The Missing Someone

Site Clinic: No Good Web Design Idea is Original, So Use It!

by Jackie Baker

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One thing you’ll hear me say over and over again in this column is that good usability and design comes before optimization. It can be all too easy to market online through optimization, link building, blogging, and social media ( to name a few) and see that immediate upsurge in traffic, but not see any change in conversions.

Today we’re taking a look at AlaskaStock.com, a stock photography selling the rights to gorgeous photos of this northern state.

AlaskaStock.com has a great product to sell, and a decent process for doing it. However, the site design and usability could use a little work prior to taking the next step in online marketing. When you are offering a niche product in a common area, IE stock photography, it’s helpful to take some cues from other successful industry websites. After all, no good ideas are truly original. As long as you don’t violate copyright, there’s no harm in rooting around and making use of what works.

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Elements of Design One of the main usability pitfalls on the current AlaskaStock.com website is the lack of visual contrast; blue and gray text is on top of a gray background, which will get very washed out on varying monitors or for people who are color blind or have vision problems. The blue, gray, and lighter gray color palette is very low contrast, which causes all of the elements on each page to blend together. Using colors with higher contrast will make the site easier to read, and make it easier for visitors to distinguish the sections of each page (such as navigation, content, search, etc).

Hierarchy is another element of contrast that needs to be addressed on this website. The eye should be given a specific path to follow based on size, color, placement, and style of elements. A few key elements that need to stand out on every page are the site name and navigation. There is not enough contrast in size and color on AlaskaStock.com for visitors to be able to find these elements easily.

AlaskaStock.com has done a good job of using consistent styles and color across the website. In general, however, the fonts need to be bigger and the colors need more contrast.

Comparison: Take a look at JupiterImages.com, for example. This popular stock photography site has a simple, yet very contrasting design. The white, dark gray, and cyan blue are simple yet effective in making text, navigation, and primary elements pop off the page. It is well designed, drawing attention to the three primary sections: 1. the header with site name and navigation 2. left sidebar with image search 3. content area with image results or instructions.

Navigation Logical, easy to find and follow navigation is critical to good usability. While it’s great that AlaskaStock.com has multiple ways for visitors to navigate to information, it is spread out and hard to find on the page. On the homepage alone there are 5 different ways to navigate:

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 7:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.