I’ve always enjoyed the 7 deadly sins as thematic material for art and literature.  So I got a big kick out of the following use of the 7 sins to structure a narrative on bad web design.   Its origin is a webinair by Seth Rosenblatt at the American Marketing Association.  It came to me via a newsletter by Lynn Ericson from Ericson Mitchell.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

1. PRIDE (VANITY) — excessive love of self — is pretty easy to recognize if the site is obviously ALL ABOUT YOU. Your company is wonderful, you are wonderful and your product or service is, of course, wonderful — all of which may be true — but if this is your focus, most likely you’re not as concerned as you should be about gearing your site to your clients’ or customers’ needs.  ”What are the benefits to the customer?” has been the marketers’ mantra for as long as I can remember. Not only do you need to connect with your visitors but you must anticipate how they are going to navigate your site.

At Ericson Mitchell, we stress that creating a personality for your company is the essence of your brand. But the personality is not YOU so lose the CEO or president’s photo on the first page of your site — unless he or she is Oprah, Cesar the Dog Whisperer or someone else well enough known to be an integral part of the company’s brand.

2. GREED — an excessive desire for more than one needs — is all about asking for too much from your visitors. Let’s say the consumer is ready to buy your book, for example, and he is about to hit the red BUY NOW button and he notices a few more options:
CLICK HERE to download our latest white paper,
CLICK HERE to sign up for our newsletter,
CLICK HERE to read our privacy policy.

You have provided enough DISTRACTIONS to get him to another page and he’s off on another tangent. The more alternatives you provide to take action, the less likely you are to get the sale. The same is true for asking for too much information on forms — streamlining them makes it much more likely that visitors will actually finish providing the info you need before they’re interrupted by something — and gone.

3. GLUTTONY – wanting more of everything, over-indulgence — is frequently manifested in so many sites, the ones we all run across and exit as quickly as possible. You only have a few seconds to engage a visitor and if your site has TOO MUCH of everything– too many images, too much content and too many typefaces — the result will feel chaotic to the viewer, who will not know where to start reading and probably move on. In the world of web design, we call these “clown pants” sites. The “white space” that designers love so much is not to make sites look pretty but because it helps guide the viewers through your site the way you want them to experience it. Often, less really is more.

4. ENVY — desire for what another has — can result in sending out a generic message on your website. Don’t copy what your competitors are doing. Be clear how you are differentiated from them and emphasize that. Their websites may not be all that effective and when it comes to usability, visitors are more likely to compare your site with the experience of sites they visit frequently and are comfortable with.

6. SLOTH Ask yourself some questions. When was the last time you updated the content in your site? Does your site look stuck in the 1990′s? Are you taking advantage of Google Analytics or even just the statistics provided by your hosting company? The really great thing about the web is that the metrics are so easy to access and you can find out where your visitors come from, what pages they visit, how long they stay, when they visit, etc. Much of this information is FREE. And Content Management Systems are now so much more sophisticated and easy to use that excuses are harder to find for not staying current.

And finally 7. WRATH.  Probably expressing anger on your site is not an issue, unless you want to attract other angry people. Provoking anger is a different story. Visitors who become frustrated navigating your site or annoyed by not finding what they need will give up and go elsewhere. A recent survey by Hostways came up with seven biggest pet peeves:

• Pop up ads
• Being required to install software to view the site
• Dead links
• Confusing navigation
• Required registration to access content
• Slow loading pages
• Ineffective site search tools

70% of respondents said they would be unlikely to purchase from a site that annoyed them, that they would probably never go back and — that they never want to hear from that company again. An irritated visitor is usually an ex-visitor.

Videos are a great addition to your web site, especially if you want to explain how a product works, create a case study, or do something wild and creative. Hiring professionals is expensive but it’s entirely possible to make a powerful video yourself.  I like the videos made by Lee Lefever for Common Craft who created the “…in Plain English”series.  They’re very simple.  The props are a whiteboard and Post Its.  You can see their videos on their web site or on YouTube.

Are you inspired? Pixability, a company that helps small businesses make videos, has the following tips for making your own videos:

1. Get a simple-to-use camera. The Flip camera and Kodak Zi8 are recommended. Make sure the camera allows for easy downloads.
2. It’s the content, baby! What are your best customers passionate about? Tell stories that give your audience the information they are searching for.
3. Shorter is better. Viewers have short attention spans, so don’t squeeze too many messages into one video. Less than two minutes is optimal for the Web.
4. Hold still. Grip the video camera with both hands and keep a stable shot for at least 10 seconds.
5. Lights, camera, action. Turn on all the lights when shooting, and never shoot someone whose back is to the sun. Have your subjects speak loudly, and avoid background noise.
6. Deliver the right message. End with a call to action.

You can read more about Pixability and web videos in the article Claim to frame: Helping businesses polish images published in the Boston Globe on 5/25/10.

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design, smart web design for businesses who want a unique and effective presence on the internet.

Copyright 2010, Alice Gebura, All Rights Reserved.

Someone was curious about the “mood” image on the home page of my website.  My daughter made a puppet in 8th grade art class.  First I photographed the puppet as a standard portrait:

Then I wrapped it in black fabric and startled it with a spotlight pointing up towards the face!

I took this image and used Photoshop to paint around the face and hands with black.  Then I used the perspective tool (Edit – Transform – Perspective) to distort the proportions.  Finally, I used Curves to saturate the colors for a more lurid effect.

Photos by Alice Gebura    Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design, smart web design for businesses who want a unique and effective presence on the internet.

Copyright 2010,  Alice Gebura,  All Rights Reserved.

I attended a workshop in Ikebana,  the Japanese art of flower arranging. The Ikebana concept that impressed me the most was that of visual motion.  Ikebana strives to keep the eye engaged by eliminating any element that would stop the continuous scanning motion of the eye.   Some examples of such eye stopping elements are:

• Straight lines
• 90 degree angles
• Absence of  negative space (space between objects)
  

The photo to the left shows an Ikebana arrangement.

Example of Ikebana

Notice the following:

• Simplicity, only 3 elements: white calla lilies, pink azaleas and black tray
• Curved lines, no straight lines
• Only 5 upright flowers grouped as 3 + 2, creating negative space between the vertical elements, the stems
• Negative space between the horizontal elements: calla lilies at the top,  azaleas and tray at the bottom

Despite the sparse, simple aesthetic, its visual interest  pulls you in and keeps you there.  Isn’t that what we want for our own web sites?

I gave some thought to how I could  apply this to web design.  I believe when you drill down and understand your goals and core values and how to realize them, you arrive at a truth that can be expressed simply and effectively.

If you don’t really understand who you are and what you’re doing, what better way to cover it up than to keep piling on more and more until you get a web site that looks like this:

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design, smart web design for businesses who want a unique and effective presence on the internet.

Home Page, Web Site of Louis Lortie

Monday, March 1 marks the 200^th anniversary of Frederick Chopin’s birthday.  In honor of one of my favorite composers let’s talk about the web site of pianist Louis Lortie.  For me this web site is the epitome of why we bother to build web sites.  Louis Lortie is a  concert pianist and recording artist.  At his site there is a great depth of information about him, his career and discography, and, most interesting, it showcases his thoughts about music interpretation and its challenges.

Here’s the treasure you’ll find on just one page, Chopin:

• An excerpt from the score of a Chopin Etude
• A series of videos
• A photo of Chopin

The series of short videos showcase  Lortie playing two of the Chopin Etudes (a glorious aural experience) and Lortie, at the piano, talking about his approach to playing the etudes while playing excerpts to illustrate his thoughts.  As each video plays, its title  changes from black to lavender so you can keep track of where you are in the series.  Or, you can click on the one you want to hear.  Great user interface design!  Notice that underneath the video the timer is presented as a musical staff!  Clever design!

Chopin Page, Web Site of Louis Lortie

My only criticism is that the text on the home page is hard to read – a result of using a justified right margin and the italic font with very little line spacing.  The  opacity factor on the font doesn’t help either.

Lortie has created a passionate web site with great depth of information that gives us a window into his soul and the beauty of the music he plays.

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design, smart web design for businesses who want a unique and effective presence on the internet.

Another argument emerges for simple web design (see my previous post  Creating Your Web-Scape)  in Drake Bennett’s article on cognitive fluency, Easy=True. Cognitive fluency is  the psychological precept that “people prefer things that are easy to think about to those that are hard…In any situation where we weigh information, fluency is implicated in our decisions about everything.”

In a nutshell, when information is easier to mentally process, people feel attraction and belief.  The opposite,  disfluency – making things difficult to grasp,  creates a cognitive roadblock that makes people wary and uncomfortable.

While this might seem intuitively obvious, evidence abounds that plenty of businesses (and web designers) don’t get it.

Bennett’s article is a terrific resource for more information on fluency and disfluency and the supporting research.

For the purpose of this blog let’s take a look at the practical implications of fluency and  disfluency in terms of web design.  Keep in mind this is all based on research, not my own preferences.

Disfluency:the art of making things difficult -

Web Design that Loses Business

Here are some characteristics of a disfluent web site that will leave web site visitors with a negative impression.

Inaccessibility

• Unfamiliar words (for example, technical jargon and acronyms)
• Names and words that are difficult to pronounce
• Complex syntax
• Illegible text (see my previous post The Dog and the Lotus)
• Missing information or convoluted instructions
• Functions that don’t quite work

Sensory Overload

• Overcrowding the page
• Visual distractions
• Multiple columns of disparate text
• Little or no white space
• Flickering animation

Inconsistency

• Confusing navigation
• Poor organization

Fluency:the art of making things easy to understand -
Web Design that Encourages Business

Here are some characteristics of a fluent web site that subliminally suggest to visitors that your business is reputable and trustworthy.

Repetition

• Consistent navigation and page layout across the web site
• Artful repetition of key ideas(note: repetition is good, redundancy is bad – know the difference)

Clarity

• Legible fonts and color coordination
• Plenty of white space
• Language and syntax that everyone can understand

Simplicity

• Message boiled down to its essence
• Graphic design and content that are easy to assimilate (accessible) both visually and conceptually

Web Site Analysis: The Glass House

Let’s take a look at the web site for The Glass House and see how well it does fluency wise.

Repetition: The grey box is repeated throughout as the background to the title (I like the opacity that reminds us of the see through quality of glass), the background in the drop down menus, and the background for other important pieces of information.

Clarity: The site contains a lot of information,  notice how it’s been logically organized and categorized.

Simplicity: One column layout, plenty of white space.

Verdict: Fluency.  I’m convinced this is a reputable organization dedicated to professionalism on all levels.

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design, smart web design for businesses who want a unique and effective presence on the internet.

Two web sites caught my eye recently.

Blue Box Layout

The Guthrie Theater web site has a great layout. Blue boxes in all different sizes contain information, photos, slides – I really like the blue and gray stripes behind the horizontal navigation links (someone tell the webmaster to fix the padding on the second line of links so they’re centered) and the way they change colors as they stretch beyond the content area.

Innovative Navigation

The web site for artists Louviere + Vanessa: New Orleans is definitely outside the box. I love their images. To navigate the site you use your mouse to draw an arrow in the direction you want to go. You’ve got to try it and see what you think of it. It’s really strange, but I love the user interaction. If I were truly trying to find information, this would be a disastrous experience. But the site is an art gallery and it’s so much fun to wander through the gallery with this unusual navigation gizmo. Gotta find out how they do it!!

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design, smart web design for businesses who want a unique and effective presence on the internet.

UPDATE 1/26/10: The Boston Globe just published an article that echoes the opinions I expressed below. It includes the quote “Being charged $5,000 a month to manage the SEO process is crazy.” You can read the entire article at
In Web world, a successful marketing effort means gaining inside track on searches

Photo: from the Mel Brooks movie “Young Frankenstein”

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a big deal these days.  For anyone who doesn’t already know what it is, it’s basically doing whatever you can to make sure your web site shows up on the first page of search results given a specific set of words (keywords).  You can pay a search engine directly for this or you can contrive through content manipulation to make it happen.

Before computers, how did a local business get noticed? Besides the usual marketing activities, you could  list your business in the yellow pages.  Remember the days when businesses named themselves “AAA Roofing” or “AAA Mattress” so they would show up first in their category?   Marketing companies are charging big money under the premise that they can use SEO to do the equivalent of “AAA” for you on the web.

There’s no doubt you can artificially promote your site, but I’m skeptical about what works and how much it’s worth.  For example,  I was hired to write web page content for a business I’ll call The Widget Company.   What I wrote was then sent to a 27 year old vice president of SEO at a high priced marketing firm. (That a 27 year old could be a vice president should be the first tip off something isn’t right.)

To increase the probability the web site would come up first whenever a user typed “widget” on Google,  he stuck the word “widget” in front of every possible noun he could, usually creating awkward noun strings.  And stuck the word “widget” inside of product names, creating incorrect product names.  He also introduced grammar and spelling errors. For this The Widget Company is paying a retainer of several thousand a month.  Does anyone besides me smell snake oil?

Because The Widget Company is always running promotions of various types, there is no way to prove a cause and effect relationship between SEO and increased web site activity, in spite of the multitude of charts SEO people create to back up their claims.

But one fact is irrefutable – SEO did create awkward to read text that would have also made the company look like yokels if I hadn’t been able to go back and correct the bad grammar and spelling.

Why is The Widget Company paying for it?  There is one answer – fear.  The management doesn’t understand technology and this creates insecurity. And, as long as everyone else is doing it, they’re afraid they’ll be left behind if they don’t do it, too.

There are some common sense practices to follow regardless of SEO. You do these things because they enhance user interface design, impart information, and help people navigate your site.

• Ascertain key phrases to identify your business and message and use them strategically – in page titles and headings, for example.
• Write straightforward text and organize it logically.
• Present it with legible, user intuitive typography.

You can also artificially plug keywords into your content, but it probably won’t do much good.  Search engine companies are always rewriting search algorithms to ignore such tactics.

Lets do a reality check.  How many web sites are there in the world?  If you own a floral business, isn’t it sort of wacky to think you should come up on the first search page when there are 28,700,000 other florists out there?   However, Google is happy to list you on the first page when a user enters a type of  business and a zip code –   if you’ve included zip code/location information on your web site.  And that’s common sense, you shouldn’t have to pay thousands of dollars for it.

Frankly I’m skeptical of SEO and paying a bunch of money to snake oil salesmen preying on people’s lack of experience with technology.  Common sense, good writing, and strategic marketing along with intelligent web design should be all you need for visibility in your local market.

Commentary by Smart Alice Web Design, smart web design for businesses who want a unique and effective presence on the internet.

One of my favorite photographers Bruce Percy says the following about creating a landscape photograph:

“The strength of an image lies many times in what we exclude from it.  Putting more things into a scene can often dilute the strength of the message. Keeping it simple is key.”

Web designers would do well to follow this advice.  Similar to creating a landscape, creating a web site should isolate and focus on what’s important by carefully selecting and streamlining graphic components.  We create something ugly and unfriendly when we clutter a page with multiple ideas, extraneous information, or unnecessary functionality.  Choose one idea and execute it well.  Don’t add stuff just because you can.

Redundancy

For an example of what I’m talking about, let’s visit the Harvard Parks & Recreation web site.  The left column provides links to the rest of the site.  When I mouse over the Main Page tab, the same content links appear (see screen shot on the left).  Why do I need to see the same links twice?

Ugly Graphics – and lots of them

There are three different graphics on the home page.

Landscape photo – used as background for title. Note the gray, out of focus, pixelated photo.  If you can’t find a great photo locally (hard to believe), why not spend $3 for a decent image from iStockPhoto?  The landscape theme is relevant, though.  The message it conveys is “lake/recreation/swimming/boating/fishing.”

Tree logo in the left corner. Suggests a conservation theme.  Relevant?  Not really.

Lawn – close up photo used as background. The obvious message to me is lawn care. Also worth noting are the unnecessary functions that create more visual clutter.  The text next to the check box is barely legible.  Just because it’s easy to count and display visitor numbers, doesn’t mean it should be included.

Three different graphics with three different meanings create visual and mental confusion.  Extraneous functions and poor design contribute to usability issues.

A Simple But Effective Layout

An example of a simple yet effective web site is that of screenwriter Zen Freese.  The coffee stain graphic, the horizontal lines, and the tape are things that remind us of the writing process. We write at our desk, cup of coffee on top of the last draft, taping the latest revision to a page in progress.  Our tools, represented by the two fonts, are a typewriter and a pen.  The message is clear.  Nothing extraneous distracts us from the message.

Web design is about common sense way before it is about how much functionality or other junk you can stuff onto a page.  Keeping it simple for both impact and usability is key.

Commentary by Smart Alice Web Design, smart web design for businesses who want a unique and effective presence on the internet.

“The web design of this web site is horrible.” My daughter was rather annoyed. She had looked up the web site of a local bookstore because she wanted to call them about a book. All she needed was the phone number. Her irritation increased the more she had to click around to find such an obvious piece of information.

How many businesses get caught up with slick, flashy web design but forget to take care of basic information? How many times have you had to click Contact Us to get to a phone number? I’ve visited sites where the phone number or location are seriously buried.

If you want people to call you or locate your place of business, put that information in a prominent location on every page, and never beneath the fold. Consider other factors that contribute to visibility: contrast, font size and color, reverse type, and so forth.

Check out these business sites and see how long it takes you to find the phone number.

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design, smart web design for businesses who want a unique and effective presence on the internet.

Copyright 2009, Alice Gebura, All Rights Reserved.

Do you like animation or flashy motion effects on a web site? In general, I don’t, unless they provide added value to me. A scrolling or jumping animation might catch my eye for a second, but it takes less than a second to click to another web site that isn’t so irritating.

I detest advertising. We all do, that’s one reason why TiVO is so popular. Advertising invades our mind space without asking our permission. When a web site is more flash than info, it starts to look like a TV ad. Instead of pressing the Fast Forward button, I’ll just click to another web site.

There are instances when motion graphics are useful. For example: slide shows for art galleries, photographers, etc. Or, high quality embedded videos when they are relevant, make me laugh, or teach me something. One of the keys to success, if you’re going to put something flashy on your site, is to give control to the visitor. I don’t want to passively sit while something runs. That’s why I always click Skip Intro (you know what I’m talking about).

Why Do It?

Why do web developers build junky animation? It seems, because they can. Here’s an example. If you go to the Longy School web site, you’ll see Latest News scrolling vertically on the right. Since it’s moving, I can’t read it. So what’s the point? This site also has a video tour of the building. I care about ambience only when I’m booking a hotel room. Irrelevant information just creates visual clutter.

Award Winners

Beantown Web lists its picks for best web sites in 2008.

There are some cool sites listed here. My favorite is James Zabiela’s site. He’s a high tech DJ so it makes sense that his web site puts on a high tech show. I like this twist: instead of placing motion graphics against a static background, he puts motion graphics in the background and places static text over it. I also like the sleek and elegant music player he provides unobtrusively in the upper right corner.

What’s Appropriate for You?

A super flashy web site is expensive to build. Keep in mind it also screams “high priced” to visitors. It could scare off potential customers who might infer you are too high priced to do business with. What is your message and do motion graphics enhance or undermine it? Know your target customer. Make the site comfortable for them. And, put them in control of the graphics.

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design, smart web design for businesses who want a unique and effective presence on the internet.

Copyright 2009, Alice Gebura, All Rights Reserved.

As a designer I’m always looking for visual inspiration.  One place I find it is Flora in Winter at the Worcester Art Museum, an event where floral designers interpret various art works in the museum.  It’s not just a matter of putting some flowers in a vase.  The designer studies a painting for color, texture, line, movement, pattern, etc. and recreates the experience using floral material.  This event takes place every February when I deeply appreciate all the plants and flowers I’ve missed since the first snowfall.

Interpretations can be rather literal, or they can be abstract.  In any case, a successful designer creates a symbiotic relationship between the painting and the floral arrangement.  The more we see of the painting in the floral design, the more we see in the painting itself.  Below are highlights from this year’s Flora in Winter.

What does this have to do with web design you might ask.  When I work with a client I observe who and what the business is about.  My job and my challenge is to visually interpret what I find and create a web site design that reflects that.

Last but not least, a reminder that spring is just around the corner.

Photos by Alice Gebura    Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design, smart web design for businesses who want a unique and effective presence on the internet.

Copyright 2009, Alice Gebura, All Rights Reserved.

Today’s Boston Globe has a web design comparison between the Bush and Obama versions of whitehouse.gov.  The article is very informative for those of us working in visual design and for those who are thinking about designing their own web site. I’m including a link to the article here.  And, I’d like to add my own 2 cents.

Layout

The Bush layout for whitehouse.gov used a typical three column layout underneath a horizontal banner.

The Obama layout has a large top section divided into two distinct areas over a three column layout.  Obama’s designer knows about  Fibonacci based proportions which we see here as 1:2:3.

The result is a much more visually appealing layout than the mundane Bush layout.

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design.

Web Designer Wall posts engaging and stimulating information for web designers including several collections of web sites that Nick La finds appealing. I especially like his collection of Large Background Web Sites. Instead of your page floating on a solid color or pattern, the contents is integrated with an oversize photo or illustration. For example:

Very impressive. The image quality is outstanding. However, I would think twice before choosing this design approach and here are my reasons.

Web Site or Billboard
The visual impact of a large background web site is undeniable. But are you reminded of something you’ve seen before? I am. I’m reminded of billboards and magazine spreads: seductive images and catchy tag lines, but not much useful information. In other words, advertising.

Message
The images on a web site should be more than pretty pictures. Images should relate to the purpose of the web site. I chose two non-english web sites with large background design. I really do have to rely on the images to understand what’s going on. Let’s see what happens.

What is it?

Construction company? Aerialists? Gay men’s chorus? Beats me.

What is it?
Witty and unusual. I guess he’s a graphic designer because of the animations. The plant throws me a bit – is he in horticulture?

Web Designer Depot posts some of the challenges of creating a large background web site. If you’re considering this approach, read up so you’ll be knowledgeable about how time + effort = cost.

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design.

Copyright 2009, Alice Gebura, All Rights Reserved.

The experience of good web site design feels like settling into a comfortable chair. However, when the design is visually exhausting, it repels the user instead of inviting him or her in. Let’s take a look at how two yoga studios present themselves on the web and see how we feel about them.

First, the Dog

When I look at the home page of Laughing Dog Yoga the first things I notice are a) the layout feels awkward and b) there are way too many fonts. The layout is basically an endless list. This creates big blank spaces. It makes my eyes tired to scroll through it. On a more personal level, I find the color scheme unattractive.

Font Crazy

There are six different fonts in the left navigation pane and five different fonts in the content area, for a total of 11 different font variations. Fonts vary by color, size, style (bold, italic, etc.) and typeface.

Note the links in the navigation pane are all caps and in white with a drop shadow for an overall blurry (that means hard to read) effect.

The design principles of repetition and clarity should govern your font selection. Too much variety prevents the user from finding and focusing on information.

My overall experience: Uncomfortable

The Lotus – Love Those Colors

By contrast, Mudita Yoga Studio features a beautifully composed photo on the home page.

Look closely at the colors in the lotus blossom. You’ll see these same colors used throughout the site for backgrounds and borders. A collection of related colors form a color palette and this is one characteristic of good design.

I see only three fonts used on the home page. Each one is distinct and each one has a function. There is a font for the name of the business, a font for the navigation buttons, and a font for the main content. Immediately my eye understands and I feel comfortable reading and investigating the site further. I might revisit the sight later just to enjoy the photos. If some of the photos change, that’s even better.

My overall experience: Enchanted

What do you think? Which site do you prefer? Send me a link to another yoga site and tell me how the design affects you.

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design.

One of my all time favorite web sites is David Lebovitz, Living the Sweet Life in Paris. Lebovitz is an all star pastry chef. His web site/blog has fabulous food photos (I’ve included an example here). The images are superb – beautiful, professional photographs that instantly tell you this guy is serious about food and food quality. He uses those gorgeous photos to illustrate his various culinary adventures with ingredients and funky kitchen gadgets.

Why Should You Care About the Quality of Photos and Images on Your Web Site?

If you are a film buff like I am, you know that a movie typically relies on visuals to relate 60% of the story. For example, let’s say a character is a devout Catholic. It would be heavy handed for the character to announce “I’m a devout Catholic.” Instead the director might, for example, zoom the camera in on a rosary placed on a table.

Much like a movie, a successful web site uses a combination of images and text to convey who you are and what you do. The art is in creating images that are meaningful, relevant, and tell the right story.

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design

Let’s test the idea that the more you duplicate links, the easier it is for users
to find stuff on your site. We’ll use the Biowisdom web site as a test case. Each page provides five ways to navigate, as indicated above.

1. At the top right you see a horizontal navigation bar with links to Company, News, etc.



2. At the top left you see a horizontal navigation bar with links to products and services.



3. The left column, called Quick Links, lists their products. These are links to product-specific pages.



4. The middle column of the page has short product descriptions. Each product logo is, again, a hyperlink to a product-specific page. I can also click Read More to go to a product page. At this point I have four different ways to link to a particular product page.



5. But wait, there’s more! The column to the right also displays logos for these products and these are also hyperlinks.

Notice that the products are not listed in the same order in all three columns. Are you getting as confused as I am?

My head is starting to spin.

Let’s take a look at the Products page. Here, inexplicably, the links in the left column are duplicated. Am I seeing double?

Is all this duplication of links on every page helpful? No way. The site looks like a mess, and keeping track of where I am is horribly confusing.

My initial admiration for the fabulous Flash animation on the home page disappeared as soon as I began to feel like a rat in a maze.

There should be one consistent navigation system that looks the same on every page. Duplication is not a cure for bad design.

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design.

The North End Yoga web site has great images, good use of color, and a layout that’s organized and easy to navigate. There are problems, however, in the left navigation panel.

Notice how the link text runs over the boundary into the main content area. And, it’s hard to read all caps and right aligned text. The navigation panel itself isn’t sized properly to fit the text. This leads to little or no margins, another factor contributing to poor readability. The blue color for mouseover and visited links is easy to see. The grey color, however, is not.

On the right is the navigation panel I designed for my client Contemporary Fusion. I used small caps instead of all caps for the link text. Small caps are easier to read than all caps. Why not use regular text here? Because I want to visually differentiate the navigation text from content text. On mouseover a link turns purple to match the overall color scheme used in the web site.

Small details can make the difference between a polished, professional web site and a sloppy, amateurish one.

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design.