LIS 385T.6 Spring 2001
Heightened Awareness
DUE DATE: 3/7
Awareness of the effect of one's work is the first major goal of any emerging designer. Visit one of your favorite sites and describe why it works for you. Now find a site that repulses you and explain why it offends your aesthetic sensibility. Use graphics/design terms in your explanation.
http://www.flipflopflyin.com
It was hard for me to decide which page to discuss as one of my favorites.
There are sites that I visit daily for it's content primarily. I settled
on a site that I really enjoy that has interesting content but also a
nice design.
I discovered flip flop flyin last summer and I immediately fell in love
with it. When I first saw the site I knew that I enjoyed the look of it,
but because of this class and reading Mullet, Rosenfield and Tufte I am
able to articulate what it is about the design that works. I've moved
beyond "It just looks good". The main attraction of this site
is the section called "minipops". In this section the designer
has created mini pixelated versions of rock stars and famous people. What
is so fascinating about it is that many of them recognizeable even though
they are teeny tiny. Check out "funfunfun" and "special
things", here craig created little animations and stories that are
great and make you feel good inside.
Why it Works 1: I enjoy the clean layout and soothing, fresh green color
scheme. It has a clean aesthetic and minimalist design. He uses plenty
of white space to create a roomy, calm feeling.
Why it Works 2: The site is easy to navigate. Each menu option is located
in the bar above the content. The navigation is easy to understand and
it follows the "3 click test".
Why it Works 3: The content is well organized. The minipops are organized
alphabetically. It follows a formula which gives the site unity- on most
pages the left hand side of the screen contains writing about that section's
content and on the right hand side has the links and illustrations.
This site has interesting content, the layout makes it easy to navigate,
and the minimalist design makes you want to come back again and again.
http://www.leisofhawaii.com
I don't normally take note of which websites repulse me so I had to go
to a website that compiled bad sites in order to find one for this assignment.
Coolhomepages.com had a worst site archive which I looked through and
found this- Leis of Hawaii. My initial thought was "What isn't wrong
with this site?" Unfortunately, it is true that there is much more
to say about a bad design than a good one.
Problem 1: Graphically the designer made just about every mistake possible-
the gratuitous use of graphics, blinking and spinning animated graphics,
overuse of color (Why is there a rocket at the top of the page shooting
fireballs? Why is the background a space graphic? Why did they choose
such bright, offensive colors?) To add to the designer's over use of graphics
there are about 25 ad banners at the bottom of the page.
Problem 2: I had to go below the fold to find out what the Leis of Hawaii
site was about and still there was not a proper introduction to the site.
There was a guady gold sign saying "welcome" and the instruction
to "click on any picture below to start your trip to paradise".
At first I thought the site was a travel company, at no point in the index
page is it actually stated. I followed a link to discover that the site
offers "leis
greeting services"
Problem 3: There was no clear organization of the links. (Where was I
suppose to start?) They should have used a chunking technique to make
it easier for the user to know which links go together. Links were placed
randomly it seems. For example, the link "Clients Receive Silk Leis"
was in the same link list as "President Bill Clinton - In Honolulu,
Hawaii". There is a list toward the bottom of the page of all links
in the site. This list is not spaced or divided into any subcatagories
so the user must have a lot of patience to sift throught the list to find
what he/she wants. They might pass the "3 click test" but it
doesn't matter because the user can not find anything! Clustering similar
information together would make locating and remembering where things
are easier.
Problem 4: With the amount of information on this page, the designer should
have implemented a search tool. I thought the "directory" would
serve that function but instead I discovered it was more like a list of
Hawaii references and resources. For example when I clicked on "H"
I retrieved the following information "HNL 1997 CALENDAR - NORTHWEST
AIRLINES. The first ever All Male, Flight Attendant Calendar. Photographed
and produced by J. Murphy, also a flight attendant. HNL 1997 showcases
the exotic and often provocative men dedicated to serving you. All models
are stationed in Honolulu."
solutions?
The site needs a complete overhaul. I suggest that they take out the silly
graphics and banners, try to simplify the design by using more soothing
mininimal colors and smaller font size. The designer tried to put too
much information on the index page. He/she really should have tried to
space out info and place the links into catagories. Additionally, They
should have a search option. Fianlly, The leis service can only be ordered
by calling a 1-800 number. I suggest that they implement a form system
so that customers can order online.