This is a Mac Apps blog which, from the home page, one can see news and updates to the website in chronological order, starting with the most recent being on the top. There are two navigation systems, the main one having four links (General, Reviews, Roundups, and How-To), and the secondary links varying in number. The labels of the navigation are made clear by including a short description underneath them. For example, “Roundups” have a description saying “Best of the Best,” and “How-To” is followed by the explanation “App Tips & Tricks.” The groups make sense, and there is clearly a hierarchy among the navigation systems, seeing how rolling over the main navigation links gives a dropdown menu of the secondary links. The site was designed this way to create a clear distinction between some overlapping links. For example, there is a graphics link under three of the four main links. If they were to have categorized it in another manner, browsing the website may have become confusing. Since there is a dropdown menu, and because the main links stay in the same place throughout all the pages, the navigation does not disappear, regardless of where you are in the site.
Once you click on the main navigation links, there is no selected state, which can be a problem when you go to a secondary link such as “Graphics,” where the same sub link exists in other main navigation links. If they were to improve on the site, adding a selected state for the main links would be something they should consider. Adding a breadcrumb would be another, since you do not always know where you are within the architecture of the site. There is a heading on the very top of all the content, but for something like “Graphics,” it is not clear whether you are under the Reviews, Roundups, or How-To section. Despite this, you can always get back to the home page from any page by clicking on the logo unless you click on a link within an article that takes you to another website. This is not so much a problem since this is a site that compiles information from different sources (aka, different websites).
The site does not appear to have a deep architecture, seeing how after going into the second level of the site, you get redirected to another site upon clicking on a link. It is not flat, however. This is a good thing, because having all the links that take you to another website accessible from any page would be too confusing and would lead to an overload of information. This website was designed to break up information for users so that it would be more manageable to absorb.
The hierarchy of the typography is apparent, but I would bring down the font size quite a bit. At the moment, it is too big, and although it was probably intended to catch people’s attention with the headline, it can definitely come down in size and make the text less overwhelming to the eyes. Some other techniques used to make the headlines more prominent were color and weight. Color also includes the background color of text, making it look as if it was highlighted.
The structure of the pages stays consistent, with no changes for any section. This is to minimize the variety users will run into when they are redirected to another website, which will vary greatly. The focal point on any page is the headline of the section you are in, due to its stunning size. The headline of the actual article is not the focal point at all times since it is cut off. One way to remedy this would be to decrease the real estate of the navigation bar on top, along with the search feature and the logo. It takes up a good two inches of the website, and bringing the font sizes down would help greatly, in both the navigation links and the article itself.
Imagery/photos add a great deal to the site, but unless the font size is decreased, having more photos would mean more scrolling for the user, and a minor case of sensory overload (colorful pictures with big font sizes). Icons are used extensively, but since they are widely-used (the magnifying glass to search and an envelope for emailing purposes), it took me little to no time to realize what they meant. Most also had text next to it describing what it was for (mostly for those who would not be able to recognize the Twitter icon and such).
On any given page, the website is largely white, black, and blue. The white box shows the articles/content, whereas the background of the website has shades of black. These colors were chosen to give a blog-like feel, and the blue was minimally used to link the content of the website to Macs.
The purpose of this site is to provide information on Mac applications for Mac users, casual and/or professional. There is a search feature, and it has the capability of returning very specific results. I found the App Feed the most useful, which is placed on the right hand side of the website. You do need to scroll down a bit to access these links, but it offers five Mac applications at a glance, and for people who just want to check out applications rather than read through the news and updates, this is the place to go to. As addressed before, it is confusing when you are under a sub link that exists under other main links, like “Graphics,” and as suggested earlier, it would be a good idea to incorporate a breadcrumb on each page so that people will know exactly where they are at in the website.
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