Critique 3 Class Web sites

Name______

Name of person whose web site you are critiquing ______

Web site URL: (create link)

Download this critique form for each site you critique. You will need to post these in cis421/docs/critiques. Name the files, critique_of_sitename.docx.

Critiques are due Wednesday at noon. Response is due Friday at noon.

Meanings of letter grades that you assign during the critique:

A / Exceptional / D / Below average, has problems
B / Very good (above average) / F / Fails or is not available
C / Average, fulfills requirements / N/A / Does not apply to this web page

First Impressions:

What are you first impressions of their site?

List 3 adjectives that describe the site.

What is the main thing that the developer wants you to do on the site?

Is this site name/logo appropriate?

Usability
Issues / Grade (A, B, C, D, F) / Justification for the grade-- grade not only on FULFILLMENT of REQUIREMENT, but on QUALITY of WORK / Suggestions for improvement
Name the page you are discussing in this column
1. Content of site
What is the message of the web site & the page you are reviewing?
How easy is it to locate the main message (content) on the page – tell where it is
What % of the page contains meaningful content (including useful navigation)?
Look at an inner page on the site & indicate how easy it is to determine the topic of the website?
Rate the website content in terms of whether it provides a content that would bring users back
2, Use of Web standards
Logo, if any in upper left corner of page
Breadcrumbs, if any listed horizontally
Site map, if any, labeled site map
Uses words or labels to describe desired action
Uses icons or metaphors to represent ideas or navigation
Follows clear conceptual model so that once part of the interface is learned the same principles apply to the other parts
3. Layout & design issues
Most important content is focus of web page design with no distracting elements to distract from it.
Cluttered layout?
Scrolling:
Avoids horizontal scrolling at 1024x768?
Scrolling:
Most important information displays in browser window when it opens?
Clear Visual Hierarchy:
information that is similar is grouped together in sections & on page?
Contrast, Repitition, Alignment, and Proximity are followed.
4. Design issues: Navigation
Navigation easy to follow?
Navigation works? (No dead links).
Obvious what objects/words are navigation links?
How can you tell what is clickable?
Visited links look different so user can tell what pages they visited?
Page <titles> help user understand where they are on the site?
Links open in blank browser windows?
All links?
Links to external websites?
Signposts that tell users where they are?
Breadcrumbs
Page titles
Color coding for sections?
Navigational Clutter: unnecessary navigation links that distract?
Utilities (webmaster, about us pages) should be less prominent – where are they? Are they less prominent?
Home button – how do you get home?
Page names – how do I know where I am in the scheme of things? How obvious is it? How can I tell?
5. Textual content
Relative font sizing so text size can be changed?
Fonts that are easily read.
Visibility of hyperlinks, visited links against the background color or background image.
Text is easy for users to scanand grasp meaning: avoids unnecessary words, uses simple language
Text is presented in a way that is easy to scan?
Short paragraphs
Bullets or lists
Text is separated from edges of container elements & has space around it (use of padding)?
Omit needless words: -- are there extra words on a page that are not essential & that could be deleted?

Last Impressions:

What are three biggest things this person could do to improve their site?

What is a real killer idea you have for them to improve their site?

Will the site get them Creativity, Impact and Effort? This is the criteria that the final page is based on.

Creativity:

Impact:

Effort:

Source log is located in cis421/docs/sources.html or .docx and shows what content is filled out appropriately.