Food websites be inspired

http://www.dishizzle.com/

http://www.beerenberg.com.au/

Bid draft - 3

Following our client discussion we propose the following features for your Smalltown
e-commerce bookstore:-

E-Commerce usability
We recommend optimising conversion rates by building the structure around the principle of landing page to purchase in no more than 3 clicks. This is extremely important in e-commerce as each click is a point for confusion or drop out.

Navigation
It is very important that users know where they are on the site and how to get back if they have arrived at the wrong page. To ensure that users can clearly navigate the site we will have:-

1. The Smalltown logo at the top left corner as a home link.
2. A horizontal tabbed navigation for the main part of the website. This worked successfully for both Blackwell and Amazon websites.
3. Book genre types will be listed as a vertical menu down the left hand side with the page clicked indicated with an arrow.

The navigational elements will be controlled using cascading style sheets (C.S.S.)

Colour
We recommend that multi-coloured book covers are best displayed on a neutral white background as Amazon and Blackwell demonstrate.
As the cookery section is key we propose using rustic browns and reds to reinforce the cookery theme as these cookery sites do.
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/victorianchristmas/ and http://www.booksforcooks.com
When the users navigate away from the cookery section these rustic borders will disappear to be replaced with complementary colours signposting to the user they are now in a general books area.
Exact colours are to be decided but we will use a professional looking colour scheme using Adobe Kular for suggested colours and will be controlled using CSS.

Layout
We propose building a mixture of fixed column for the left hand side and liquid for main content to cater for users with a range of screen sizes.

Social Media
We recommend 2 social media feeds to appear on the site to help with it’s SEO.
A Blog where staff and customers can review and comment on the latest books. Plus we will use AJAX to display excepts of those reviews on the right hand column of the sites pages just like Amazon.
A Twitter account that customers can join so that they can be informed of latest offers and arrivals. This will ensure that your customers have reasons to keep returning to your online bookstore.

Administration
Database control will be password protected and secure. We will provide the facility to monitor the increase in sales that this new website will no doubt generate.

Quality Coding
We will do our best to ensure we follow best practice in writing W3C valid XHTML code, adhere to WCAG and make sure the content is easily crawled by web spiders and robots so that it ranks highly with search engines. We will monitor user input by using Javascript.
and Cookies will monitor users searches and make suitable recommendations just like Amazon.

These practises will ensure a success measured in high sales and an enjoyable user experience.

Bid draft - 2

Navigation
It is very important that users know where they are on the site and how to get back if they have arrived at the wrong page. To ensure that users can clearly navigate the site we will have:-

1. The Smalltown logo at the top left corner will be a home link.
2. A horizontal tabbed navigation for the main parts of the website. This worked successfully for both Blackwell and Amazon websites.
3. Book genre types will be listed as a vertical menu down the left hand site with the page clicked indicated with an arrow.

The navigational elements will be controlled using cascading style sheets (C.S.S.)

Colour
Multi-coloured book covers are best displayed as Amazon and Blackwell have done on a neutral white background and we will do the same for the main content area.
Starting with the most important part of the website which is the cookery section, in the same way that Blackwell uses blues to look academic we will use for the areas surrounding the main content to reflect cookery which are rustic browns, and reds.
(See http://www.bbc.co.uk/victorianchristmas/ and http://www.booksforcooks.com )
When the users navigate away from the cookery section these rustic borders will disappear and the user will know that they are now in the general books area.
Like Amazon’s blue and orange navigation colours we will use complementary colours to the cookery section colours.
Exact colours are to be decided but we will use a professional looking colour scheme using Adobe Kular for suggested colours and will be controlled using CSS.

Layout
Mixture of fixed column for the left hand side and liquid for main content so that it show more information to users with bigger screens.

Functionality
We will do our best to ensure we follow best practice in writing W3C valid XHTML code, adhere to WCAG and make sure the content is easily crawled by web spiders and robots so that it ranks highly with search engines so you sell more books.
With e-commerce it’s essential that users becomes customers with the fewest amount of clicks and we will ensure that your customers can get shopping within 3 mouse clicks.
We will monitor user input by using Javascript.
We hope to use Cookies will monitor users searches and make suitable recommendations just like Amazon.

Social Media
We recommend 2 social media feeds to appear on the site to help with it’s SEO.
A Blog where staff and customers can review and comment on the latest books. And will use AJAX to display excepts of those reviews on the right hand column of the sites pages just like Amazon.
A Twitter account that customers can join so that they can be informed of latest offers and arrivals. This will ensure that your customers have reasons to keep returning to your online bookstore.

Administration
Database control with be password protected and secure. We will provide the facility to monitor the increase in sales that this new website will no doubt generate.

Bid - draft

Navigation
It is very important that users know where they are on the site and how to get back if they have arrived at the wrong page. To ensure that users can clearly navigate the site we will have:-

On the top left corner the Smalltown books logo which will also be a link back to the home page. This has become a convention on most websites that users expect.

A horizontal tabbed navigation for the main parts of the website. This worked successfully for both Blackwell and Amazon websites.
For book genre types, a navigation list on the left hand side running vertically that also will have an obvious colour change and an arrow pointing to show which genre page the user is on. The navigational elements will be controlled using cascading style sheets (C.S.S.)

Colour
Book covers are lots of different colours and the best background colour to display them is white. This is used by many large websites that need to display search results that may include a number of colours in their products including Amazon and Blackwell Books. So white will the background colour of the main content area.

Starting with the most important part of the website which is the cookery section, in the same way that Blackwell uses blues to look academic we will use for the areas surrounding the main content such as the header, navigation, side columns and footer colours that reflect cookery which are rustic browns, and reds.
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/victorianchristmas/ and http://www.booksforcooks.com

When a user is viewing the cookery books section of the site these colours will appear along the bottom of the header and along the right hand side of the left vertical navigation column as borders.
When the users navigate out of the cookery section these rustic borders will disappear and the user will know that they are now in the general books area.
The colours of the surrounding areas of the main content will be in complementary colours to the cookery section colours in the same way that Amazon uses complementary colours of blue and orange.
Exact colours are to be decided but we will use a professional looking colour scheme using Adobe Kular for suggested colours and will be controlled using CSS.

Layout
Mixture of fixed column for the left hand side and liquid for main content.


Functionality
We will do our best to ensure we follow best practice in writing W3C valid XHTML code, adhere to WCAG priority one and twos, and make sure the content is easily crawled by web spiders and robots so that it ranks highly with search engines so you sell more books.
With e-commerce it’s essential that users becomes customers with the fewest amount of clicks and we will ensure that your customers can get shopping within 3 mouse clicks.

We will monitor user input by using Javascript.

We hope to use Cookies will monitor users searches and make suitable recommendations just like Amazon.

Social Media
We recommend 2 social media feeds to appear on the site to help with it’s SEO.
A Blog where staff and customers can review and comment on the latest books. And will use AJAX to display excepts of those reviews on the right hand column of the sites pages just like Amazon.
A Twitter account that customers can join so that they can be informed of latest offers and arrivals. This will ensure that your customers have reasons to keep returning to your online bookstore.


Already gone over the word limit but still need to mention

Admin section for the bookstore owners.

Why we are able to do a good job.

Bid

Thoughts so far.
Logo, top left, with home link

Tabbed browsing. Like this
www.comparethemarket.com/


Colours.
Amazon colours but the cook book section to have more of a rustic colour scheme.
bit like this one.
www.booksforcooks.com
and this
www.bbc.co.uk/victorianchristmas/


Need to think of more features

If you think of anything else, get posting.

Amazon vs Blackwell - critique - 500 words

Site purpose

Amazon and Blackwell’s websites both clearly show they sell books.
Blackwell’s website is focused on selling academic books, while Amazon's purpose is to sell a full range of books, plus other items. This wide range it may be difficult for Amazon users to know what it doesn't stock, leading to some users spending time searching.

Finding the site

We tested search terms "bookshop," into Google.
Amazon comes top in the sponsored links and third in the unpaid listings.
Blackwell is not on the first page of listings.
Use the search the term "bookshop academic" Blackwell is number one and the only sponsored link reinforcing it’s specialised academic purpose.
Blackwell has the word “bookshop” and it’s name in its domain, which would suggest there was some SEO planning.
Both sites have chaotic, badly written code, unfriendly to web crawlers/spiders but Amazon’s inward links, users, and spending with Google compensates for this.


Navigation

Both sites have a top left corner logo which is a “home” link.
Blackwell employs tabular navigation, as promoted by Steve Krug in the book, "Don't make me Think." Blackwell uses this method of structuring to good effect, as it shows a user where they are now and where they can go. There is additional navigation down the side, plus a smaller menu to show how you are honing in on what you are looking for.
Amazon has recently changed its navigation style from tabbed navigation to a drop down menu showing departments, or groups of product, to accommodate growing number of items for sale in various categories. On both sites have a search facility that so it’s possible to bypass the navigation.

Colour Scheme

Amazon’s colour scheme is very simple which keeps the user focused on navigation colourful content. Background is white, a convention which has proven effective in the case of other large corporations’ websites, such as Google. The full width navigation bar uses complementary colours blue for major and orange for minor elements.

Blackwell’s home page employs the use of teal blue, which gives an academic feel to the page, giving it gravitas in the minds of the users and reflecting the purpose of the website. The black gradient incorporated into the top header contributes also to this serious feel of the website.
The background on the main part of the page is a lighter shade of the same blue hue, which creates visible partitions within the page



Content

Amazon's content is driven by the user. It uses cookies, tracks your viewing, remembers your IP address and in doing so builds up a database of what sort of user you are and delivers content to you intelligently. It suggests complementary items to the one you are looking for in the hope you will spend more.

Blackwell’s website simply provides the results of your search in a vertical list with no attempt to sell you anything other than exactly what you have asked for so lingering on the site and spending more is less likely.

New Draft - Critque

"Rose and me wrote about "Colour scheme" and added some stuff to what you did".. AND sadly its too long 835 words :) we need to compress it a bit.. you can see where it needs doing..



Site purpose

Both sites clearly show that they are sellers of books. Blackwell’s website is oriented towards selling academic books but Amazon's purpose is to sell a much wider range of books and other items. As a result of Amazon’s selling such a wide range of goods, it may be difficult for the user to know what it doesn't actually stock and this could lead to some users spending time looking for things that aren't there.

Finding the site

Type in the word, "bookshop," into Google and Amazon comes top in the sponsored links; around third in the unpaid listings. Blackwell is not on the first page of listings. This could be in part due to the fact that it is a book specialist and not a general book shop, but it could also be that it is penalised for its badly written code which is unfriendly to search spiders. It has done well to get the bookshop name in its domain, which would suggest there was some planning early on in its development to be easily found.
Amazon’s code is also full of errors but has compensated Google financially and has size on its side.
Search using the works "bookshop academic" and Blackwell now is number one and the only sponsored link. This further demonstrates its specialised academic purpose.

Navigation

Both Amazon and Blackwell’s websites provide a link back to their home pages via their logo at the top left corner. Blackwell employs tabular navigation, as promoted by Steve Krug in the book, "Don't make me Think," and uses this method of structuring to good effect. Showing you where you are and it is easy to move between the tabs. There is additional navigation down the side. Its ever decreasing size shows how you are honing in on what you are looking for.
Amazon has recently changed its navigation style from tabbed navigation to a drop down menu showing departments, or groups of product, which is a reflection of its growing number of items for sale spanning a wide range of categories. Although Amazon had great success with tabular navigation for a number of years, this change was made because the space needed to display a large number of tabs was compromising the site’s functionality. On both Amazon and Blackwell’s sites, it is possible to bypass the navigation system and use the search facility. Through using this we found that Amazon and Blackwell sell for the same global suppliers.

Colour Scheme

Amazon’s colour scheme is very simple which enables the user’s eye to navigate the page quickly and easily. The background is white, a convention which has proven effective in the case of other large corporations’ websites, such as Google. The plain background enables the structure and content of the page to stand out, which is important for Amazon because their products are the key to the success of their website. The navigation bar is blue and spans the width of the page. The white text on the blue background makes it easier to read. The most important features of the page are picked out in orange to attract the eye. As such, this colour is used sparingly.
Blackwell’s home page employs the use of teal blue, which gives an academic feel to the page, giving it gravitas in the minds of the users and reflecting the purpose of the website. The black gradient incorporated into the top header contributes also to this serious feel of the website. The background on the main part of the page is a lighter shade of the same blue hue, which creates visible partitions within the page, enabling the user to know what content is contained within different areas of the page. The tabs across the top of the page change according to which page the user is on, which makes it clear in the user’s mind which page they are on and therefore contributes to the site’s ease of use. The left-hand menu uses orange text on a white background. As evidenced also by Amazon’s website, the use of orange makes features of the page stand out and, on the Blackwell website, it is shown that the left menu, although secondary to the top menu, is still important.

Content

Amazon's content is driven by the user. It uses cookies, tracks your viewing, remembers your IP address and in doing so builds up a database of what sort of user you are and delivers content to you intelligently. Very quickly Amazon has you adding things to your wish list. (And yes I have bought a book while writing this review!). It makes suggestions for books that are similar to the one you are looking at in order to maximise the money you are spending in each transaction.

Blackwell’s website is also database driven but is nowhere near as sophisticated as Amazon's. It simply provides the results of your search in a vertical list with no attempt to sell you anything other than exactly what you have asked for.

Amazon vs Blackwell - critique - draft

site purpose

Both sites have a clearly show that they are seller of books. Blackwell orientated towards selling academic books but Amazon's purpose all books and other items.
Because there are so many "other items" in Amazon's case it may be difficult to know what it doesn't actually stock and this could lead to some users spending time looking for things that aren't there.

finding the site

Type in the word "bookshop" into google and Amazon comes top in the sponsored links around third in the unpaid listings.

Blackwell is not on the front page. This could be in part because it is a book specialist and not a general book shop but could also be that it is penalised for it's badly written code that is unfriendly to search spiders.
It has done well to get the name bookshop in it's domain name, which would suggest there was some planning early on in it's development to be easily found.

Amazon code is also full of errors but has compensated google financially and has size on it's side.

Search using the works "bookshop academic" and Blackwell now is number one and the only sponsored link. This further demonstrates it's specialised academic purpose.


Navigation.

Both sites provide a link back to their home pages via their logo at the top left corner.
Blackwell tabbed navigation, as promoted by Steve Krug in the book "Don't make me Think" is very clear. Showing you where you are and it is easy to move between the tabs. There is additional navigation down the side. It's ever decreasing size shows how you are honing in on what you are looking for.
Amazon has recently changed it's navigation style which is a reflection of it's growing number of categories which have got to be too many for tabbed navigation which it had used, with great success for a number of years.

On both you can bypass the navigation and use the search facility and using this we found that Amazon and Blackwell sell for the same global suppliers.
Comparing the prices for when it supplies directly Amazon, for the examples we have tried is always lower in price.

Colour Scheme








Content

Amazon's content is driven by the user. It uses cookies, tracks your viewing, remembers your IP address and so builds up a database of what sort of user you are and delivers content to you that it thinks you would like to see. Very quickly Amazon has you adding things to your wish list. (And yes I have bought a book while writing this review!). It makes suggestions for books that could accompany the one you are buying and is always trying to increase the money you are spending.

Blackwell is database driven but is nowhere near as sophisticated as Amazon's. It simply provides the results of your search in a vertical list with no attempt to sell you anything other than exactly what you have asked for.


the end

493 words but needs some editing and something written on colour scheme.

Maybe you can have a think about that and maybe write something (50 words ish) .

Take a look at this website for a guide to colours and you will cover colour in Information Design.

http://www.mariaclaudiacortes.com/

Anyway let me know what you think.

website critique

tons of stuff you can google on how to do this

eg.
http://www.virtualpet.com/industry/howto/wsreview.htm

Post what you find

get blogging.

Hi

Thoughts ideas, interest relevant links.

Here's where to put them.

Need to have Rose's email to give her permission to getting posting.