Jill Donnelly
Gtg048y
08-28-05
Assignment 1
During my daily routine of checking my email and reading news, I visit many sites regularly. Particularly, I check Less Than Jake’s band website http://www.lessthanjake.com/ and Wachovia Online http://www.wachovia.com/.
Less Than Jake is a band that has been around for more than ten years now, and they have had many website designs during their history. I would say this design is the best yet; it provides functionality and at the same time looks cool. This site establishes itself as a place to visit by giving you the necessary information up front. In the center of the first page is a list of recent news updates. Yes, I would like to write them a note saying they fail miserably at updating their news section, but I will withhold myself. So the fact that the information is right up front is a plus for the website because I am able to click on my bookmark toolbar for the site and get the most recent news the instant the page loads. At the top of the page, there is a nice Less Than Jake logo, an animated banner for navigation, and another logo, or button that represents the page you are currently looking at. Due to successful conventions of the web, the basic page itself is divided into frames. There is a frame for “Featured Items” where they have a link and graphic to merchandise on sale and a link to their label’s site, a “Mailing List” frame where you can easily type in your email right on the main page and click “submit” to be added to the list, a “Latest News” section aforementioned, an “Upcoming Shows” frame where the next 10 shows are listed, a “Purchase” frame for links to order the newest albums, and finally, a “Links” frame that has a pull-down menu to select links to view. The two different navigation bars at the top of the page are accessible on every page and are in the same spot on every page, so it is easy to figure out where you are in the site, and it is easy to go somewhere else. The scrolling animated graphics navigation option is a perfect contrast to the plain, but nice and simple, additional navigation option. The animated graphic adds an extra element of design to the website that is appealing as well as functional. To understand what you are clicking on, when you mouse-over a specific graphic, the corresponding button in the opposing navigation will be highlighted, and it is pretty straight-forward. This functionality makes this website more established. It is unique and definitely outlines its own “space” very well. The color scheme works very well and reflects their current album. All of the text is readable and the navigation is easy to understand. Knowing that people may come to their website to find information about purchasing an album or other merchandise, a link on the page is clearly made for accessibility and a user-friendly interface. I would say this is an excellent website that is visually stimulating as well as fully functional. The only thing I wish was better about this website would be that the band update it more frequently.
Wachovia is a bank known for their easy customer service, and their website reflects such. The design is very practical. On the left of the main page is a “Login” frame that allows the user to enter an ID, password, and service to access their personal information. I would say this is about the best feature I could ever imagine. Being able to access instantly your account information and balances is very easy and establishes the site as a “place to visit.” On the first page, there are numerous links to more information on Wachovia’s services and other useful links. Their “Search” bar is right on the front page so if you don’t see what you’re looking for within the first page, you can search quickly to find it. There are numerous help links for all of their functionality to ensure their customers or prospective customers get all of the help they need. The simple and mainly text based site is great for the user looking for information as soon as they see the first page. Having all of the options on the first page minimize confusion and give the user a better overall online experience. The design is perfect for their target audience, and this website creates a great representation of Wachovia as a business, catering to the customer’s every need. I can’t think of anything negative about this website.
I believe both of these sites are great and successfully cater to the needs of their target audiences.