Web Design

Website Link: MGBD Parts & Services

Website Critique

• Precedence (Guiding the Eye) - Upon arrival at the homepage, my eyes have no idea where they are supposed to go. I am immediately overwhelmed by the overused image spanning the left side of the page. Next, I am then drawn to not one, but two scrolling bars of varying sizes. The web designer’s use of color and contrast makes EVERYTHING stand out on the page which creates an immediately overwhelming experience. There is no introduction or mission statement to inform visitors of what this page is meant to accomplish. An inordinate and distracting number of car images are used with little to no relevance or function. In the end, everything appears to be a "feature", while really, nothing is.

• Spacing - There are several examples of poor spacing throughout this website, some of which make the message impossible to read. The text is inappropriately padded making several places unreadable. Not only is the font small, but the line spacing is incredibly thin making it difficult for the eye to follow. Some text is centered inside of boxes while other text is left aligned and runs right up to the edge (as on this page). The lack of predictability is very distracting and makes the page harder to follow. I would REALLY need to know about their company/product to be motivated to stay on this website.

• Navigation - Again, the page visitor is met with inconsistency. Some page links open in a new window, while others do not. There does not seem to be any clear justification as to why these links were designed this way. With regards to orientation, some links make navigation back to the home screen very easy (one click), while others do not. Words that are underlined are sometimes links and sometimes not. In some cases, half of a sentence is linked, and then, mid-word, the link ends. The navigation and site architecture are counterintuitive and the links are often unrecognizable creating far too many question marks for the visitor.

• These seemingly unique links take you to the same exact page. 

                                            

• Typography - Perhaps the most egregiously violated principle of this website is typography. There is absolutely no theme to the choices of font, size, spacing, line length, color or paragraphing. The homepage uses center alignment, while the online store uses left alignment. The homepage spaces its lines and letters generously while the online store line spacing is small and tight. The font changes colors at unexpected moments with absolutely no discretion, making it very distracting and hard to follow. It makes the content feel disjointed and fractured. The web designer surely missed the mark on "keeping it simple".

• Alignment - As the pictures above and below clearly demonstrate, images are unaligned and run into and over each other with inconsistent alignment making the overall aesthetic very unpolished. It is very obvious that someone tried to "eyeball" how things line up rather than using a grid structure. As a result, the page is very difficult to digest.

• Clarity - The principle of Clarity is also overlooked on this website. The images that are pasted like wallpaper are anything but crisp. They lack clarity and shape which creates a very "homemade" look for the website. The pixels of some images are so bad, they render the photo entirely unreadable. 

Negatively Impacted Intelligence Types:

• Linguistic Intelligence - The web designer for MGBD Parts & Services put very little thought or effort into how they expressed the company's message. People with strong linguistic intelligence have a love for language and are especially skilled at communicating. I believe they would look at this web design as a missed opportunity. It would likely have them questioning their ability to understand others. Reviewing this website would be a frustrating and disappointing experience for them.

• Spatial Intelligence - The web designer for MGBD Parts & Services gave absolutely no regard for an audience equipped with spatial intelligence. It is nearly impossible to derive insight from the visual data provided on this website. I believe that spatially skilled individuals would run screaming for the hills if faced with it. The total lack of balance and order makes this website very overwhelming and frustrating to visit.