Archive for the ‘Great Websites’ Category
Feb
15
2010
at 3:58pm
With the Winter Olympics underway I’ve been spending a lot of time on Vancouver 2010 website as well as those from some major Canadian media sources. Some have really impressed me with clean, grid-based design, strong features, and good usability. Others, not so much. Let’s take a look.
I will be looking at four major Canadian Olympics sites:
For each site, I will look at the home page, the event schedule, and a sample sport page (Nordic Combined, since I always forget what that is), as well as a few other standout features or things I come across. Read more…
Posted in Design, Great Websites | 4 Comments »
Aug
24
2007
at 11:17am
Laura wrote me and asked why the three sites I have discussed so far in my Great Websites series use tables for layout. Good question! I did notice this about them when I first wrote up my crtiques, but it didn’t affect my decision to include them in the series (although I hadn’t put 2+2 together and figured out that all three were table based). Why? Because I was already drawn in to the site. That’s what really matters – the user experience. Who cares if the site is using tables for layout when the experience is that good? Read more…
Posted in Great Websites, Web Standards | 3 Comments »
Mar
09
2007
at 9:12pm
EDGE of Existence is another example of a great website. Why is this site great? It is cleanly designed and has a very elegant feel. I think that some have taken the clean white look a little too far, but this site balances it well with deep colour accents. The colour choice suits the topic and coordinates with the animal photos.
Speaking of the photos, they are high quality and very engaging. I was immediately drawn to the slideshow on the home page. This is an example of user engagement on an emotional level - you feel the mission of the site when you look at those photos. You can’t help but become involved.
Read more…
Posted in Design, Great Websites | No Comments »
Dec
08
2006
at 1:14pm
I came across this NewsTarget.com when my mom sent me a link to an article on fake avocado dip (seriously. Read it, it’s good). I was really impressed with the NewsTarget site for a couple of reasons. Obviously it’s got lots of great content, written in an informative and engaging way. It’s also got a great design: upbeat, colourful, clean, elegant, and above all, appropriate for the site (although unfortunately table-based).
Read more…
Posted in Design, Great Websites, Marketing/SEO/Monetization, Usability | 7 Comments »
Oct
18
2006
at 3:00pm
I came across Environmental Defense the other night when I was looking for lists of safe fish to eat as recommended by Marion Nesle‘s book What to Eat. But that’s besides the point. I was immediately struck by how engaging this site is. At first glance it’s nothing special – basic web site, mostly text, conservative, partially table-based layout. Nothing special, right?
Well, maybe not. Read more…
Posted in Design, Great Websites, Marketing/SEO/Monetization, Usability | 1 Comment »
