UX/UI review

Team 1: https://thegreenspringreview.art.blog/

5 elements that are effective:

1. Home page of the website is done well by giving The Greenspring Review a very professional aesthetic. The home page reminds me of a university database page; database websites are meant to look for professional pieces of writing. With the Green Spring Review, you are looking for writings in general, thus there is a similarity in the two.
2. The side widget is also a nice touch. It states the next event that is going on at Stevenson. This makes the users want to keep exploring to find out more about this event. The widget is also hard to miss which makes it easy for the user to notice it while on the website.
3. The menu on the top of the home screen makes it easy to navigate through the website. The cursor turns from a regular arrow into a finger icon to allow the user to know you can click on the item, making for easy navigation.
4. On the main menu it allows you to see the latest work from the latest issue. This is a nice addition because if a user wants to see what the issue is then they can easily do it. And if this is updated daily it will make the user come back everyday to see what the latest work is.
5. They do a good job making it a Stevenson Website without branding stevenson’s name all over it. They kept it clean and simple. Being a Stevenson student, you can recognize the classic Stevenson colors. And if you were not from Stevenson but had an interest in Stevenson you can still tell by the color schemes.

5 elements that are not effective:

1. The issues Tab is not a good design. When on the issues menu 2 items are in your face in large letters. And when hovering over them a drop down appears in big letters as well. To me this makes me feel like they do not have much to offer so they thought they could hide that with bigger letters and fill space.
2. The search box placement on the issues tab feels awkward as well. Users are used to seeing search tabs on the top of the screen, to have it dead in the middle does not make sense.
3. It would be easier for the user if the issues tab had a drop down menu at the top of the page and not having to constantly click on the issues to see other works.
4. The Greenspring Review is supposed to target all types of art works, but with the side panels being pictures of a bookshelf it makes you think that there is only literature on this website.
5. In the art page there is only a picture of the artwork, if there is maybe a story behind the artwork or maybe some description of some sort, it would make it more interesting.

 

Team 2: https://jennaaye.wordpress.com/

Effective:

1. The header on the home page does a good job at grabbing the users attention and gives them a brief description on what the website is about “A Literary, Art, and Media Magazine”
2. When scrolling down on the website the menu stays attached to the top of the screen. So no matter how far you scroll down, the top menu is still available to user. They would not have to waste time scrolling all the way back to the top
3. The issues tab on the top menu have a drop-down menu. This way the user does not have to leave the page they are on just yet. It is also not big and in the way of anything else.
4. On the art page, when scrolling down the art pieces are in a staggered form. This keeps the user’s eyes moving and more attentive to what is going on, rather than just moving their eyes up and down.
5. They also give the user the option to submit a piece of work themselves for review to have a chance to get published as well.

 

Needs Improvement

1. This website is more designed for a mobile device. When you look at the website on a computer there is too much blank space on the side, and everything feels compacted in the middle. When you look at it on a mobile phone then all that white space is gone, and the content fills up the screen appropriately on the phone.
2. The banner is made so huge, but it all disappears when you scroll down. Should’ve found another to incorporate the banner design throughout the website.
3. Under the creative writings the options are still in the middle but more towards the left leaving even more blank space.
4. More color should be added to the website because, as now it does not and without color it feels like a word document.
5. When looking at the archives I thought it would be more so of old work that is on the page, but it takes you to a different website. It would be best to have the works on the website so that way users are not clicking off yours.

 

Team 3: https://greenspringreview.art.blog/

Effective:

1. The Facebook widget on the side menu is a nice touch. It lets the user know that this website is not the only platform for brand. The Widget allows users to interact with recent posts on the Facebook page.
2. They do nice a job at keeping the blank white space to a minimum. This keeps the user active throughout the site.
3. Adding a submission tab for those who wants their reading reviews and published bring a sense of community.
4. The menu is sectioned off, letting the user know that it is in fact a menu
5. Having the email subscription signup at the bottom of the page is a nice touch. It is what every website does. Giving the user a sense of recognition. It is also smart to put it at the bottom of the website because after reviewing the content users can decide if they want to keep seeing more

Needs Improvement:

1. There is no color scheme, Users are more attracted to a website when there is a theme happening and the random light blue if offsetting
2. In the issues tab it would be nice to see what the options are other than “Spring 2019” and “Fall 2019”. You want the user to know what they are getting themselves into.
3. It would be nice to have a drop-down menu coming from the issues tab on the top menu as well. That way we can know the full contents of the tabs.
4. When you click on the artwork it expands the image and it allows you to view the next image, but only the image that is displayed next to it. They should have it so you can continue to see all the images and not just one, keep I continuous.
5. There is no context in neither the short stories nor the interviews sections.