BeckyBeamer/MAT165

Blog Topic #5: What is Usability?

2010-05-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

How user friendly is a website. That is it in a nut shell. Will the user get bored or frustrated before he finds what he is looking for. The user need to be able to get what she wants quickly without thinking too much. Websites made dummy proof.
This is an important topic of web design because if is not usable it won't be used.
There is a whole week conference dedicated to Usability:

The Usability Week 2010 Conference

This is a site that I find easy to navigate. There are a number of ways you can get to the same place so you don't have to look long to get where you want to go. This website also helped with the design for my final project.

Eddie Bauer

Blog Topic #9: Project Research

2010-05-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

In designing my final website for my friends real estate appraisal company I went to many site of other appraiser as well as sites of estate companies. Unfortunately there are not many "good" appraiser sites. Most of the ones I could find were done form the same template. I did use these sites to see what kind of information they included, how they divided the pages, and how things were worded. They were helpful in that regard. This is a nicer but unoriginal (same template) site that I found for appraisers.
California Real Estate Appraisers

Here is on that I thought was particulaly bad design:
Selover Appraisal Services
If Selover was my name I don't think I would use it in the title of my company. Too close to slovenly. The website I found to be too busy with no cohesion of color, bad flash and ugly typography.

I found that the real estate sites or sites that were selling real estate much more interesting design wise. This is a site I found during my research and liked. I liked it for it's clean simple lines that showed off the beautiful photos they were displaying.
Atria on Market

Blog Topic #8: iPoint Critique

2010-05-24T19:05:00.000-07:00

Sean Dianda 's Website The colors used on this site fit well with the corporate identity of iPoint. Although I really like the logo on this website I am not sure it is stuffy enough for the iPoint image as I saw it. Little too playful. The repetition of the globe and the logo is quite effective. The way the Services and Bio pages were set up interesting and successful. It is nice to see this information presented in a unique way.

Lena Pleick 's iPoint Website This is one of the most successful iPoint websites. The use of lines is particularly strong in this site. The curving lines of the staircase in contrast to the straight lines used to divide space on the page create interest. The colors used are cool and strong which is are harmonious with iPoint's image. The consistency from page to page make the site flow well. I felt the navigation bar did not fit with the clean fine lines of the site. I would like to see it incorporated with the circle and black thin lines on the left like on the Services page.

Riann Bender's iPoint Website I felt that this website did a good job of taking the input from "iPoint Advisors" and creating a website that fits the company profile. The site has simple easy to read format with images that add interest and help clarify the content. I liked the use of the orange pointed line that separate content. They take the color from the logo and continues it throughout the pages keeping the eye moving down the page as well as moving left to right with the kind of "arrow". I like the way the Services page separates the Private and Public Sector Services. The use of justified text though does not work on this page. It creates negative spaces interspersed in the text which is distracting. The color choice works. The orange has nice contrast with the grays. The only place it doesn't work is in the footer where there is not enough contrast with the lighter gray.

Becky Beamer Website My site is clean and simple. Maybe a little too simple. If I were to improve on it is would find a way to successfully add some images.

Dude this website is cool!

2010-02-02T16:38:00.000-08:00

This website really fits the theme "Dude this website is cool". I picked it out because it is so different from most of the websites out there. The use of real world textures and rough edges make this site look less boxy more visually interesting than most.

This is a website devoted to selling skate clothing and art designed by an artist. I like the fact that he can sell his art and clothing on the web and not have to sell it to a retail store.

The website does a great job of mirroring the casual haphazard style of the art and clothing.

Check out the website:
Seven Trees