Assignment 3: Web Interfaces

Hello...

1. Lifehacker

Lifehacker is a collective blog from about a group of 5-6 contributors. They deal with a lot of different topics on a daily basis. However, the majority of posts do deal with technology, DIY projects, or just random facts and advice to improve ones' life. Their layout and design is pretty basic. There are no sounds or a lot of moving graphics/animations. Their simple design and layout makes it easy for users to navigate through the website.
There are numerous entries on different topics on the front page. As you click on the individual entries, they will pop up in another screen where the entry goes more in-depth and it provides more links and description to the related entry. There is also room for comments as well.

The website is updated constantly, so there are a lot of entries on lifehacker. The website has a lot of sorting tools, and search dialogues if you want to find a certain entry.

Homepage (left); Entry Page (Right)

2. NotCot

NotCot is a community website that brings together mostly links to sites that are design based or interesting products. It is a collaborative site which users are encouraged to submit their own links to products and things that they find enjoyable. The website is very simple in its design. The layout is simple, and it relies heavily on the pictures that are submitted to draw users in. This is a very important element to the layout and theme of the website because the site is designed in a way to draw attention to the featured links, and not necessarily the website itself. It makes it easier to scan the rows of pictures and links and it is more attention grabbing with little amount of text and larger pictures filling the screen. The navigation to the previous page is located at the bottom of the page, which makes it very easier to view and use. The pages are numbered, and are linked to whichever page number it was. As well, there is an arrow that points you to the next page. Again, there are no videos or animations that rule the page. Most page elements are static, which really works for Notcot because it is essentially a compilation of links to other sites, so their intent is not to keep their users by coming back because of animations, but the links that they provide.

Homepage (left), individual entry page (right)

3. The Hour

The Hour is the website of the CBC show The Hour With George Stroumboulopoulos. It features many links to video clips featured on his show, information about his show, upcoming guests and other information. The website is a little more interactive in terms of having moving animations as the header and the upcoming guests portion of the frontpage. These two moving animations provide a visual cue that alerts the viewers of who will be featured on the show in the upcoming week. As well, the website provides lots of active links to related sites to George Stroumboulopoulos like his own myspace, facebook, and blog sites. As well, there are links to clips that were featured on his show, as well as links to other CBC sites such as newslinks of the day. As well, the site features a blog section as well. Since the show always encourages feedback, the blog is an addition that encourages feedback and opinions. The colours chosen for the site are very reflective of the image the show is intented to create, a edgy look with the host being Stroumboulopoulos. He is one of the more non-traditional hosts of CBC, so it makes sense that the colours chosen for the site are of a darker clour scheme of black and red.

1. Homepage

2. Best Story Ever Page



3. Photo Gallery Page

Observations:

Both lifehacker and notcot are two very similar sites in which their main focus is on the content. I think that is why their sites do not have sound or many animations. They want to keep the information as succinct and clear as possible for their users to navigate easily. Their main concern is to put quality links and content to ensure users will come back to the site on a daily basis. On the otherhand, there is The Hour site which it's main content is not through the website, but is through the television show. The Hour website is the supplementary source of information for the television show. It does however, provide a lot of links to the clips and information that is archived for the show.

It doesn't make a website bad or not as good when it does not have a lot of animation or sounds, but it really depends on the content and the purpose of the website.