One of my favorite websites is a cooking site I discovered a few months back called The Curvy Carrot. Not only is the name really fun, but the site is very well made. The creators definitely have a user friendly approach in their design, and their content of course is what makes me come back for more.
For starters the site is self-explanatory. Upon visiting The Curvy Carrot, you can clearly see it is a website full of cooking recipes. There are very few “question marks” if any that Vitaly Friedman talks about in the article “10 Principles of Effective Web Design.” The user can easily navigate the page, and there is a clear path from one point to the next whether the user is searching for a certain recipe, or just wanting to browse through the site.
The creator of the site, Shannon, does a good job at focusing the users attention. She posts photos that are well-composed, and just the right size that captures the users attention but are not too distracting. When a user gets to the homepage they are greeted with a slideshow of some of her recipes. The pictures as I have stated are appealing, but also when the user sees something that catches their eye, they can click the picture, taking them directly to the recipe. She does a very good job at capturing the user’s attention, then delivering them exactly what they are looking for.
Next I would say Shannon does a good job at using writing effectively. While the writing is slightly different because it is recipes, she does break down in an easy to understand way. Her posts also consist of a bit of blogging about herself and daily life which I think is a pretty cool twist. But mostly her recipes are what I tend to focus on, and they are concise. Both in wordage, and in style.
Simplicity is something the creator does well too. Her site is neutral, but bold enough that it captures the users eye. I like how on each of her category pages there are simply pictures, and when you scroll over you can see what the dish is. That to me is simple and easy to follow. Though there are a few ads on the homepage which is not the most appealing, they are not intensely distracting. Her logo is cute and effective. I think the site strives in simplicity and does not let design get in the way of content at all.
Finally I will say I think The Curvy Carrot is quite a conventional site. It is very easy to navigate. The user can clearly see where they need to go if they are looking for certain recipes. Also she makes her social media available throughout the site which is helpful. There is nothing extremely innovative about the website, yet this is a great thing because it is pretty easy to navigate and figure out.
Overall, The Curvy Carrot is a site I continual use. Whether I am cooking dinner for my roommates, or making banana bread. I have relied on this website for a lot of my cooking for a few months, and I think it does a great job at being a well functioning, easy to use site.
