I picked the Acura company website for a few reasons. First, it is a fully Flash website. The navigation, graphics and text are completely integrated into a Flash movie that displays features, pictures and other items for each of their vehicles and allows viewers to build and price their new car. The use of a completely Flash site both eases the navigation and use of the site but also creates issues such as browser and plug-in compatibility and bandwidth requirements. A slow connection with a fully Flash site will cause users to head elsewhere.
The first page is a splash screen which everyone hopes and wishes would go the way of the dinosaur. The resulting website allows for quick and easy navigation. Making the user launch the website adds a click to the navigation which could drive off the less than enthusiastic visitor. If left alone, the website displays the vehicles. The menu bar across the top takes the visitor through the different vehicles, allowing different aspects and features of the vehicles to be perused. The graphics are clean and blend well with the site.
Is the site useable? Yes, but the total Flash concept may not meet the capabilities of some users, both from the technology standpoint as well as the bandwidth issue. Oh, and the splash screen is unnecessary today. The splash screen was making an exit over the years and someone decided to revive them. Whoever did, please go hide under a rock.
Back to TopAnother fully Flash website, Mini USA starts with a splash page the quickly launches the Mini website. If your pop-up blocker is up and working, the website won’t launch. Acura got around this problem by getting the visitor to open the website. Once again, the bandwidth and plug-in requirements may drive off the average user.
The navigation bars are placed at the top and the bottom, like Acura, but with more options. The use of drop down menus from the top navigation bar can be slightly confusing and could cause problems for the novice user. The Mini site attempts to keep the user by offering things like an Owner’s Lounge. The graphics are well integrated to display the vehicles in their best lights.
The text is for the most part clear and easy to read except for the light gray which could be tough to see on some monitors. The usability of the whole Flash website is good, but the issues from the Acura site are still very prevalent and important to worry about. Granted, some websites created in Flash are done that way to either weed out the less desirable visitor or to attract potential customers, such as BMW.com. Another issue with the Flash sites is navigating back through the site. Using a back shortcut key makes the page disappear and it can not be refreshed.
Back to TopLong a favorite site of mine, the CSS Zen Garden has been an experiment in the use of CSS with a standardized HTML file. The HTML and CSS files are available for download so that people could try and develop new flavors of the site. The only restriction against the developer is that the HTML file may not be modified in any way. The challenge is open to graphic artists to build a new CSS file with all new images to create a brand new look.
The purpose of the site is to show that creating a new look for your web page or site does not require the painful creation of brand new HTML. The HTML, if coded properly, can be changed from one look to another almost instantly with a new CSS file and images. Within the CSS file, new colors, images and locations can be used to replace the older outdated ones without digging through every HTML file and hoping you've made all of the respective changes. This simplicity of change could allow you to have different layout and color schemes daily or whenever.
There is a cheater amongst the sites shown. Hen Garden does a very nice job of creating the text within images to replace the text of the HTML. Technically not cheating, but it does show how you can make almost anything happen using CSS. There are a couple of other designs that take advantage of this technique. In Hen Garden’s design, this was necessary to change the text to what the author wanted to convey.
Back to TopMSNBC.com is the leading news website on the web. Combining the news from NBC and its affiliates with the Microsoft connection, the website delivers a normally seamless source of news and information. The site loses an address occasionally and the news story for which you search cannot be found. The site is normally quick to load and easy to use. The navigation on the site consists of a menu list down the left side with a fly out menu for each section which can be disabled if desired and each headline listed being its link to the story. The multitude of news stories are separated in to sections that the story is related.
The site usually has limited graphics and at least one advertisement per page. The minimization of the graphics serves to allow more space for the headlines or the story. The usability of the site has issues due to the sheer number of links and stories to be found on the site. This may cause some viewers to become lost and leave.
Back to TopAmazon is a leading internet e-tailer. To be the leading e-tail website on the web, Amazon has had to continually revamp, upgrade, and innovate to keep their leading edge. The website has grown from the beginnings of a book seller to a full service store front. To accomplish this feat, they have partnered with other brick and mortar stores to bring their merchandise to the internet. This relieves Amazon of the inventory issues. Back to the website. The navigation is accomplished through the menu bar on the right hand side or through tabs across the top. The tabs across the top used to be listed by your most popular choices, but now contain only a couple of tabs, one of which lists all the store fronts on a pop up balloon. The main screen usually shows popular items in various store fronts as well as items that relate to previous searches you have made on Amazon. Amazon’s scheme is prevalent throughout the website and is well done.
Part of the retail environment is the sales and checkout features. The checkout process through Amazon is very well laid out and easy to follow and understand. The only flaw I have found is figuring out exactly how you are paying for something when you have a gift certificate on file. The rest of the process works well.
Back to TopMy creation from CS 538 class. All about usability.
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