Saatchi & Saatchi
(S&S) uses a very basic blog/tumblr arrangement. The site is displayed in a
grid-animated flash player format. As the user navigates the gridded images
with the cursor, brief information is provided in regards to the purpose of the
image.
This is a good way of
allowing the user to make the decision to access into that webpage or not
without giving away too much information. The background colour being white is
very boring but on the other hand makes the site easier to look at, as there
are a lot of colours in the centre of the webpage and the grid images change
every few seconds.
There are no
subtitles or slogans provided to indicate that this is an advertising agency. This
portrays value in their brand as they as so well known allowing users to
navigate their way through the site. As well as relying on the brand the site
should also cater for users who are not familiar with their company. As a
advertising agency they need to prove themselves to clients to stand a higher
chance of increasing their recognitions as well as maintaining their
reputation. Macdonald (2003) states, “In the corporate area more
business-orientated applications are likely to become of greater importance”. Whether
or not that particular user which accessed to interest on not they could always
refer it to someone else, which will help Saatchi publicise their brand. In
terms of the site organization the alignment is very neat. The grids within the
main border don’t have the area space but are all fixed very closely together. The
navigation tool placed just below the “Saatchi & Saatchi’ logo is far from
recognizable. This is one of the most important interfaces on the page and the
type is way to small and the colour does not correlate with the background. On
the other hand, the navigation tool does offer mass information, which is categorized
to suit their different audiences such as potential clients, graduates and even
other advertising agencies. Accessing certain subheadings in the navigation
section leads the users to very little information and a lot images seem to
replace the information, which should be there. Macdonald
(2003) cites the “Use of language for instance in navigation needs to be carefully
considered”, the ‘About Saatchi & Saatchi’
history is rather a poor navigator page. Once activated it leads the user to a
simple layout of the homepage with grids. The short information listed below
does indicate the grid images are clickable; this displays a form of
user-friendly qualities. Moreover, it is quite annoying as the site once again
provides another for of navigation in order to read on to smaller pieces of
information. The amounts of webpages are highly unnecessary and create a form
of delay to access information fast.
The Saatchi &
Saatchi website definitely leaves the users wanting to receive more information
as there is not really enough displayed on the site but visuals. As well as it
being a design website, type is also very important to have written information
too. As they are a very well known brand
this doesn’t matter as much as it would for another advertising agency. In
their ‘Contact us’ section the do have a number of different emails to contact
on in regards to the enquiry which is an advantage as it enquires the user
their enquiry will be dealt with much quicker. Moreover on the homepage site in
the footer section their display their contact details and a hyperlink in
regards to email enquires.
The four graphic
design principles overall have been met to a certain degree. The proximity and
alignment on the homepage, the tumblr blog appearance has the images close
together but does have an inch separation between the images. The site carries
a coherent visual style on each page with has a sense of continuity for the
audience to navigate through each page knowing there on the same site.
The interaction
design on the site could have been improved especially considering the purpose
of the site being an advertising design agency. The site uses flash for the
images on the homepage. This is a popular and using for of interaction design
to have to attract the audience as it grasps their attention displaying
different news of the company every 5 seconds. The fact that if the user is
interested in reading more on a headline which has popped up and changed, they
are able to click on it immediately navigates them directly to the link. This
save the user time from having to look through the long navigation tool bar on
the left. The disadvantage of the site is that not all visitors to the site are
perfectly enabled. Some users may be accessing the site through a mobile phone
device whilst others may not have flash player. Often this tends to disturb the
site and allowing the users to only receive half the experience.
Infrastructures on
the site include the search tool in the navigation. Typing in a key word to
narrow a search provides another webpage highlighting top results containing
the key word entered. The search box as the first bars in the navigation
section benefits the audience from having to scroll through the navigation bar.
Rather they can easily type in their area of interest and receive results
quicker.
Adam& Eve DDBs’
website contrasts in regards to layout user interface and structure. The
homepage is introduced with a light grey grain textured background. The display
is rather informal which shows off a form of originality in regards to the
other advertising agencies. The work site is displayed as a photo hanger with
flash animation when the cursor goes over the image. The site shows user-friendly
qualities as the cursor goes over the yellow overlay navigation bar. In comparison to Saatchi & Saatchi the
site does not reveal too much information on the first page. They don’t give
away who they are, but display necessary information on the front page for users
to activate and read on. There is no footer provided although there is quite a
bit of pointless space along the bottom, which could either compressed the
webpage or had some sort of type. The alignment of the site is very intelligent
as it goes webpage goes in accordance to width and the length of the page
displaying the view in a manner where everything can still be viewed
articulately. This is another user-friendly quality as it allows users who
maybe accessing the site through our new forms of media technology other than a
laptop or computer to still receive a full display.
The user interface
also provides flash animation, which doesn’t work on phones, but the still
provides a useful and mutual experience for phone users as well as people
viewing from their laptop. The flash provided is not relevant as it just
animation only happens on the clip design when the cursor is put the image to
bring the site to life.
The homepage provides
two forms of contacts; twitter and email. This is rather niche considering the
amount of social networks provided in the society today. Furthermore the
company does open up on a different set of platforms to engage to a mainstream
out of other audiences through other medians of social networks. This minimizes
their audiences. (Potts 2007, p341) address the
idea that “The importance of testing
different designs in different email clients, as well as testing subject lines
and content ideas, can reveal telling results that will ultimately lead to
better material and increased readership’. The Adam & Eve website achieves
the criteria of a good accessibly and design structure providing easy
navigation around the page and attractive imagery. Another final user-friendly
interaction on the contact us webpage provides a Google map which helps find
the location of the business linked to Google maps allowing the user to plan
their journey from point A to B if needed.
References
Potts. K (2007). Web Design and Marketing Solutions for
Business Websites . United States: Apress. P97
Macdonald. N, 2003. What is Web Design?
Switzerland, Roto Vision 2003. (pg, 341)
Staff, W . (2010). Information
Architecture Tutorial - Lesson 1. Available: http://www.webmonkey.com/2010/02/Information_Architecture_Tutorial_-_Lesson_1.
Last accessed 22nd Feb 2013.
http://webguide.gov.au/accessibility-usability/accessibility/website-infrastructure-assessment/
accessed 22nd Feb 2013
Nielsen, J., 2000. Designing Web Usability: The
Practice of Simplicity. USA: New Riders Publishing.
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