Client Site Crit
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- sofakingbanned
My QBN home boys I would like your opinion on a site design I'm working on.
First off let me start by saying Im mostly a print designer so Im still getting the hang of designing sites so if you guys see anything off or can suggest a different approach from your experience I would really appreciate it.So heres a couple facts about the company and project:
- The company optimizes, maintains and designs websites for car dealerships.
- They dont really focus on selling the site design, mostly their money maker is the content management and SEO stuff. Thats all these dealers care about.
- The main objective is to focus on the different "products" the company offers to make the dealers sites successful by generating more leads and sales. for example: SEO, Site optimization, virtual showrooms, etc.
- My idea is to create icons for all these products and give the client explanations of what they do to help their business... without losing their interest by slamming them with words and terminology they know nothing about. Thats what the blue icons are, i haven't designed them yet, they are place holders.
- the boxes that say "link goes here" are just an option if they want to put a link for lets say... press releases or something like that. its kind of an after thought as you can tell.
- They have a really bad logo so im removing it so we can focus on the actual webdesign (i'm working on getting them to redesign the logo)
- that main blue area is a bit of a place holder image... we plan on having 3 slides with graphics similar to these and pictures of cars.heres 2 competitors sites:
http://www.dealer.com/
http://www.ebizautos.com/Thats about it...
Comments and thought are very welcome and appreciated.
fyi the company likes the site, only a few minor tweaks but I have freedom to keep improving as i see fit.
- hilchev0
imo it is a bit sterile, try introducing one more color like orange or yellow?
also I am guessing you are working on a large display. have you tried it out on smaller resolution?
- sofakingbanned0
I hear yea it does seem a bit sterile... do you think by adding different colors and pictures to the main image area it will be more interesting?
or does the site need a different color added in general... like rollovers, buttons, text, etc.
- hilchev0
not sure, if you add a large image, blurred under the text, instead of the blue screen it might work - but then this would totally change your initial concept.
You can try something with green and orange colors for the smaller pictures to give it depth.
I wouldn't touch the text, it is fine. I think it is just something very small that is missing...
The drop-down menu is really good!
- whatsup0
Just off the top of my head, here are a few things I saw.
SPACING
The cell spacing all around the site is a huge waste of real estate. I think you can bring this down by 80%.TYPE SIZE
I think the links on the bottom can be a bit too small.BOTTOM ROW
You have a 4 rows of columns of links, but you have a column for contact information that is in the same style and color as the left links, giving me an impression that the fourth column is another set of links to be clicked, which its not.CONTACT
You have this information scattered everywhere on the homepage. You have the phone number and link to a contact page in the navigation, then present it below, and will have its own page. It seems that it doesn't need to be repeated below. Also, it's questionable who I am contacting. Theres a mailing address and phone number, but who does this belong to? The company, if so what division, department. is it customer service. It's a bit mysterious.LINK GOES HERE?
Are these supposed to correspond to the above images or are they links to different destinations?IMAGRY
Is this a website for a car company or an internet solutions company? As a client/user i'd be confused.
- rascuache0
I'm sure the content is just placeholder, and this might more their responsibility than yours, but anyway:
Were it not for your description I wouldn't have a flipping clue what this company did. Should there not be a brief description of the services the company provides, perhaps rather than the slightly cryptic stats-based sales pitch.
- Forgot to say it looks really nice all the same :)rascuache
- harmsie0
I think the layouts looks nice and clean
I think the footer is neat if you feel the 4th column is confusing with contact information and not links you could add a link to a general contact email address.
I think the "Link goes here" boxes should be the same size as the image columns above it I don't think they work being slightly different sizes.
I definitely think it needs some brightening up with different colors in it as its a bit too stark Can you pull any colors out of the other slide graphics?
Also I'm not sure how it will look with their logo, even if it is terrible it should be incorporated in to the design as it might end up looking like a template that they have just stuck there logo on, Plus you might get some color inspiration out of it, who knows
- Sorry also should say though generally very slickharmsie
- pillhead0
"IMAGRY
Is this a website for a car company or an internet solutions company? As a client/user i'd be confused."I was thinking the same thing when I first looked over the design, it's not really saying internet solutions company?
- whatsup0
There's so much one can say unless the entire design comes out. Such as establishing the hidden business of the site, Car or internet. Logo. Solutions. Which is cool, cuz that can be distracting for this crit. BTW- I would get rid of those useless blue bars in the main header. Also the bar to separate the logo/ phone number from the navigation.
ICONS
We have facebook and twitter, one is spelled out fully, the other is not. Why not choose one or the other, or both. For some users, they will not know what that "T" stands for.As far as that 3rd mysterious icon....what the hell is that?! :)
Also that separator says the left hand side is raised and had a straight edge therefore giving priority to the left suggesting it is on top.. is this on purpose?
I know this right hand column is a subscription area. Why not add forms boxes here, unless you need to take them to a very complicated form fill page.
Is there need for another logo on the bottom? Do i really need another reminder here that I didn't leave the site, or what site I am on? more than likely, I'm still on the same page. I did not leave the Nissan page.
DEPTH USAGE
Really like the colors used here, especially to make give the feeling of depth for all areas. I'm a bit concerned about the mid area where you give the users this reflective floor and somehow this transitions to flat.... But I see the diamond reflection brings out the suggestive transparency vs the ambiguous depth. wall vs ceiling effect.again, the eye sore "link goes here boxes." It would look better without these here.
VIEW OUR SOLUTIONS
I see you have 4 main categories of information, "seen, being found, interact, evaluate" all confusing... i don't even know if they make sense, especially without proper images underneath. I see you have placement icons. However I would highlight and distinguish the fact there are 4 categories here. This was too hard to figure out at first glance because instead i saw ten icons. Also, I would match the lighting used as the shadows are too dark. in comparison to the rest.DROP DOWN
The child labeling organization is a bit dark. Also why not provide this same organization to the bottom set of solutions? I also see that you've used that same organization method from below. seen found, interact, evaluate, etc..." it's over excessive use of categorization, that really kills me.Also the highlight color used on the home button is the same color as solutions rollover. That's telling me that they're both selected. One should be an off color.
POP UP
It sucks that the popup covers the user's next possible selection. Only if I rollout will I know what is behind door 2.Anymore that can be added here? BTW- if you've gotten this far, I think the site is very beautiful. I like the cleanness of the page, it could use a human side though. It's a bit cold and empty right now. These are some more of my suggestions for this page.
- dMullins0
I think some of your design elements are nicely treated, but I agree with some previous comments that it does lack a bit of brand personality.
www.eloqua.com might be a good reference regarding lead generation.
Good start!
- sofakingbanned0
Awesome. Excellent feedback guys. let me try to address some comments.
> whatsup:
- The spacing issue is something I plan on addressing... i think its something very minor as I feel things look better with a little breathing room.- The contact column in the footer area will have more detailed info such ass sales email and number, customer service, etc. a lot of this content is dummy copy fyi
- Link Goes here: These are separate from the boxes above, i totally hear what you're saying, they do look like they might have something to do with the 3 panels above. Like i said these were an after thought and it shows, I will most likely remove these or place them somewhere else... I also don't like how they take away from the reflection effect from the 3 panels above.
- This is an internet solutions company for the automotive industry completely focused on dealerships. which I don't think I'm doing a great job of giving the company an automotive personality... i think i focused to much on the internet solutions approach... I hope to fix that in the main image area with some nice automotive hero shots.
- "useless blue bars in the main header" I did try a layout without the bars but it didnt look good. the bars help give my 3 elements some stability and a sense of placement... without them the elements were just floating... maybe it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the phone number on the right had side. as you can see theres a big empty space under the logo... without some sort of visual division the composition looks really off... not to say this is the best solution.
- Icons: good catch on the facebook a twitter deal, you're right i should pick one or the other... I think if you don't know what that "T" you probably don't know what twitter is, also there will be support copy on the right. The 3rd icon is for theyre newsletter... i told you their branding sucked lol I will most likely come up with a different solution for this...
- leave my separator alone, yes its on purpose lol
- Good call on the subscription area. I agree forms boxes are a much better way to go... lets see what the client thinks.
- Depth: cool im glad you caught the fact that the 3 boxes are grounded and the top box has a transparent float to it. Like you said my biggest problem in that aspect is those 3 boxes on the bottom. gone.
- "seen, being found, interact, evaluate" these are a bit confusing... but not so much for the client... because these are their main concerns. They are coming to this site because they need someone to help their web presence. So A) They want people to see what they offer.. basically an on line version of their showroom "how do i represent my inventory online?" B) they want to be found. "how do i get people to my site?" C) they want to be able to interact with they're clients... specially for service specials and such "how do i keep my customers informed about whats new and what specials we have, how do i keep them coming back?" D) they want to know what people are looking for and what works as a marketing tool " what are they searching for, clicking on and where is my online traffic coming from"
So i think this is a good way to present this information... maybe the "view our solutions" tag line could be better thought out.. i do think that could help eliminate some of the confusion.
i will consider making the separation of the features different or better... maybe the icons change color depending on the section they fall under.
Yes i know the reflection is to hard, im gonna fix it.
- Drop down. I want the dividers to be dark because I don't want them to be confused as links. As for the bottom i did consider doing it but this bottom section is more of a site map, this area allows you to reach any part of the site without any window dressing in the way. view it as a site map. straight to the point. also I have those dividers displayed 2 times, the chances of them not seeing those first are super low.
- I hear ya on the main nave "home" highlight. I think about that.
- the pop up im ok with, as soon as you roll off the icon the box will disappear... its not like theres any text for the view to read under the box anyway. but look at my layout, do you have a better solution? Im open for a different approach.
- i agree it needs a little something... just not sure what... ill play with it some more and Ill add the special soul its missing right now.
> rascuache:
- Like I mentioned above, I plan on adding automotive hero shots to the main image area to give the site an automotive personality... or do you think other areas need to be tweaked as well to accomplish this?> harmsie:
- I like the idea of incorporating a new color... just not sure how or where... I gotta play around with it some more and think about it... any suggestions?- The logo is incorporated in the design, i just took it off for this crit. Its mainly a letter-mark, not very bold, the colors suck... they're blue and gray but not like what im using... its "link blue" and gray. you know what i mean by "link blue" that really ugly default blue you get when making a link on websites. Any way I adjusted the colors to make the palette im using on this site... they like it so the logo at least matches in color. Like I said im making a big push for them to redesign the logo.
> pillhead:
- "it's not really saying internet solutions company?" hmmm... where do you think im failing in this aspect? or do you have any ideas on what would give you the feeling that this is an internet solutions company?> dMullins:
- sweet, thank you for the comment and for the link, ill check it out.wow, super long post! again thank you guys VERY much! this is why I'm a member of QBN (that and the chick of the day thread) you guys always come though with great no BS feedback, and Ive been lucky to have all constructive comments!
Ill post an update as soon as I can work on it again.
- sofakingbanned0
I think I went over board with my reply lol
- dMullins0
You basically agreed—work up some changes and post more!
- vaxorcist0
Agree with most of the above comments.... I'd love to see something that humanizes it, like a face I can relate to, some quotes in big type, some great photos not just of cars.
The use of all those gradients and simple color schemes sometimes makes a site look like a template or a typosquatting SEO site, not a real, live customer site...
- sofakingbanned0
Ok, guys so i finally got around to updating the site. over all I made minor tweaks but i feel they've made a big difference.
Still working on the icons at the moment.... anyway heres what I got.4 samples, the only difference is the slides (main image area)
This sample is with all the rollovers:
as always any feedback is welcome. thanks!
- FredMcWoozy0
I like it. Someone made a comment about introducing a little more color...Maybe add some colors to the 3 boxes in the bottom middle?
When you start adding vehicle images like your other samples it will inject color into the grey and blue.
I also think you are going a better direction then the competitors. Sometimes these marketing sites get way to busy with way to many graphics and designs.
- MrNibs0
i like it. it lacked personality but bringing in image and the refinements have certainly helped.
second slide down is Forza 3's box shot image... which coincidentally is also a marketing graphic owned by Audi.
- duhsign0
css is so good
- sofakingbanned0
As far as the car images go this company represents so many manufacturers it would be impossible to cater to anyone brand. Thats why my approach is to show a car but not really get into to much detail... like you can tell its a Porsche, but its not a front view marketing shot... so they're there but its not really about the cars more about the message.
The Audi shot is an official Audi pic, the company has access to most car makers assets sites. The Forza one is a remake of this shot, its not a real car... both are very cool. I like the idea that its recognizable... but maybe that contradicts my idea of focusing on the message not the car. meh
Adding more color has been a little harder than I thought but I do agree that its still needed... that might be the last touch that im missing. I think the main image has helped a ton though.
I might introduce a new color on the icons popup box... I'm not diggin how its gray right now... any suggestions?
Also what do you guys think of the rollover on the very top bar? im not completely sold on it yet.
- sofakingbanned0
morning bump
- johndiggity0
it's nice, kind of cold. maybe bring in some warmer colors for the rollovers, or warm up the bg gradient a bit?