Week 3 DIG315 Readings

What's Your Style Article....
I found it interesting to learn what the actual term usability meant for a website.  I had general knowledge, but this article provided me with a lot of new insight.  I was always initially impressed with the visual appearance or lack there of... never gave much thought to usability in the terms mentioned in this article. 
Here's what I took away from reading it, which I will all utilize when designing my website
-The web as being nonlinear presentation of info; it's use is largely determined by the user.  Some of that is obvious, but found navigating the web described as scanning, peeking, and poking, a rather interesting way to describe how it is used.
- Focus should be on pulling a user's attention in a particular direction
- The concept of the inverted pyramid; most important info first, general to specific.
- When designing, we need to predict how users will interact....this helps to organize, present, and display your info.

Chapter 7: Designing the Interface and Navigation
- Interface and navigation design are inseparable elements
- I learned a lot by the steps the book mentioned; I believe this will help greatly in designing a good website.  The breakdown helped me to develop a new approach and way of thinking about the process, particularly the preparation process before the actual designing on the web starts.  I liked and believe I will be utilizing the sticky note method!
- In the navigation part of the design, I now know that the focus should be on organization, not graphics!

Quiz pg 154
-The structure and organization in example B immediately struck me as having a better interface and navigation design.
Image B
-It fits the 800x600 pixel resolution and size; one size surfing that displays the entry page well
-The navigation is framed to the left side and is easily recognized
-Hyperlinks are obvious and clear
-Great display and use of graphics in the navigation process
-Graphics use repetition and frequency
-Graphics express intention (cheese=products and mouth=grins)
Image A
-Buttons are large and take up an excessive amount of space that could be utilized in other ways
-Not all of the navigation is displayed on the entry page; should have used 800x600
-Gave a bad first impression for me as a reader......
-Background color doesn't add to the overall design of the page, I think it even dulls it up!
-Where and what are the so-called sections? What is ratz stuff? What is rat ball?
-The poor organization of the website gave it a vague feeling, and as a reader, I found it to be somewhat confusing!

Chapter 8: Good and Bad Design
-Bad design is easier and more fun to recognize--before this class, I kind of already knew that, but now I have an appreciation for why! I also have obtained knowledge as to how it could've been done better. 

Criticism of Websites
I think all of my above comments throughout this week's blog pretty much sum up how I will critically analyze websites from here on out.  When I first heard that we were going to be asked to create a website for this class, I was scared to death!  All of the knowledge I have acquired in the past few weeks, especially last week's class, have boosted my confidence a bit.  I'm comfortable in saying that I think I now have the ability to create something with a lot of character that will be equally matched by a proficient interface and navigation design.  From here on out, I will be more critical when viewing a website, especially when looking at what information it contains and how it is organized, not just on how pretty I think it looks!