RE: Critique Request

Fellow late-nighters,

SIDEBAR: I recently picked up a book called "Don't Make Me Think" (ISBN:
0789723107). This book is an EXECELNT read for ANYONE in the web biz! It
goes into a lot of detail on web usability and understanding of how
people (not us techies) use the Internet.  Now, without further ado the
critique -


[Stephanie Thrasher - Q:] You're the second person to object to the
missing Home button.  I thought the linked banner graphic would be an
interesting new way for people to get back home, but apparently not.
I'll make a Home button.

[Scott Piegdon - A:] I respect your creativity.  Unfortunately the
"Home" button is one of those Warm-Fuzzies that Internet users rely-on.
You have a fairly straight forward navigation on your site, but in the
event that the user feels "lost" at any point in the visit - this is the
first thing they will look for.

[Stephanie Thrasher - Q:] I'm really surprised about the need for an
email form -- I'd always thought they seemed completely redundant.  I
would rather click an email link and then have a record of the outgoing
message, and I'm annoyed when I have to use a form instead.  Are you
suggesting a CGI script then?

[Scott Piegdon - A:] They are VERY redundant (This is good!)  Visit my
site contact page.  http://www.hyperwebdesign.com/contact - here you
will notice that I have MANY ways for someone to contact me.  This is
the most important part of ANY "brochure" site.  You want to capture all
the ways a client "might" contact you - in an effective manor.

If you want the receipt, then setup an auto-responder.  So that when
John gets an email to a specific address (e.g. info(at)flightaudit.com) it
will automatically reply with a message (Thank you for contacting us.
Blah, blah.)

It has been my experience that new visitors will choose a form vs. an
email 9 out of 10 times!  You can use a CGI script to send your mail.
If you go that route, visit "Matt's Script Archive"
(http://worldwidemart.com/scripts/.)  There you will find several CGI
scripts that are ready to run (with minor changes.)  I use ASP for
everything, so I am using Microsoft's CDO for all of my mail.
 
[Stephanie Thrasher - Q:] Could you please explain what you mean about
alt tags being specific?  I know search engines use them, but all my
images have them, and I don't know how they could be more specific.

[Scott Piegdon - A:] Yes, your alt tags are specific - but not "keyword
intensive."  For example: The services navigation button's alt tag is
"services."  It could be "Aviation Audit Services provided by John
Hancock, Aviation Safety Consultant." 

[Stephanie Thrasher - Q:] One other thing -- I've gotten some complaints
from other responders about the color scheme being too gray; do you
agree?  I wouldn't mind it having a little more color, but I'm at a loss
as to how to introduce it.

[Scott Piegdon - A:] The site design looks fine, it is clean,
professional and loads fast.  I usually don't go in too much critique on
a site look, as art is expressed in many forms.  But if you would like
my feedback, then I would not have used that color as the background.  I
prefeer white, with accent colors.  You have a limited navigation, and
this is good.  Graphically the site could be a little more dynamic.  I
just put together a quick and easy site look
(http://www.hyperwebdesign.com/preview/flightaudit.asp)  I am not sold
on the testimony box, but you get the idea of what I was going for.

I would also completely remove the "Comments" page.  This page will
NEVER be read.  Put a small section on the site (as in my example) -
where each page has a different testimony, or have them randomly
displayed.  (These will be read - even if just scanned over!)  Either
way - you are well on your way.  If you have any more questions, please
feel free to send them my way.

Sincerely, 

Scott Piegdon
Hyper Web Design

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