Week 3 - Principles of Good Website Design

Our task this week was to pick two websites to review that are bad and give reasons why they are bad.  Then we choose 2 websites that have good design and give reasons why they have good design.

Bad Design
http://www.exmouth-view.co.uk/
This is the website for the Exmouth View Hotel in South Devon, UK. This website looks like someone with no web experience designed the page. Some of the problems with it are:

• The page doesn't size to the browser window, so you have to scroll to the right. There are html tags that can resize the site as the window gets bigger.
• The dancing palm trees and waving flags are low quality and look cheap.  Instead, they should focus on quality images that people care about, like what the rooms are like.
• It looks like they tried to dump everything on the first page, and it scrolls down and down. Some organization of the information so you can find what you're looking for would help.
• This is a family hotel, but it doesn't mean you just put up pictures of your family. Most people aren't interested in their family, they should effectively use pictures that people would find valuable.
• I found it funny that at the bottom of the page was this reference. Maybe they should take the hint!

Special Thanks to : Vincent@webpagesthatsuck.com For the Free Advertising !

http://www.roverp6cars.com/
This is the website for MGBD Parts and Services - Rover P6 Parts Specialist in the UK. This site looks like a kindergarten student drew it.  Some of the problems are:

• The colors are horrible. They are really brash and they collide and don't look nice together.  It's difficult to read some of the text and other parts are too loud. They need to look beyond the highlighter colors to the color wheel and choose some that compliment and contrast without being ugly.   Actually their parts store page is designed better, but that just makes it more offensive when you go to any of the other pages.
• The image of a car behind the buttons doesn't work. It's difficult to read the text, it's ugly and it doesn't look professional. At least they tried to give the viewer a way to more directly access the information that they need. They should take the car picture out from the buttons and use a professional button picture, or make tabs or a top menu.
• Their pictures are all off to the side. Maybe they could highlight a few pictures that are relevant and wrap text around them to describe how they are important.
• The length of the web page is too long.  They need to leave some of the content from the first page for the menu items. It's just too much to absorb.

Good Design
http://www.apple.com/
This is Apple Inc.'s website. They are leaders in computing and design, and it shows.

• The web page is clean and crisp with vivid images.
• The branding for Apple is clearly visible. The brand is so well known and trusted that it makes you feel at home when you visit their site. The clearly show the Apple branding everywhere.
• There is an easily visible and easily accessible menu at the top of the page. This menu bar and the apple logo are consistent on every page.
• There is a nice collage of high quality photos that allow you to drill into their product lines. This is a simple way for viewers to easily find where they need to go.
• The website resizes with the window so you can see a complete picture of the page no matter what your screen size.

http://www.ford.com
This is the website for the Ford Motor Company.  This is also a large professional company, and their website reflects that. Some things I like about this site:

• Clean, simple design. The focus is on the cars they make and nothing else. The photos are high quality and attractive.
• The Menu Bars allow visual choices. When you hover over a menu item, it visually shows you the breakdown. For example if you hover over the Car menu item, a further drill down is shown for each of their car lines, complete with pictures, so you know where to go.
• It's interactive. It will allow you to custom tailor the car that you want. You can see everything from specs to detailed photos of the car, so you can decide what you want. Even color variations are available.
• It knows where you are. It auto magically fills in the zip code where you are and tailors your experience to that zip code.