On the home page, there are four main links, clearly labeled and logically grouped under the appropriate categories. There is a clear hierarchy among the navigation systems; they are distinguished from each other by typographical differences. The site was designed this way so that visitors to this website could navigate easily through the different pages. The main navigation never disappears, no matter how far you are in a navigation link; it is always placed at the bottom of your web browser (not at the bottom of the page), and not only is there a way to go back to the home page, but there is also a link that takes you back to the previous page if you happen to enter the last level of the website. It is clear that it is used to get further into the website since the main navigation system always stays at the bottom of your web browser (NOT the web page), no matter which way you scroll. In the primary navigation system, once you click on one of them, it disappears, showing you only the links that you are not currently in. This was most likely to prevent people from blind attempts to go into a section of the website that they are currently in.
On the secondary level, the look of the links change rather than disappearing like they did on the primary level. The purpose of not mirroring the “selected” treatment of the main links was most likely done to avoid confusion; adding another subhead would take away from the clean look of the site. It is not entirely clear at all times about where you are within the architecture of the website. Since there are really only four main links, with secondary links that take you to another page with a “Back to [Previous Page]” button, getting back to where you came from is pretty easy and intuitive, even though there is an absence of a breadcrumb or some sort. If there are any tertiary links, these either open a new window or use flash to toggle between different images on the same page.
The site does not seem to have a deep architecture, seeing how there are four main links with links pages that either have a slideshow or links that open up a new window. Some links even take you to a page that could be reached through clicking on a different combination of navigation links. The architecture is not flat, since there are navigation systems that appear and disappear, and although even without the breadcrumb, because there are not that many pages, it is easy to get to a particular webpage from most pages. This is not true at all times, however, and although it may not be good for usability purposes, since the website was used as a marketing tool to create suspense for the movie, I believe not being able to access any page within the site at all times is a good thing; giving the user the opportunity to easily read all information on the site at any time would decrease the suspense of what happened.
There is a sense of typographical hierarchy. This was done through font type, size, contrast, and alignment. There is much room for improvement in this area, though. I would go about doing this by varying the size more. They make good use of different fonts, but I would try to vary the contrast of the font colors. The only contrast present on a give page, particularly the “Mythology” page, is white and red on a black background, the red text symbolizing a link to another page or a new window. First, I would kern out the text more, while adding more color to the text rather than just having it all white; I would try to incorporate some grays to create a sense of depth to some of the elements on the page, such as the dates or the events. I would also bring the webpage down; the headline of each webpage seems to be too close to the top of the web browser.
For the most part, the structure of the pages stay consistent as you go from one page to another, and this is to allow the user to soak up as much information as possible without thinking too hard (aka looking and formulating his/her own opinions, which is the last thing we want if we want to create suspense; we want to feed the user “opinions”). The focal point of most pages is a photo. This is because of its color and proximity. Having a color photo on a black page makes it jump out, and since it is placed at the center of the page right below the headline and the sub links, it is the first thing that catches someone’s attention. Therefore, the photos and imagery add to the design aspect of the website significantly. I do not necessarily want to see more photos, but would like to see a feature where I could see all of the photos rather than having to click through one by one or at least be able to see how many photos I have browsed through and how many there are total. A symbol they used a lot was the arrows to click through photos, and since it is so universal, it did not take long to understand what it did. The function of this symbol was also clear off the bat, and with a rollover state, it was immediately obvious that it was clickable.
On a given page, black and white are the main colors used, with the content being white. As mentioned earlier, they could definitely use different shades of black to create depth and separate different types of content from each other (such as the navigation from the content on the page). These colors were chosen to emanate a dark existence behind the Blair Witch Project.
The objective of this site was to build suspense for the movie and create a false idea that the movie was more like a documentary. The website does not feature an option to search for certain information. I do find the main navigation being stationed at the bottom of the web browser to be very convenient. If I were to design this website and had the time, one change I would make would be to approach the timeline page in a totally different manner. I would most likely do it in flash and make it more interactive and less text-heavy. One thing I found confusing was upon clicking on the “Filmmakers” link. It gives a default set of photos to browse through, but is not one of the secondary links. This may make someone think that the names of the filmmakers listed below the headline are not links, but just a way to let the user know exactly that, the names. It would be nice to have a “General” secondary link before the names to make it clear that the names are also links. As of now, people may browse through the photos and realize that that was all the “Filmmakers” link had to offer, when It has more to show.
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