloblahnik.com wins the medal. The user does not have to look around very far to find what they came there for, but on Thefryecompany.com things are a little different. There are many different things going on to distract the user, which takes away from the reason they visited the site in the first place.