Analysis of yuccado.com
Date of analysis: 04/11/2007
This page is the result of an assignment from my GRCP230 Web Authoring class in which our instructor, Marc Tringali, requested an analysis of the web site yuccado.com
Quick link menu:
Initial Thoughts:
I like how quickly the home page loads. At first the site seems visually appealing to me. I like the colors used as they have an earthy feel which suits this web site given its subject matter.
I wouldn't say that this site rely's on the 'extensive' use of graphics for its look and feel, however being a sales site there are quite a few images and graphics used as is to be expected.
The welcome page itself seems moderately weighted with graphic images, however It doesn't reduce the usability or readability of the site. I feel it dds a nice touch instead. The welcome page does have a fair amount of content, almost too much for a welcome page. I would like to see less, or more concise content which would reduce or eliminate scrolling all together.
I don't view the site as overly graphic intensive, my eyes are pleased that it is not 'busy' with graphics overload. Other than the graphics for the menu system at the top, I identified only 6 graphics on the main page.
As far as rollover buttons, unfortunately this site doesn't utilize them. There are, however, rollover effects on quite a few links throughout the site, but unfortunately the element I feel would have given benefited greatly from rollover images, the top nav bar, is very plain jane.
Shopping Cart:At first glance this web site seemed to be an informational source about plants, not an actual online store. Upon further inspection however I did finally find the shopping cart. Unfortunately (for them) finding the links to the shopping cart would have driven me away from the site almost immediately if it were not for the fact that this is an assignment that I need to complete.
The shopping cart is located inside the 'Browse Plants' link. I found it difficult to find something labeled 'shopping cart' or any clear links that lead to a shopping cart. I didn't notice any links that clearly conveyed the message that 'This is where you go to purchase items'.
The 'Browse Plants' link takes you to the shopping cart area. I would rather see a clear, concise link to a 'shopping cart'. A link labeled in such a way that the user completely understands 'this is where you go to buy plants'.
The first link I found for the shopping cart (before I noticed the upper nav bar link) was in the first paragraph on the welcome page, just after the introduction text, 'Start shopping'. This, I feel, was poor placement of this link as it is hidden away amongst an alphabet jungle if you will. I'm sure the user comes to buy plants, not hunt for them.
As far as the shopping cart being universal, on this particular site it was rather difficult at first to find it, so i'd have to say that this site does not use a standard, widely used location for the shopping cart.
Drawing from my own personal online shopping experiences, the web sites I use to purchase items present the shopping cart right up front. They make it very clear where to go to get a price or check out and purchase an item. Maybe this is why I use these particular web sites so often, because they are very easy to navigate and the user has a clear understanding of exactly where to go to buy things.
The shopping cart in this particular case is located on the upper nav bar, furthest button on the left entitled 'browse plants'. Personally I would have labeled this button something to the effect of 'buy plants' or 'get plants now' or 'shop for plants', to make it more clear.
Adequate product information?There is a fair amount of product information on the web site, however it isn't the type of information I would expect. Generally, the plant descriptions explain what the plant looks like, but I would like to see more statistical information about the plant, its life span, its average height or size, and perhaps what types of plant food to feed it.
Additionally, and for the most part, the descriptions are rather redundant because the pictures themselves describe what the plant looks like. In this way, the descriptions seem more like 'content filler' instead of helpful information as they provide very little useful information to the potential customer.
Not being a 'green thumb' it's hard for me to assess if there exists enough information about the product on this web site Perhaps one with more planting and plant species experience would have more input regarding what information could be added.
Suggested improvements:The 'Yuccado info' page background color does not work well with the text color. I have a Hi-Definition HD computer monitor (unsure how it looks on other monitors) and when I view this page my eyes strain greatly to read the thin black text on the brownish-grey background. The heading text color works very well with the background and makes it very easy to read. I suggest either making the font larger, or changing the font color to make it more readable.
The 'DooHickeys' page seems rather pointless to me. It is a separate page, devoted solely to one particular product. There is only one product for sale on this page. It seems like a waist of space to me. I suggest moving this item to the main shopping cart page along with the other items for sale. A shopping cart itself should contain all the items for sale, not just most of them.
The 'Plant Articles' page needs some improvement as well. It isn't initially clear what objects are links and what are pictures. There are several pictures located on the right side of the screen which appear to be a normal picture like the rest of the web sites pictures. They are in fact links, which only adds to the overall inconsistency with this web site I didn't know they were links until hovering my mouse over them. Had the rest of the web site contained linkable images, I would have expected these to be links as well.
I like the "News and Links" page as it closely resembles the overall visual appeal (minus all the nice pictures) that the main page presents. When I maximized the web page however, both menus on the right went from a nicely aligned vertical arrangement to an off balance unaligned arrangement. When the page is minimized to a certain point it looks decent, but upon maximization the page becomes unbalanced and unaligned. It seems to me that with a little CSS structure, this page could look and function better.
This web site could potentially benefit with the use of linkable product images in the shopping cart area. The existing product images are quite small, measuring on average 200x150 pixels each. I suggest linking each small product picture to a much larger, more detailed image of the same product. This would provide the potential buyer with a better idea of what they are about to purchase. This improvement could yield benefits for both the client and the company itself.
Web site Summation:This web site has a nice start, that being the main page. But it is only the start that is nice. After exploring further I was disappointed in the overall layout of the site as a whole.
The site would be more visually appealing if all the pages more consistent in their design and layout. For example, if you click the different nav links at the top of the page, each subsequent page is, in some cases, drastically different in design, color, and layout. Some might agree that this adds a bit of 'flavor' to the web site I however feel it has a negative effect in that it gives me the impression that the web site was poorly thought out, almost as if it was put up in a hurry (I would say 'thrown up in a hurry' but i'm afraid i'd be tempted to make use of a bad pun if I did...)
Overall, I would have been more impressed if all the pages had the same general colors and layout, as well as interactive (rollover) buttons on the nav bar. Adding the option to click the smaller product images to produce a larger and clearer image would also have improved my experience with this site.
Bottom line, if I were shopping online for a product such as a plant, I would want to see detailed information, large images, a consistent and well thought out easy to use web site, and would want the shopping cart clearly marked out on the main page. The last thing I want to do is spend 15 minutes trying to find out how the hell to order something that I really want.
