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One website that I have open up every single time that I open up my web browser is Mashable.com. Not only is is a great way to get news but it is set up for that purpose. I like seeing that as one of the first pages when I open up my web browser because it is aesthetically pleasing. The colors are blue and white which keep a neutrality that allows the content such as headlines and pictures to stand out. The navigation is also a big thing for me: I can scroll down and click on categories of news very easily without sinking myself too deep into irrelevant stories. On the main screen it has major stories and along the side it has stories that might not be big stories but are still relevant and somehow they manage to make it look clean. That one thing they do correct is keeping things very organized. The top navagation is one of my favorites also because it lets you filter out what you like. I think they could work on some placement of stories versus ads but besides that I do not have much to improve.  I love Mashable.

My favorite website is sephora.com. I like this website mainly for the content but when I looked a little closer at the website I really started to appreciate the layout. It is so easy to use and convenient. I think it follows the “10 Principles Of Effective Web Design” really well. The first of the 10 principles is “don’t make users think” meaning that you should be able to just look at the website and know whats going on and where you want to go next. The Sephora website does a great job of this because the tabs are easily visible and the website is very visual. The simple layout of pictures and a white background lend attention to principle 3: “manage to focus users attention” meaning the website gets right to the point by showing the user the product right off the bat. The website also does principle 4 very well: “strive for feature exposure” by showing right on the home page an “editors picks” section. This helps the shopper see products they might have missed otherwise. Principle 6 is also done well: “strive for simplicity” by just showing the shopper exactly what they are looking for and giving them the option to add the product to the “shopping cart” just by hovering over the image. Principle 7: “don’t be afraid of the white space” is a big theme with the Sephora website. This is nice because the website background does not draw attention away from the products being showcased. Overall I love this website because of it’s simplicity!

Jordan Aragon

My favorite website is Spotify! Being a music lover I always love to try out new music sites and Spotify has been one that I’ve consistently used since it started. Spotify allows you to search your friends music, artists music, and even make your ow playlists. I LOVE it. The reason I liked the Spotify website so much is because of how much it has evolved. Now with Spotify the navigation is more simple than ever but it also gives you a ton of options. They have playlists for working out, hanging out with your friends, or even ones when you’re trying to study, but they don’t over clutter their homepage with this information. Spotify has also recently started the Discover Weekly page which takes your music taste and makes you your very own playlist. I think they have done a good job with not only the easy to use navigation but the content that is on the page which all together makes the perfect website 🙂

My favorite website right now would probably have to be Pinterest. I like Pinterest because it’s extremely relevant to me. I’m able to choose what I want to see and skip over things that don’t interest me. I can search for things that range from healthy diets to trendy clothes, and everything in between. My favorite to search is DIY (Do It Yourself) projects because it helps me turn broken or used items into crafty and useful things.

I think the website is mostly well designed but a little cluttered. The home page shows a search bar at the top and it’s big enough to notice, and the home page shows a bunch of boards that are relevant to me because it brings up boards I’ve searched in the past. Although it seems a little cluttered at first, it’s okay after the first trial run because you figure out that all of the different boards showing are just different options of whatever you searched (such as food, or hairstyles, etc.) and they all take you to different websites that go into further detail.

In my opinion, Pinterest does a good job managing to focus user’s attention because it shows block images and minimal text. According to the article, our eyes focus more on images than text, so whatever image we are interested in, we can click on and read more about but at our own discretion. They also do a good job of making use of effective writing. They use photos to capture our interest and then add a small description or quote to describe it furthermore. We can click it to read more.

Something Pinterest could work on is not being afraid of the white space. As much as I love Pinterest and it works well for the most part, it is sort of cluttered and there is a lot of photos and boards to sift through.

www.pinterest.com