Week 3 Part A: Aesthetics, Design, and Branding

The first website I chose to review was best-electronics-ca. This website is problematic from the jump which is such a shame because I think they probably meet the needs of a very specific customer base with certain needs rather than appealing to a wide ranging consumer base. Every visit to their website should be seamless because that will increase their chances of a sale, something small businesses should focus on. My first impression was that the website looked really spammy. I was hesitant to click on any links because I worried I might get a virus. This website does not come across as well-designed with the user in mind. I think with a bit of separation of information and a central navigation drop down menu all of the information could be sorted efficiently. It's really hard to find contact information which could put a user in touch with the suppliers. It could also use a really thorough proofreading. Some of the sentences are hard to read and communication preferences are confusing.

Once I took an initial look around and decided it wasn't a phishing scam I used the CRAPHTED criteria to evaluate. This website simply doesn't have a well thought out concept. It has no themes or messaging, it just is an infodump on a page. Maybe if I was part of their target consumer base I would find it easier to navigate to the sections I was looking for? They certainly have contrast but I wouldn't consider it particularly effective or easy to read! Most text is the same size and font, with differently colored hyperlinks sprinkled throughout. There are minimal images. and the ones that do appear are grainy and primitive. I did not notice functional or pleasing repetition. Again I was a bit nervous to click through links as it seemed like something that might not be the safest to browse. I suppose there is a bit of alignment and proximity in that related hyperlinks appear in the same paragraphs, but everything looks messy instead of clean. There is hierarchy in that the index and site listing appears close to the top of the page. The non-bolded typography was fairly easy to read but the bolded typography felt agressive. There was some ease of use in that the seemingly most important hyperlinks appeared near the top of the page but outside of that it was incredibly difficult to sort through the information. The depth of content was essentially nonexistent to a casual scroller. 

The second website that could use some work was Penny Juices. Penny Juices had some positive features but overall was not super user friendly or aestetically pleasing. It appears to be a small family owned buisness so I think that a professional and user friendly website would really benefit them. The first problem I identified was that the link to their X account was inactive. They need to update or remove. The second issue I identified was a lack of specifics about their juices. It gave vague information with zero information that would set them apart from a competitor. The third issue is that there should be an organized and easily accessible tab that you can access the various pages instead of having to scroll and click through.

This website did not come across as being well designed with the end user in mind. I think the presentation of the information failed the CRAPHTED criteria top to bottom which is a shame because I think with a few simple changes it could be much better. If I was to suggest three easy changes, I would index the pages at the top with a drop down navigation bar, update their socials and links, and highlight the infographic on the first page under the FDA banner. Currently if you click on that image you cannot enlarge it it simply navigates you to another page.

As for the websites that I found user friendly, I particularly enjoyed the NPS website. The concept was clear and well defined. I found they used contrast, proximity, and alignment well. It was easy to determine what portion of the website was for what purpose and to navigate within the pages with ease. Particularlly I loved their drop down menu. It was clearly designed with the end user in mind as it easily directed you to pertinent sections. I never felt myself clicking though erroneously.

I find their design and branding to be well suited to their mission and values. My major was in the Parks, Recreation, and Tourism department at the University of Utah so I studied a variety of national and state recreation websites and NPS is top tier. I liked the alternating black and white on the home page. I found the app integration/link portion super slick. It all looks professional yet accessible, a balance that can be difficult to achieve on government websites.

Finally, I evaluated the Apple website and found it to be one of the better ones on the list. I think Apple is known for their "sexy" and sleek marketing and their website really fit with that ethos. You can tell they have spent a lot of time and money making their website. It is cohesive with their overall branding and their products are advertised well without seeming too pushy. 

I've always been a fan of their product index, they have had it located on the top of the page for as long as I can remember. They also have an expanded topic database at the bottom of the page with hyperlinks. Sometimes I mistakenly navigate to the Apple homepage when I'm trying to log in to my iCloud but I still find it super easy to get where I'm trying to go. I think this is the best example of how you can design a super comprehensive website with a ton of information in a really user focused manner.

I love the aesthetics and design choices of this website. I especially enjoyed the movie-like graphics promoting the Apple sponsored Super Bowl show. It was clean, concise, and cohesive. As I scrolled to the bottom of the page there were a number of specific products highlighted but the simple and clean graphic design almost puts to rest your fears of consumerism (kind of troubling but still fun to look at). I loved the look of the scrolling highlight reel at the bottom that invites the visitor to click to find out more without feeling spammy.

Overall I think the biggest impression I came away with is that as a consumer it feels conforting to see a website that someone has obviously spent time, attention, and money on optimizing. With tools like Square Space and Canva I think it is not too big of an ask for small businesses to have visually pleasing and easily navigable sites. One of the websites I visited last week, Intermountain Food Equipment, is a small family-owned business that maintains a concise and aesthetic website and I know that they don't have the resources that Apple or the NPS has. It's doable and it really can mean so much for customer satisfaction and retention.