Recently, a friend asked about creating a sort of web portal that would encompass a community site, a corporate information site and a shopping cart. But what struck me was his focus on the design. He provided almost 20 different web sites, catalogues and flyers to illustrate his desired look and feel. Then he asked, “How much do you think that will cost me?”.This got me thinking about the discussion we had. As photographer, my friend was naturally very graphics and design oriented. His strong desire to get online was fueled by the reality that photography works very well on the Internet and makes good business sense. However, gave no thought to some things that would be almost life and death online.
What were his objectives for each part of his portal? Who were the target audience? How would the site be structured? Which was the main part and which sections were supporting? What are people expected to see, do or learn from the site? And the list goes on. I guess he must want the site to sell his photographs. If that were the case, we might consider this example: wholesale knives. This company has been in business for the last 6 years. They sell quite a lot of different items.
If you visit the site, you will find that the design is really, really simple. And this is not the only site that is designed in this manner. The site loads really fast. Items are clearly categorised along the left column and each category is neatly displayed in the main section at the center. They sell Men’s Apparel, Ladies Apparel, Sports Knives, Gloves, Jewelry, Luggage, and more. Quite a mix.
My point is this – the site is effective and efficient. It gives you a feeling of great ease of use and clarity in product selection. Now, would this site have been better if it were all dolled up with Flash, Animated GIF’s and fanciful Javascript navigation? Frankly, I doubt it. I like it the way it is.
So, while I am still thinking about how to answer my photographer friend and his obsession with pretty pictures, I am hoping more people will opt for simplicity.
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[tags]web design, graphics, photography, wholesale, shopping online[/tags]
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