I knew I would get around to food eventually…

Well it’s true. I love the Food Network. Love love love love love it. And since I don’t get to watch much TV (due to homework, other commitments etc.) it is usually the only channel I watch. I have often gone to the site to get recipes or check out when a show is going to be on-but not until recently did I look at it with a critical eye.

The top of the front page is great because it has the same background as the promo commercials on TV so I know I’m at the right website (because there are a TON of food websites). And the top navigation is great because it is split into three large sections “Recipes&Cooking, Shows and Chefs”. That does split up the website into what you want but sometimes if you get to excited scrolling you never see the top navigation and can get crazy lost-but I’ll get to that in a minute.

The top navigation bar has all similar buttons and they spring forward when you click on them which I like a lot (so I know where the heck I am), and all in all they are very easy to read. But as you begin to scroll down there are things jumbled everywhere and the writing is in blue and there are pictures bouncing around-yesh. Now it’s not too terribly bad they are just trying to stuff a ton on info on the page, which also leads to a big problem of this site the scrolling… Too much of it if you ask me, I think there are more creative ways to draw people to different parts of the site that just a mis-placed blurb that confuses you.

The recipe section is nice though, they all have pictures which I love-because I want to know what it is supposed to look like when I cook it! They also have this quick meals application where you just type in what you have and it finds a recipe for you!

Another thing this website is good at is that there are links all over the place. Once I leave the homepage I never have to go back again if I don’t want to because there are the top links still but also links to the chef that made the recipe or the show, tips and links to other recipes you might like. (Can get to be a bit much but this website just has so much stuff!)

All in all I feel there could be a bit more organization but the colors are right and so are the intentions. I’ll continue to use this site but maybe I should put something in their suggestion box

Will You Be My Valentine?

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, which means it is time for some delicious chocolate!  I love Dove’s dark chocolate, so I thought this website would be fun to analyze.  Just go to: http://www.dovechocolate.com/index.html.

The homepage is very creative and the designer did a great job marketing Dove’s products. The color scheme will catch the user’s eye right away because the differing shades of brown with a touch of yellow and red bring a warm feeling to the page. The background is textured like smooth chocolate, and moves the viewer’s eye to the body of the page.  The viewer will be very interested in the website right away because there is a short advertisement about Dove chocolate that starts playing as soon as the homepage is uploaded.

The navigation system is very easy to use because it is organized as an in-networked structure, and when users scroll over a category, more options appear horizontally underneath and not in a drop-down table that covers the contents below. Surprisingly, the designer chose to have the categories spelled in all uppercase letters, which is against the design rules. I actually like it that way because there is so much texture and brown movement going on in the background, that the capitalization with the lighter colored font actually catches the user’s attention.

The images are very crisp and cropped very clean, and I really like how some images have a shadow. If you look at the “OUR PRODUCT” tab, you can see that the designer took pride in his or her work with these images. You will also see how each image is in its own outlined box, and I think it emphasizes each product because if all the products were in one box together, I don’t think the user would be as drawn to each individual product. All of the chocolate images are thumbnails, and when users click on an image, more information is displayed about the product.

The “DOVE PROMISES” tab is quite incredible when it comes to design. It takes a long time to download the page, so residents of a rural community with dial-up connection will probably skip over this page of the website. Each chocolate piece is hyperlinked to a quote, and viewers can send these quotes to friends. There is a navigation system to the right that allows viewers to sort these quotes by theme.

I was very disappointed to find a misspelled word in this very creative and eye-catching website, and it makes me feel like the designer and the company should lose credibility. If you go to the “ABOUT CHOCOLATE’ tab and then click on “How Chocolate Is Made,” you will see that the very first headline reads, “THE COCAO PLANT” when really it should read “THE COCOA PLANT.”  It’s disappointing because the designer has created a masterpiece with all of the text aligned to the right, the correct amount of proximity between images and text, great contrast with the colors, and repetition of the navigation bar, background and original layout.

Overall, this website is user-friendly since the navigation system and the background repeat on every page. Users will not be confused of where he or she is within the website. Each page follows a visual hierarchy and is proportionate and balanced with pictures and text. The color, alignment and proximity are perfect. The designer just needs to double-check his or her spelling, but other than that, this website is very convincing and makes me crave for Dove chocolate!

-Elizabeth Heitkamp

IMDB

IMDB is The Internet Movie Database. I learned about this site from my roomate. He uses this site alot because he gets movies off of it and downloads them to a flashdrive for ust to watch them on the big tv, thur his 360. When I go to the site I look for new movies that I haven’t seen before. There homepage is very simple. The site is not just about movies, but it gives you all kind of media that you watch. When I look at this site and read things that catch my eye, I think it to be like the magazine Enertainmant Weekely. They both give you all in info about what you are interested in or what you are not. The site is basic and I live that about it! Give it a check you might find yourself watching new movies instead of doing homework.

Williams.2093

Case IH

www.caseih.com/northamerica/pages/home.aspx

I really like the Case IH website I scrolling pictures high light the current promotional events but yet highlight each product, I think it is nice to be able to scroll through the pictures at your own speed if you prefer.  The navigation to the site is easy to use. I like the main navigation across the top of the page and the page navigation across the side. When you click on the product the picture then appears which is great for product promotion.   I feel that this site is very easy and simple to use, the agricultural community can easily browse the site for equipment.  I feel that buyers can easily find products and information on each product.  The dealer locator is easy to find a dealer in every location.   The red bars at the top of each page provide uniformity, and the dark sides frame the page without adding too much clutter to the page. FC

National Swine Registry

Today, I was looking up some stuff on the website for the National Swine Registry and I noticed that it looked different from the last time I was on it, which wasn’t that long ago. http://www.nationalswine.com/ Every time that I had been on it, it usually looked the same but it was usually updated with whatever was going on, not that it needs updated that much since it mostly gives you info about NSR and the upcoming events, shows, regulations etc. I noticed now that it has a lot more stuff in the form of advertisements. I don’t really like it, I think it looks slightly unprofessional now. Before, it had everything for the four breeds that the NSR stands for and all the shows and events hosted by NSR or NJSA (National Junior Swine Association.) Now, I notice that Buyers Choice Auction has a big block right in the middle of the page advertising upcoming hog sales.
I don’t think NSR normally has advertisements on their website. In the past it has always looked very professional with links for the four different breeds with a picture by it as well as links for NJSA, Shows and Sales, Rules and Regulations, Entry Forms etc. A link for pretty much everything that you need. Everything is always very organized so you don’t have to search all around for what you are looking for. I also noticed that they now have a link for Buyers Choice Auction too. After clicking on this link I found that now they are in partnership with NSR. I don’t think NRS partnering with other organizations is bad but I would like to see their announcement on the home page be a little more professional. Or at least see the colors of the advertisement match the rest of the home page. It could be a lot worse but I just don’t really care for the way the orange of Buyers Choice clashes with the rest of NSR’s page.
I think that is probably my biggest pet peeve of the entire site. I’ve never had much of a problem with NSR’s website before. I think the only other thing that I would like to change is to see the links be a little bigger and maybe in a brighter color. The way they are right now doesn’t make them stand out very much. Other than that, I think everything is very well done. As it is the National Swine Registry, it should probably look pretty professional as swine breeders from across the country use this website and it’s services. Let me know what you think!

KH

Horse Breed Magazines

There are a ton of horse magazines out there. I get the American Quarter Horse Association’s magazine “America’s Horse” because I’m a member of the association. While the magazine isn’t my favorite, I like to stay up to date with industry news. Today I looked at their new website: America’s Horse Daily. And it still sucks. One of my biggest pet peeves is when there are ads above the header. I think that it makes the entire site distracting, and takes away from the main content tremendously.

I also don’t like how boring this site is. Everything is black and gray. Even though they have tons of thumbnails, I think the overall effect is cluttered and just generally, blah. So I went and looked up a few other breed magazines, and while they definitely aren’t perfect, they look like a professional actually might have designed the site.

The Appaloosa Journal (official magazine of the Appaloosa Horse Club) used blocks to break up the content of their site. Their header is right up at the top, no distracting ads above it, and there is one main image above the scroll. Even though their color scheme is mostly gray and white, OI think the aesthetics are much better, probably because of the excellent organization.

Finally, the Paint Horse Journal (magazine for the American Paint Horse Association) is probably my favorite. I love how the first page is all right there for me to see — no scrolling. The colors are much brighter, and I like how all the association links remain at the top. The main image is perfect, and draws my attention instantly. The Journal’s navigation bar is kind of cool — it moves to open and close, revealing sublinks.

Which one is your favorite?

Youtube

I was just looking up some music on youtube and watching some videos when I realized how useful youtube is. We look at youtube as entertainment values but it is also I good tool to broadcast information to inform the world around us what is going on. We can use youtube to get are messages heard. It is also very easy to use.

Mary Wyar Photography

I found this website, http://marywyarphotography.com, through a friend of mine on Facebook. Let me start off by saying that I love this lady’s work and that I think her photography is amazing. As for her website, there are some things I really like and some things I’m not so fond of. To begin with, I really like the color scheme of blues and yellows (am I still allowed to like these even though they’re the colors of the team up North?) with touches of tans and grays. These colors go together nicely and catch the visitor’s attention. Also, I really like the changing picture at the top of the home page. This is the main source of the website’s color scheme and another aspect that catches the visitor’s attention. Next comes the title/logo and this is one of the things I’m not all the fond of. The text color is too similar to that of the background color and this allows for the title to blend into the background. A bigger font size wouldn’t hurt, either. The only issue I have with the navigation bar is that I don’t care for the “tape” look that is on the left and right side (I’m not a big fan of this anywhere else it appears on the page, either).  Next is the body of the website which contains my biggest dislike. The font is way too small and should really be a different color. The small font and bad color choice is not very user-friendly to those with bad eyes and/or those unable to differentiate between similar colors. That being said, this is where my dislikes end. The photo galleries are very well done. Each picture is displayed in a thumbnail that allows the user to choose which picture he/she wishes to view and scroll through the rest using the arrows on the keyboard. The selected picture is prominently displayed in the center of the screen allowing for the entire photograph to be displayed at once without having to scroll up and down.

In general, this website is great for attracting potential clients. The navigation is very easy and useful and the photographs are well displayed.

SP

Insomnia Cookies

If you live on or around campus and have never had Insomnia Cookies, your life is missing something. Not only are these cookies a great addition to late night studying, their website is great as well! Click on www.insomniacookies.com and your cookie paradise awaits. On the main page cookies basically pop out at you on the screen. The home page has their deals of the day large enough for the viewer to see and then an option to pick what university you are at to begin ordering. The home page has just enough, not to many graphics and doesn’t seem cluttered. Navigation is easy once you click what university you are at. It takes you to your university specific page and you are ready to go. The cookie, brownie, deals, and beverages pages are displayed well. Each cookie option has a picture of the cookie beside it and a choice how many you want. Once the order is made, everything shows up in your shopping cart and you now have the choice of delivery or pick-up. The cookie graphic that looks like cookies are popping out at you runs throughout the site and definitely is a good marketing tool! Other great additions are that store hours, delivery times, and the fact that they are now expecting orders is displayed “above the fold” so the viewers eyes can see without scrolling. I would definitely suggest giving their cookies a try and also their website. It is a happy medium, not too crowded and not too little information and pictures. It is just simple, draws your eye over the page and a good site to display their product.

~Morgan

Game Over

I love to go bowling, so I thought I would critique a bowling alley in Versailles. You can review this website at http://www.mcboslanes.com/leagues.asp.

At first glance, this website seems amateur. The homepage needs its alignment adjusted, has two navigation systems that do not look the same, the hierarchy is wrong with the text going from small to big and there is an odd background design that fills out the screen to the left and right.

I think the designer had good intentions for the navigation system by making it an in-networked structure. The top navigation system is just a small section of the navigation system located to the left of the screen. I don’t understand why the designer chose to have two navigation systems that have the same categories repeat on the screen right next to each other. A second problem with the left navigation system is the varying sizes of the category buttons. The first four are huge compared to the following categories and have some strange pictures right under them. Another problem with this left bar is the unfinished categories. The bottom two categories are “Custom Page 9” and “Custom 10” and these two pages prove to me that this site needs help because one page is blank, another gives instructions for the designer and there is a misspelled word. If you go to the category “Bowler of the Week,” you will find another unfinished page that says “under construction.”  If you click on “Patio Contest Rules” you can read all about the contest, and then you can read that the drawing will be revealed on July 6, 2008. If I am not mistaken, I’m sure that we are in the year 2010 and that this page has not been updated in a long time. Another great category to view is the “Photo Gallery” where you can look at fun pictures with very odd titles above each photo, and then you will realize that the in-networked structure for a navigation system is gone.

Besides the navigation system having issues, the images that are not in the photo gallery are very small.  Most users would not be able to see whose picture was taken and there is not an option to make the images bigger.  The designer did not use the rule of thirds as well as he or she could have.

At this point, you are probably wondering if there are any positives to this website. Actually, there are some great points!  The designer made this site very basic so people who live in rural areas around Versailles can download this website easily, most of the text is big enough that anyone will be able to read the information, there are titles on every page and the designer did a great job with proximity because I never questioned what items on the screen go together. The bold red is also a vibrant color that is contrasted well with the white background and black text. This website also repeats with the same basic table system that helps balance the page between information and the navigation system.

I think that most users would find this site easy to use, but this website needs a more professional look to go with the reputation that this business has in Versailles and surrounding towns.