This is a website that is aiming to sell the Kia Soul, an all-new compact SUV. On the home page, there are five main links, two of which have secondary links. The navigation systems are grouped logically, and there is a clear hierarchy among the navigation systems. The secondary links are different in appearance from the main links. The main links are buttons, whereas the secondary links are bullet points of which you can click on, which either changes the type of Kia Soul displayed on the page or filters the information that the main link provides. The site was designed this way to divide the information in more manageable parts for people who may be potential buyers. The navigation remains in the same location on every page, and made clear that it is the main way to browse the site by its placement. It is placed on the left side of the website as a column, and the links look like a clickable button.
The navigation links have identical rollover and selected states. The purpose of having a selected state is to let the user know where they are within the site, which brings us to the question of whether visitors to this website know where they are within the architecture of the site or not. With a selected state and the navigation column staying in the same place, users should always be able to find out where they are at within the site and go back to the home page without any trouble. Also, with clear labels, users should be able to find what they are looking for without having to wander around the website, at least from the main navigation level. Once you go into a page, this is another story.
Going to the “quick facts” or “gallery” page gives a four-by-five layout of graphics squares. Each square gives the user a different piece of information about the Kia Soul, but the problem is, how do you know which one to go to for a certain specification? Which one do you click on to find out how many people the Soul can seat? I understand that the purpose of this website is for the user to explore and find out about “a new way to roll.” This was also done so that users will go through each one of them and find out more than they ever wanted to about the SUV, but people may become frustrated when trying to go back to a certain piece of information and having to go through more than one graphics square to find out where it was.
The site does not appear to have a deep architecture, since there aren’t too many sub links. The architecture is not flat, however. For two of the main links, it is necessary for you to click on it before being able to access any of the filtering links. In my opinion, this is perfectly fine, seeing how there is no need to access the filters unless you are on the page that requires the option to do so.
The hierarchy of the typography is made apparent by the use of weight. If I were to improve it, I would perhaps vary the font size of the headline from the rest of the content. The structure of the pages stay consistent for the most part. The two pages with graphics squares are identical in arrangement, and the other pages are organized differently to accommodate the content being presented. The focal point of each page is different. For some, it is the color of the bar behind the headline, which grabs people’s attention. For the ones with the graphics squares, because they are so intriguing and unique, it is the artwork that catches your eyes.
Since the website itself without the content uses very little color – shades of white (and light blue) – the imagery/photos is definitely a plus to the site. I would like to see more photos, however, of the car itself from different perspectives. This is under “gallery,” but there are some pictures that are in the “quick facts” category that should also be in the “gallery” section. The colors are used to separate content by creating a white background behind the navigation links, and by adding a colored bar behind headlines and alternating lines of text for a list of specs. These colors were chosen so as to not create an association with a certain color of the SUV, and also to not detract attention away from the car itself.
The only thing confusing about the site has to do with the graphics squares and not being able to know off the bat which graphics represents what time of information it will display behind the slide, as explained earlier. They could improve this by showing the headline of what it will tell you behind the square upon rollover, or give some indication as to what the other side of the square will tell you about the Kia Soul without actually having to click on it.
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