Blog Week 3 Post A

1. Choose two websites that you see as having issues to use and poorly designed overall.

Atari Best Electronics

• Identify at least three potential problems for visitors.

- Poor home landing page. Confused, large font text, inadequate layout, bad first impression for visitors.

- Menu page not friendly. Hard to find products/parts.

- No make an order button or it is almost impossible to find it (if there is one).

• Do these websites come across as being well designed with the end user in mind or not?

- I think the problems listed above are critical. It is very difficult to navigate on this website. Poor aesthetics, the quality of the content do not offer useful information. The poorly constructed areas will leave visitors frustrated and encourage them to leave.

• What could be improved on these websites and why would these improvements help?

- This website needs to be fully redesigned to survive as an online business. As it is, there is no way to improve. Must start over from zero.

Gates N Fences

• Identify at least three potential problems for visitors.

- The home page has too much information and not a clear menu to select product categories

- Product images do not offer detail and quality. Customers may not feel confident to make a decision and purchase. The lack of trust will make customers go after competitors.

- These are mainly custom products. Although online orders are available, in general, there are details and specifications that must be confirmed and price estimated to make customers confident and avoid surprises. Their contact page however, requires a great level of specifications, which potential customers may not have yet. Customers may give up and not send their contact (phone and email) for a salesperson follow up.

• Do these websites come across as being well designed with the end user in mind or not?

- I believe this website was designed with the mind of a technician and industrial manufacturer. Many information and technical details, but not functional for the customer. It is not visually appealing, polished and professional. It does not assist the customer guiding him through all the different company offerings.

• What could be improved on these websites and why would these improvements help?

- Improve design and make it functional. Using more white (or neutral colors) space, uncluttered layouts with quality photographs and graphics look will let the company’s message shine through and substantially improve the user experience. Work with marketing ideas to make a more inviting and easy-to-use contact form. Make it easy to engage, offer multiple points of contact: phone, email, social media. A Google map is a bonus. Open the doors for new clients.

2. Choose an additional two websites that you find easy to use and well designed.

Toyota

• Identify what they have done right.

Nice layout, excellent product images and videos. Easy navigation and friendly menus. Their shopping tools: build and price, search inventory, find a dealer, brochures and others, are functional and fast.

• Why do these websites come across as being well designed for the end user? Explain.

- It offers all information necessary for a customer to learn about their portfolio of products. It is succinct, interesting and new. The information comes on a series of subsequent stages as customer clicks and deeps into the product with a clear hierarchy. Everything supported by consistent professional images and written descriptions.

• How does their use of design, aesthetics and branding impact your reaction to these websites?

- The site is extremely professional, high quality and user friendly. It reflects the company, the quality of the products, services and ultimately the brand – one of the top three top selling automobile manufacturers in the U.S. and in the World.

Apple

• Identify what they have done right.

- The design of the website is focused on making it easier to navigate through different product categories. In Apple’s top menu bar, you see dropdown menus with quick links to more details on that category of products. Still, it is designed with an abundance of visual images and effects to show off their unique product design. Shopping tools are professional: easy product selection, clear descriptions, price information, shipment options, bag review and payment options.

• Why do these websites come across as being well designed for the end user? Explain.

- It offers all information necessary for a customer to learn about their portfolio of products. It is succinct, interesting and new. The content is informative but visual at the same time. Shopping tools are professional: easy product selection, clear descriptions, price information, shipment options, bag review and payment options.

• How does their use of design, aesthetics and branding impact your reaction to these websites?

- Stylish. Apple counts design as the foundation principle. It is the starting point of their development process for any new product. The gold standard in industrial design. Their website is no different.

3. Final wrap up paragraph on what you learned regarding the impact that the design and aesthetics made on you.

- Design and aesthetics have a profound impact on how users perceive information, learn, judge credibility and usability, and ultimately assign value to a product. A well-designed website can help form a good impression on prospective customers. It provides good user experience and helps website visitors access and navigate it with ease. Style does not replace substance, but style and substance in balance work much better.