Chloe Gersten: Post No. 7

http://www.freestorefoodbank.org/

This is an example of a well executed website due to its viewer-friendly usability. There is a simple design that remains constant from the homepage, to the secondary pages, and so on. There is a slideshow of pictures on the homepage, as well as additional images on secondary pages to show the focus of that page. The header consists of the logo, search bar, and navigation bar. The navigation bar has 8 options, which sticks to the 7 ± 2 rule. When you mouse over an option in the navigation bar, the link turns a different color, and a drop down menu appears. When mousing over the drop down menu, each link turns a different color, and the selected box is highlighted. When you click on a link to go to a secondary page, another navigation bar appears on the right which lists the other links in that category. This second navigation allows viewers to keep track of where they are, where they’ve been, and suggests where they may want to go next. I like this website for its simplicity and its consistency. The color scheme remains the same, the layout is the same, the same font is used, etc. It is also one of the most informative websites for a non-profit, or any business, I’ve ever seen. There are links to the PDF version of annual reports, finance records, tax returns, and so on. This builds the credibility of the organization, through the website alone. This non-profit has succeeded most in displaying the organization in a professional website, that both informs and engages viewers.

I want my interface to be organized and easy to navigate, first and foremost. My second concern is making the pages interesting enough to make the viewer want to explore further. I think this website does a good job incorporating relevant and interesting pictures, without overloading the page. I want to use images as this website does–to go along with content, not drive content.

Sean Brech post 7

http://www.newheightsnyc.org/

I chose the website for the organization New HeightsYouth Inc. Based out of New York City, their mission is to  “inspire promising inner city youth to be leaders, champions and student- athletes and empower them to succeed in high school, college and life.” Their website is attractive as well as easy to use. With 5 section headers at both the head and base of the page and social media links prominently displayed, site visitors can quickly find information.  I believe that this website will help me as I do my interface project in that it has good balance between usability and visual appeal. The sections are clearly defined in headers and drop down menues and the visuals provide visitors a better understanding of the organization.

Lauren Duda: Post. No. 7

HBO GO

The key to why this website is so good is that it highlights the content in a very obvious way. HBO Go is a media and video content website, and it very effectively displays this through the main content bar in the middle. The logo is in the upper left hand corner, which is where the eye tends to look first when we look at a page. Additionally, the interactivity of the content keeps viewers interested, as does the lack of  text on the homepage. In addition to the main content, it also has secondary visual content towards the bottom, which further keeps the user on the site, because with only one click they can explore all of this media. Additionally, it has 8 tabs, which is well within the 5-9 limit. This website will inspire my own design because I also want to have a main frame of visual content in the middle of my design. This will keep users engaged and keep the page interesting for the audience.

LD

Marwa Eltagouri: Post No. 7

http://www.designersaccord.org/

 

This website is simply visually aesthetic, not due to any animations or elaborate graphics but because of it’s clean, sharp design. The website, which promotes a global coalition of designers working to improve social conditions, is all white – with a sharp purple stroke under the title which gives it some edge. The home page consists of rotating graphics that are all sharp photographs underneath simple text. The header of the homepage, like other websites, consists of different tabs leading to different web pages. What I really like about the design is that the text of each tab is small, black, and clean – something that gives the website a very designer – like feel to it. For my interface project I chose a non-profit organization that promotes the business of art, and aims to help artists find jobs by developing their resources and business skills. I hope to create a clean, simple design similar to this website to show a more business, technical side of art. I’ll use a similar all-white background and small, sharp font for my headers. I also hope to establish a good balance between text and photography just as the Designer’s Accord did with their website.

Heidi Chu: Post No. 7

http://thesupply.org/

In general, a good website should have easy accessibility. A great website should have a graphically strategic design to captivate their audiences while also providing simple usability for the user to navigate around the website. The supply’s website, built for a non-profit organization to provide education in third-world countries, does just that. Their homepage is based on an image with a short layer of text and navigational links on top. The reason why this website is not only good, but great, is because the homepage is the only page. In other words, the navigational tabs don’t actually take the user to a different page, but it either drops down to show its content, or a viewer pops out and shows the content instead. It is obvious that the website utilizes a lighter graphic tool for the page to load much quicker, and for the user to navigate through the website in a quicker, more convenient way.

Kelsey Capobianco: Post No. 7

http://www.RECWorcester.org/

I think this website is well executed, especially because so many localized nonprofits do not put a lot of time into their sites. This website is good because it is easy to navigate, clean cut, and not over crowded. The home page gives enough information for the user to figure out what the website is for without bombarding them. The grid created by the text and pictures looks very clean cut. I approve of this because the organization is about keeping the environment clean. The color scheme is not invasive and is consistent throughout the website. The navigation is extremely clear and they provide enough information to search around the site. The clickable links are also consistent on the homepage. It is understood that all of the titles are interactive and will bring the user to different locations.

This website inspires me to create a simplistic website with clear navigation. The most important information is clearly and readily displayed on the homepage and I think this is the best way to get a positive response from the user. I like the use of images on the homepage. It creates a personal feel and evokes an emotional attachment to the nonprofit.

Devon Braunstein: Assignment No. 7

https://www.thebeneficial.com/index.asp

Beneficial Bank, a bank in the Greater Philadelphia area, has a great example of a quality interface design. The first thing I notice on the website is the consistent design. The website uses two different typeface families throughout the entire layout: a fun font for the display heads and titles and then a simple sans serif font for the important information. It contains a hierarchical grid with a display head and logo at the top, a navigation bar with consistent hover appearances, a welcome screen with basic information, and a secondary navigation bar. When visiting secondary pages, the hierarchical grid is the same so it is clear what to click to locate the information they desire. The design as a whole has a modern look to it because Beneficial Bank is a relatively new bank appealing to an audience that doesn’t want to deal with a corporate company. The bright colors make it appealing to an audience looking for something new and welcoming. The simple yet fun layout inspires my own design because I hope to utilize a color scheme to set a tone for the target audience while making sure my site is consistent and easy to navigate.

Roxanne Hesh: Post No. 7

http://home.org.sg/

The website I am choosing to recreate is the localized non-profit organization HOME. I am choosing this organization because its goal is great – to help domestic workers in Singapore find equality and stop abuse by employers, however the organization’s website is unfortunate to the eye. When you get to the home page of the website, there is a navigation bar at the top of the page, however the set-up of the rest of the page takes viewers’ eyes straight to the middle, where then the page becomes overwhelming with information and different links and navigation tools. My goal with this website is to simplify it and make it less overwhelming. I want to make viewers’ eyes stick to the top of the page and easily find the (one and only) navigation bar, and then go down the website in an orderly manner instead of with no direction. Although this project will be difficult I am excited to help recreate a great organization’s poorly designed website.

Maddy Berner–Post No. 7

www.charitywater.org

I chose the website, Charity Water, because I was instantly attracted to how clean and organized the website looked. I noticed its emphasis on graphics to help explain what the organization was about, instead of text heavy paragraphs. This helped me understand more about Charity Water in just a few seconds, rather than the minutes it would take to click around and read more. This showed me that they were sticking the most important information on the homepage to view first, which I liked. The website uses the most basic grid system along with strong contrast that add to the easy legibility of the text and graphics. The sans serif font was a good, modern choice that makes everything easy to read. The black and white color scheme helped my eyes focus on the reds, yellows and blues that dotted the screen. This modern look made it seem that this organization’s audience is a younger, louder crowd but its simplicity could also cater to adults looking to help. All in all, it’s a simple website that hits all the right notes in terms of legibility, information and attractiveness. Hopefully I can apply that same simplicity to my website without it being overcrowded.

Brian Grove: Post No. 7

http://www.petnetwork.org/

 

I picked this website because its a localized non-profit organization in Reno where I’m from and I really like the layout of the homepage of the design. They kept the website simple so it is easy t maneuver around the page and know what you are looking for. They effectively mixed graphics and information. As soon as you enter the page you know what the organization is about and what they plan to do.  As you can see the front page has information about upcoming events so the browser doesn’t need to look for too long to find a way to support the organization. The typefaces are easy to read and all work together. Although there are no serif typefaces the sans serif is still very readable and keeps a very basic and simple look throughout the page.