Click to See Complete Forum and Search --> : website critique - go ahead.. kill it
my site: www.pacrimmushrooms.com be my guest for improvement ideas
fiend
06-29-2007, 06:12 AM
First things first: Where is the navigation? Am I supposed to navigate from the footer? This is a big usability no no. You don't want your reader to have to hit the back button to get back to the main category page. I see the callouts on the right side and guess these are supposed to be used to navigate the site, but they appear to be ads. I would consider adding a top navigation, even if it's just simple text links. I think most users will be expecting to see some form of navigation at the top of the page.
Overall look is ok. Nothing I haven't seen before. I would lose the background image and let the logo/title stand out. Brand your site! On that subject your logo is cut off at the top, could be a cross browser issue?(FF on Mac)
Your callouts on the right side (Bulk Orders, Shipping, etc) are a little hard to read and very generic. Make them bigger and more appealing like little ads.
Bottom line: Layout is fine, just some little tweaks and adding a top nav and I think your on your way. Good Luck!
mlevy
07-05-2007, 05:00 PM
Its kind of fun. I think the right bar would make more sense if it were on the left.
carter the artist
07-05-2007, 05:25 PM
This is actually something I'm trying to convince my boss about. The standard of a menu on the top or right side is pretty much expected by the masses. Truth is, most people don't want to spend too much time on a site. Just get what they want and move on. Yes, you want them to stay on your site for a bit longer, but not by confusing them. The smoother the experience the more positive they feel for your product. So, instead of trying to be "different" or "edgy" or whatever, put your menu on the standard top or left...
Now, can you do something different than that? sure, I've seen some succesfull sites, but that's a different topic.
just my two dubloons worth.
that mike guy
07-11-2007, 05:47 AM
you could have the menu follow you down the page maybe??
This is a common trend for many japanese and korean sites these days....dont know if we're caught up over here yet though....
The way the logo is cut off made me look for code errors, I thought the layout was gimped in some way. The logo size makes me think it was used to placate the client, not fit in the layout.
Side nav doesn't really look like nav. The picture really doesn't show off the product. The choices of "fresh" versus "dried" are clear, but uninformative -- doesn't persuade me to go deeper into the site. Visual weight of layout elements is off.
Golden Gourmet Mushrooms (http://goldengourmetmushrooms.com/) uses photography to good effect, explaining why you want to do business with the company.
Oregon Mushrooms (http://www.oregonmushrooms.com/default.aspx?) provide proper weight and proportion to layout elements like the logo, although product pictures could be improved.
Earthy Delights (http://www.earthy.com/Mushrooms__Truffles_C1.cfm) Understands the difference and distictions between graphic art and visual merchandising. Notice how everything from My Basket to Recipes are integrated into the layout in a use-centric way.
Sites are still developed in a competitive vacuum. You do not have to copy, but you do have to develop a competitive advantage. The site does not convince me it was developed with a singular clear purpose: to sell the product.
poolar
07-12-2007, 07:56 AM
Ok, are you ready? I’m gonna kill it. I realy like the logo! It’s nice, and you could have fun with it. Then we have the page, actually I hate it. Don’t like the color or the layout.. Sorry.. :) And it’s to white, you could do it realy nice, just because you have the logo. use it! :) Sorry about the bad English, I'm from Sweden..
Logoshed
07-12-2007, 10:33 AM
I kinda like it. But it is confusing, spend some time making it simpler to navigate or people will just go elsewhere.
The logo is probably the best bit... why dont we see if anyone can come up with a better logo using the basic elements of the existing one ie name and 3 mushrooms.
Post your entries here
abdul_al_jahir
07-12-2007, 11:03 AM
am also new to website design,but maybe i can say something helpful:
the "We supply the world with great tasting wild mushrooms and other forest
products from the beautiful west coast of Canada and the United States....
Enjoy!!" is the slogan of the company, or likely to be the first to introduce your site to the visitors, maybe you can make it more visible, its too light...
its important to highlight some slogan for the visitors to read, but making it almost hidden is not good.