Sarah Stephens

To be honest, I have no idea what I want my final project to be about. There are so many different things that I would like to do, but I’m trying to pick something that I could write about and find footage for on five pages. I also want to make sure my project is over something I have a strong interest in…

With that being said, food is a top contender for the topic of my final project. I want to write about the rise of consumers becoming more conscious of the food they eat which could be leading to the rise of alternative food chains.

I also might make my final project on talented local artists in San Marcos, Texas.

The concept around a connected car is simple; provide internet access to passengers in vehicles.

This idea is also something that people, including myself, have wanted for quite a long time now. It’ll be great to stream movies in the backseat while on a road trip, or it would just be nice to play music without sporadic buffering.

However, there are some worries that come along with connected cars such as an outside user’s ability to hack into your vehicle’s system.

So, like all other technological innovations, only time can tell if connected cars will withstand the test of time.

I don’t think I necessarily have a favorite website.

However, I will say that there are a lot of websites out there that I enjoy visiting just because they provide a cool aesthetic.

An example of this would be airbnb. My reasons for picking airbnb are measured greatly in the fact that this company did an incredible job of molding a creative, cool and unique aesthetic onto a webpage. Keep in mind that this is accomplished all while continuing to provide its visitors with a clean and easy accessible site.

My other reasoning for choosing this website is because of the feeling it gives me as soon as I reach the homepage. To sum it up, visiting this webpage makes me want to travel. It makes me want to live my life to the fullest. It makes me want to walk the streets of Amsterdam, learn a second language in Bordeaux and explore the cityscape of San Francisco.  I think a lot of this inspiration stems from the excellent photography airbnb features and the gifs that dominate the top of the homepage.

With that being said, I definitely believe airbnb does a terrific job of following the “10 principles of effective web design”.

One of the principles this site accomplishes right off the bat is to not make users think. The site does this by placing a search tab right at the front of the homepage for users to access as an easy and quick way to discover locations and hosts in different places they may be interested in visiting. The user doesn’t even need to scroll down and navigate the rest of airbnb’s site if they don’t wish to. The main purpose this company has is demonstrated in the first few glances of the page.

Secondly, airbnb’s website manages to focus user’s attention. As soon as the user reaches the homepage of airbnb’s website, they are greeted with moving images of people exploring different places all while a clean, white font reads to them what airbnb does, which is provide customers with places to stay from over 100 different countries.

Thirdly, this website strives for simplicity. As mentioned earlier, the search bar at the top of the homepage helps in accomplishing this feat as well as the easy navigation tools that can be accessed from simply scrolling through the unique website. Examples are the organized sections on the homepage for those looking for a short weekend getaway to those wanting a longer trip outside of the country.

Finally, if I had to pick one of the “10 principles of effective design” for airbnb to improve upon…I honestly wouldn’t pick anything. The website is pretty perfect; however, I could see the possibility of some complaining about feature exposure.