Week Three Aesthetics, Design, & Branding

http://www.gforceracecars.com/

What are the three potential problems for visitors.

The first area of concern I have with the site is the pop up (*featured products). Its distracting and unnecessary for most race enthusiasts (unless you have ADHD).  The second issue I have is that it scrolls down the page forever. This makes me feel like I’m following a “comments page” thread. Thirdly, the black back ground may lead you to believe that is what the client wants to see (to evoke an emotion of strength and speed) but I have personally spent time in the pits (Ed and Erice Hill) and the team focus leans more on points, stats, equipment consistency, etc. which should be framed as a graph with an easier back ground to see (less black).

What could be improved on this website and why?

I would create a matrix of the run times, track conditions, modification tweaks and results (expectations) of the day.

Choose two points and identify what they have done right.

The photography (color and clarity) and the “tool” YouTube links are spot on.

How does design, aesthetics and branding impact your reaction to the websites?

The template design is decent, but is isn’t broken down into separate content pages, it’s more like a comment thread. The aesthetics (images) are clear (which you would expect to see race cars racing). The branding tells me that these drivers go fast and endorse tools that are race proven (support) and universal enough for an everyday ASE tech to own and use.  My reaction to the site is mixed, there is nothing unique about it, so it blends in rather than stands out (of the crowd).

http://www.richsoil.com/raising-chickens.jsp

What are the three potential problems for visitors?

Three potential problems with visitors could be that the content is too busy (therefore, needs to contain only a paragraph per topic and then linked). Each new title could use an image (to support the thought or idea being shared) rather than being dog piled together down the thread of the page. Also, the images themselves are inconsistent (meaning that they are pull together from to many sources, themes, and resolutions).

What could be improved on this website and why?

The web site needs to feel a little more commercial (or updated) primarily because the narrator provides face to face instruction (for her students) and desires an online presence to be viewed.  

Choose two points and identify what they have done right.

1). The placement of The Respectful Chicken Harvesting (toward the bottom of the page) made a lot of sense to me. This YouTube video as a is by far the most emotional (and informative) perspective I have ever seen regarding this subject. As a side bar, It really made me pause and think just how detached most of us are when it comes to eating a vertebrate (therefore, it got me thinking—good job Chris).

2). The second area of the site I really liked was The raising chickens graph. Why? Because the grand summary was simple to navigate, quick to understand, and easy to make decisions from it.

How does design, aesthetics and branding impact your reaction to the websites?

The design doesn’t feel professional enough so the colors could become distracting and increase the bounce rate. Also, the site could become encumber some to a new comer (not fully understanding what questions to ask and where to find them). Finally, the branding isn’t that consistent (images are from too many different styles which again, could make it distracting). But overall, my reaction to the site was good, only because I like chickens.