The two websites I chose to compare were Six Penn Kitchen and Bravo Franco Ristorante.

Six Penn Kitchen’s website has really nice balance.  The logo in the center and the top left make it very clear as to what website you are on.  The text size compliments each other well with the use of Larger text with titles and smaller text as a description.  The text is also easy to read straight from my computer screen.  Each page also maintains incredible unity.  This is created by the use of color and type fonts.  The green and white lettering along with the consistent type family make a very cohesive site.  The emphasis on the site really focuses on the food, which is ultimately what creates a customer for the business.  There is also an emphasis on free wifi, which seems odd to me considering the type of restaurant I think it is.  The basic layout of the site was also very good.  As a first time user of the site, the navigation was very clear and easy to understand.  At no point did I get to the “thoroughly frustrated” part of the shopping experience.  It was only the “leave happy” experience.

Bravo Franco Ristorante’s website also has descent balance.  Its logo is only in the center and not on the left side, which is a little less clear, but still okay.  Their website also maintains unity throughout by using white, red, and tan colors on every page with a logo.  The same text is also maintained throughout.  The emphasis is on the food, the atmosphere, and more food.  The emphasis also make it clear that it is a pasta and steakhouse Italian restaurant.  The layout is very well done with clear headings.  The navigation was also fairly simple and easy as to not make me think.

When implementing Krug’s trunk test, the sites are very similar.  When it comes to site ID, both websites do very well.  Bravo Franco puts the ID in the center and makes it very large, while Six Penn puts the ID on the center and the on the top left.  The page names for Bravo Franco are much better and much more clear than Six Penn.  Bravo Franco’s page names were clear and were exactly the same as what the navigation says.  Six Penn’s page names were unclear and were either not there, or differently named from the navigation.  With this, the sections and subsections are clear and easy to recognize on both websites.  This is especially evident with Bravo Franco in the menu section, with subsections for a lunch and dinner menu.  The local navigation for both websites is based at the top of the page and features no jquery.  Both are clear thanks to the mouse button turning into a hand from an arrow.  Neither site has “you are here” or “search” indicators, which may not be necessary due to the nature of it being for a restaurant.

Ultimately Six Penn has the clearly better website in my opinion.  I think it is mostly due to the color scheme in order to make the website look slick and new which makes the idea of going to the restaurant more attractive.  Bravo Franco’s site looks old and boring because of the color scheme.  The white and tan colors are simply uninteresting.  A criticism I have of Six Penn is that it brings a huge attention to free wifi, which is confusing due to the nature of the atmosphere of the restaurant.  I know if I went there, I would not want to see people using wifi on their phones instead of actually talking to people.  At the end of the day, Six Penn did what the ultimate goal of this class is and that’s to not think when you are using a website.  Their website was easy and clean and involved very little, if any thinking.  It also directed my “lack of thinking” into an idea of hosting events at the restaurant and how easy that was.  Both are very well made sites, but Six Penn definitely has the edge and puts the icing on the cake!