Need feedback on some websites

[Ellie]

Hi, I need some feedback on some example websites for a record selling company.

Anyone feel like doing some questionnaires?  :thumb:

These are just examples made in publisher (and print screened into paint so I can upload them without making them int websites or huge pub files).

http://www.vengeance-rpg.com/school/example1.PNG
http://www.vengeance-rpg.com/school/example2.PNG
http://www.vengeance-rpg.com/school/example3.PNG
http://www.vengeance-rpg.com/school/example4.PNG

(I hope they uploaded ok, I can access my hosting company's site, but not my own site. Stupid school blocks!  :tongue

And yes, this is for school work.  :tongue:

Oh and the questions:


==================================================

1) At first glance, which of the homepages do you prefer?

2) Do you think the logo looks best on the left, or centre?

3) Should the links be along the top, left, or right?

4) Should I include a top list of records on the homepage?

5) Do you think the Google ads are distracting?

6) Should the links be in a seperate block (i.e. the first example)?

7) Which colour works best for links (black or white)?

8) Do you prefer the block colours, or the gradients (like in website 3)?

9) Everything taken into consideration, which is your favourite web page?

10) Does the contest idea appeal to you (ie. page 4)?

11) Do you have any further ideas on how to improve the web pages?

 

[Despain]

that yellow is fucking disgusting. pick a totally different color scheme

 

[Ellie]

The yellow and red is what we were given to work with. (We're supposed to be working for a client).

 

[Despain]

then smack the client in the face and tell them that they don't know what they want (the customer is very rarely right)

 

[holloway]

Pick different types of red and yellow then, those are horrible.

 

[$t3v0]

I agree with holloway. Chhose alternatives to the colours set. They're way too vibrant to be accepted as a website.
As for your questions:


1) At first glance, which of the homepages do you prefer?
example1.png

2) Do you think the logo looks best on the left, or centre?
Left.

3) Should the links be along the top, left, or right?
Left.

4) Should I include a top list of records on the homepage?
Entirely upto you. If you feel it would be useful, then yes.

5) Do you think the Google ads are distracting?
Only because they're the same colour as the links. Make your links different or change the ads

6) Should the links be in a seperate block (i.e. the first example)?
In my opinion, yes.

7) Which colour works best for links (black or white)?
Well you have to alternate depending on the colour you're using for the content box. In my opinion, neither. White and black are the two most popular colours of default text in websites, So I'd suggest something entirely different.

8) Do you prefer the block colours, or the gradients (like in website 3)?
The gradient.

9) Everything taken into consideration, which is your favourite web page?
example1.png

10) Does the contest idea appeal to you (ie. page 4)?
Contests are always good. But first you need traffic.

11) Do you have any further ideas on how to improve the web pages?
1. Change the colour tones
2. make things flow a little better ie. compose the placement of things a little more carefully
3. Make things a little more appealing. It looks like a site from 1993
4. I could make this site entirely in paint. That's not good.
5. Add images that make the site more "what it's about"

 

[Ellie]

"4. I could make this site entirely in paint. That's not good."

Well, the idea is this is a publisher mockup before we start coding the website at all. It's supposed to just be block shapes, and colours, as a sort of electonic draft. I added the text and widgets and shiz in to see what it'd sort of look like.

Hmm, the yellow is a lot brighter now that I look at it at home, for some reason these pages look completely different on our 6 year old school computers.

Thanks for the help though.

 

[Fido]

1. Tell the client they are fecking retarted.
2.  #3 is the best.

 

[Ellie]

I would do if my "client" wasn't my IT teacher who'd probably kick me off the course (Yes, he really owns the company the site is for though. He has like 2,000 records in his inventory and that all goes in like a month.)

Would it help if it was a different tone of yellow?

 

[Sonata]

Would it help if it was a different tone of yellow?

Pick different types of red and yellow then, those are horrible.

 

[Fido]

Yeah, the yellow is absolutely horrendous, but the customer is always right, and in the end, they will get ridiculed for the color choice, not you.  But, I would recommend giving them a gentle nudge, but don't push it.

 

[___]

If you're told you're given yellow and red to work with that's one thing, if you're told you're given those precise colors that's another thing entirely.  Either way it's really tough to work with but I'm going to go against the flow and say the ketchup-and-mustard look isn't entirely bad.


1) At first glance, which of the homepages do you prefer?
I liked three overall best, if I had to pick.  Your layouts in general need a lot of work though; alignment of elements is way off so that they generally come out looking busy and thrown together.  As a general rule try to envision the whole page chopped up into a set of columns, and fit elements into them regardless of what part of the page they belong to; this will result in a nice, clean, organized looking page.  The first thing you're probably thinking is "why would I limit my design like that" but learn the column structure, why it looks good, and its variations before you go breaking it.

2) Do you think the logo looks best on the left, or centre?
I prefer top leftish logos because for better or worse this is where the human eye tends to go first, at least for left-to-right, top-to-bottom reading cultures.  You want your logo to be a big part of the first impression, on a commercial site especially.

3) Should the links be along the top, left, or right?
In my opinion this is all a matter of what works best on the page.  I actually personally like links on the right because that jives well with my brain feeling like my right hand and thus my mouse is happier on the right side of the screen, but I think that's just a strange quirk :D 

What you need to consider is how the eye is going to flow over the site according to what is the most interesting stuff you give it to focus on; for me, on #3 it would be the logo, then the pictures on the right, the ad banner, followed by the rest of the site.  This is a subconscious behavior so you can depend on it working pretty consistently. 

Once you've got an idea of that in your head, figure out how important the links (or rather, how important the pages they link to) are, and how soon you want the user to see them; once you've got that you should have a good idea of where to stick them and how much to make them stand out.

4) Should I include a top list of records on the homepage?
On a record site, I would say almost definitely.  You want your product to sell, right?  You can't even interest the majority of your visitors in it if they don't see it right in their face on the first page.  Unless the focus of the page is something besides promoting sales, you definitely want a product sample right there in plain view.

5) Do you think the Google ads are distracting?
Yes, but as ads go they beat the fuck out of banner ads, or worse, pop-up ads, or even WORSE pop-over flash animations, the creators of which should burn in fiery hell FUCK*O(#$#($#)(*#$(*&@(*$& I HATE THEM...

Sorry about that.  If you have to have ads, and you need to get them clicked on, the way you have them placed in #3 is decent.

6) Should the links be in a seperate block (i.e. the first example)?
This goes back to #3: the more visually interesting your links are the faster the eye will make their way to them; the faster that happens the more likely the user will be to click on them because they look interesting than finish looking at the main page.  If what you're doing is all right there on the front page and the links are just miscellaneous info, probably keep them subtle; if your main page is just an overview for a much deeper structure make them big and interesting and give them their own space.  Your link bar in #1 however, I hate to say, is yewwwwwgly and completely destroys the rest of the layout.

7) Which colour works best for links (black or white)?
If your only choice is black or white, pick the one that contrasts the most with the background color, imo.  Otherwise, somewhat more subtle color tones (this goes for the whole site) will be less like a punch in the face than either of those colors :/

8) Do you prefer the block colours, or the gradients (like in website 3)?
I think plain gradients are tacky and you'll probably grow out of them, however the top bar in 3 looks okay with the flat logo and the ad bubble over it.  A graduated blend between colors looks much nicer with some texture to it; gradient halftones would probably look really cool with your stylistic choices.

9) Everything taken into consideration, which is your favourite web page?
3, overall.  The layout is cleaner, the visual flow is much better.

10) Does the contest idea appeal to you (ie. page 4)?
To be honest between the colors and the layout I never got that far.  I skimmed down past the picture over about half the record name list and said "hmm okay, I'll get back to that" and then bounced over to that big fat play button and never really came back.  So yeah, if you want any attention for it you need it to be somewhere where people are likely to read it; beyond that, promotions are great when you're trying to get some user participation going.

11) Do you have any further ideas on how to improve the web pages?
Pretty much contained in the rest of my comments, have fun reading ><

 

[holloway]

The most simple method would be using an almost white yellow as the "background" sections and a faded red shade for content boxes. You could make a very nice layout from those.

 

[Roph]

If I had to make things like that, I would rather not have my name on them =o