Week 3

Oh boy, it's a Quiz! pg. 154
When you look at example "A" you see a web page that doesn't fit on the screen, length wise.  The links are centered on the page and too large.  This requires the user to scroll down in order to view all of the links.  Example "A" also has a disclaimer stating that their products are not available at this time, however, the user should go ahead and browse anyway.  Definite turnoff.   Example "B" fits nicely on the entire page.  All of the links use text and graphics and are arranged on the left side of the page, allowing the viewer to select a link from the entire list without having to scroll down.  Using graphics and text make the site more catchy and appealing to the eyes.  Example "B" also provides a text only version of the links at the bottom of the page for viewers that turn off their graphics when surfing the web.  This type of design is more appealing to the user due to it's simplicity for navigating the site and it's appealing interface design.

Will you be more critical of websites.....
Yes, I will be more critical of websites in the future.  It's like anything else, once someone points out a mistake or problem you become hypersensitive of it and try to avoid it in the future.  I realize now that I have allot more to consider prior to creating my website project.  Things you take for granted need to be considered.  How the site is laid out, color combinations, placement of the links, and making sure I include links that are text only allowing viewers who turn off graphics the same opportunity to navigate my site.  There is allot more to consider than I originally thought!!!

Additional comments on the readings
Chapter 7 gets to the point about how important it is to plan your website ahead of time.  Interface and Navigation play an important role in ease of use and how well the information you're looking to convey is displayed.  Repetition, such as keeping the links in the same location from page to page, allows the user to become instantly familiar with navigating through the website.  Using a familiar background color or design is another way to help the user become comfortable with using the site.   Lastly, as a web site designer, don't be afraid to view other web pages for ideas of what works and what doesn't.

Chapter 8 discusses good and bad designs.  When considering links, a good web designer will make sure their links are viable and working properly on a regular basis, otherwise, they will loose credibility and most importantly users.  I now understand how background color can effect how easy it is to view and read text on the screen.  Another thing to consider is that you're not filling the page with to much information making it hard to navigate through for the viewer.  I didn't really realize that scrolling sideways within a frame is a major turnoff to users and should be avoided until reading this chapter, make sense now that it was pointed out to me.  And finely, repetition and consistency are very important when a viewer navigates through a site.

The information in Diigo focused on criteria used to evaluate websites.  It's funny to think that someone who doesn't have credibility could post information on a website, but it's true.  Printing your opinions or information you deem interesting and informative costs money whereas posting it on line can be relatively inexpensive.  You really do need to understand where the information is coming from, who is the author, and whether or not it's bias in any way.  Knowing if the information is up to date or yesterdays news is something to consider as well.  Does the site provide that information?   With access to the world wide web, people can print just about anything whether its true or not, verifying the validity of the information can be difficult if you don't know what you're looking for.  One of the articles, published by Robin Williams, reveled criteria for both good and bad web design features which will be helpful for completing our website project.  I think the author of this article is the same author or co-author of our "The Non Designers Web Book".

What's your style: Organizing information for the web
It makes sense that you need to consider a non linear writing style for the web in order to keep it usable.  I'm a skimmer where possible, rarely do I read something completely unless it's a homework assignment (ha ha).  I agree that the designer has full control to make their site as easy to use and read as possible.  How boring and dull would the web be if it were just pages and pages of text from books?  I found it interesting that the author of this article compared writing for the web to writing for the newspaper, and this style of writing is referred to as the "inverted triangle" method.  Designers need to pull their viewers in a particular direction and provide the important information above the scroll area in order to keep their attention.  I can certainly see that you want to make your site informative and easy to follow and making sure that you organize your information in a particular way can help you achieve that.  All of this information will be useful towards completing my website project and I look forward to creating a "usable" and informative website.  This stuff is way more involved than I ever thought....

Lowe's website
I chose to evaluate the Lowe's website http://www.lowes.com/  The web page loaded very quickly even though there are graphics on the page, mainly pictures.  I like the layout of the home page and one of the most important links I look for is the "store locator" link, which is front and center on this site.  I like how they have an area that shows your hierarchy within the site. This make it easy to go back a screen or two without having to hit the back button on the browser.  Links to all of the departments are nicely located at the top of the page next to the search window.  Each page is set up the same and when you navigate to another page the top of every page looks like the home page, making it easy for the viewer to move from page to page regardless of what department they are searching in.  They use both pictures and words to identify the links making it very easy to distinguish between the various links.  I like this site because it's easy to use and the two key links I use the most are located at the top of the page, no need to scroll, especially when you're in a hurry!

The Home Depot's website
Since I evaluated the Lowe's website, I thought it would be a good idea to evaluate a competitors site.  The Home Depot http://www.homedepot.com/ website loaded very quickly even though they have plenty of graphics.  There navigation bar is located at the left side of the page and is easy to use.  As you navigate through the site each page is similar to the home page making it fairly easy to use.  This site also has and area that shows the users hierarchy or progress within the site.  Again this makes it easy to go back a screen or two without having to hit the back button on the browser.  The search link is located front and center which is nice and easy to find and use.  The "store locator" link is at the top of the home page, and every other page, however, it's not as easy to recognize as the Lowe's site.  Overall, I think the site is easy to use and navigate through.