[thelist] Site check / critique...
Timothy Joko-Veltman
tim at indigopixel.com
Sun Dec 19 08:05:51 CST 2004
D Ross wrote:
> You'll notice the menu page scrolls horizontally...I've heard it could
> be confusing to the end user but I dont think it will take a brain
> surgeon to figure it out.
Actually, it might. People are too used to web pages scrolling
vertically - this is the first page I have EVER seen that scrolls
horizontally, but not vertically (though it does when I resize my
browser to 800x600). Besides the unfamiliarity problem, when I use my
scroll wheel to move the page, and nothing happens, it's easy to assume
that there's nothing more to see.
Personally, I like the horizontal scrolling, as it felt a bit more
natural than the vertical scrolling model. However, since the objective
of the site is more to sell Oscar's food than to start a web design
revolution, I think a conservative design that everybody already
understands is a better bet. Additionally clicking on "Starters" does
bring me to that section, but I can't tell, since on my screen, they
both show together and nothing moves, so it feels like the link is dead.
It might help if the section headers had greater contrast with the page
- they are more or less invisible as they are; that is, I have to
consciously look for them. A blank line between menu items wouldn't be
unwelcome either; though the bold item titles help a lot, the text feels
really "packed in" to me. Remember text is much harder to read on
screen than in print.
I think the wording of the "back to front" link should be changed, it
indeed sends me back to the front of the menu, but the web is not print
- so when I saw that link I thought two things: a) it'll somehow reverse
the order of things, or (since that seems implausible), b) it will send
me to the front page. The first I just don't get, and the second is not
what I want to do ... I understand the dilemma with a horizontally
scrolling page; it's ALL at the top, but I don't think that being
slightly inaccurate for the sake of being understood is an unacceptable
compromise. This is assuming you will stay with the horizontal scrolling.
Overall, the design is very pleasing, though I was somewhat confused
when I saw "Juicy hamburgers" when the tagline of the site was "Fine
Italian Cuisine" (that brush font, btw, though beautiful, is a bit hard
to read for words of more than 5-6 letters) - I don't exactly associate
hamburgers (with their German name) with Italian food, much less cuisine
- then again, you didn't exactly write up the menu, did you? Speaking
of writing, my guess is you didn't write the copy ... but it could use a
little refining - it's not BAD, per se, but could be smoother.
I really like the logo. However, do they plan to use it for their
branding? Otherwise ... the logo on the site, and the one on the sign
(in the "about us" section) are so different, I almost thought that they
couldn't possible actually belong to together.
Speaking of the "About Us" section, ask them if they can take a picture
with the sun behind the photographer ... the current photo is backlit,
so it is hard to see the restaurant.
You may want to label the PDF icon on the Coupons page ... _I_ knew what
you meant, but I'm not sure all that many Joe Averages will.
The animation - is alright ... personally, I found it a little
distracting, but that's a compliment, because I generally detest
independent (ie., not user-controlled) motion on web pages. However, to
be constructive, I did notice one thing: the adjectives seem a little
uneven. Specifically, "Sweet desserts" doesn't really seem to fit into
the feeling of the parellelism that you set up with "Juicy Hamburgers"
and "Gourmet Pizzas".
Regards,
Timothy
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