What Safe Websites Are There Like Moviestarplanet?

Your comments on some websites (lay-out etc.)

• I work in a small group planning to open a website in 2005. Mainly for users in developing countries. Some potential users have very limited knowledge of Internet navigation/surfing. And often equipment with limited capacity (slow opening for websites with many photos etc.). And many users would not have English as their mothertongue. We have looked at many websites for inspiration of lay-out, user friendliness etc. and have very different views on the direction we should follow to make users like our website. Below are five of the many websites we looked at for inspiration. Could you please give us your spontaneous comments on these websites. Comments of any kind re structure, lay-out, colour combinations, font size, click-options, use of logos and icons, photos... In otherwords - user friendliness. Your response could f.ex. be in the form of 2-4 positive and 2-4 negative/critical short comments to each of them. And might include a reference to a couple of websites which you like yourself. www.cabi.org/compendia www.bibliotek.kk.dk www.intracen.org/textilesandclothing www.intracen.org/creativeindustries www.cims-la.com This question asked to you as you probably spend many hours per week searching and use websites more than most people.

• Answer:

  Hello alsinger-ga, This question interested me since I have been doing the same thing for a photography website I am helping to set up and design. Therefore, I have website analyzing on the brain. Let us start with? http://www.cabi.org/compendia.asp *Positives:* The Navigation panel on the left is very simple and easy to use. The bulleted points make it obvious that it is a subject you can go to. The drop down menus at the top are good as well, as it makes it easy to find sub-menus as opposed to one that makes you slide thru category after category looking for the 1 thing you want. This system continues through out the website, giving it continuity and keeping it simple and easy to navigate. *Negatives:* The ?Site map? page changes up the format the rest of the website uses, making navigation from that page confusing. Phrases like ?Site Map Jump To,? May make it confusing on the Non-English speaker. All the pictures, buttons, and graphics may make it a harder loading page though easier to navigate. ---------------------------------------------------- http://www.bibliotek.kk.dk/ *Positives:* Nice clean layout, easy to see what is going on, on the page. Text is a good size. The search feature is located at the top and bottom of the page, making it easier for the user to search for what they are looking for. *Negatives:* Truthfully, I am not a big fan of this website at all. It is graphics intensive, which requires a longer loading time for users with limited equipment. The menus to navigate thru are touchy and unclear. You go to move your mouse thru the levels of the tabs at the top and sides and have to try 3 times before it does not disappear on you. This would be quite frustrating if I was not used to the website or the language. Links are not one obvious color. Some are black, some are white. Some are bold, some are not. It takes a lot of moving the mouse around to let you find out what a link is and what text is. ---------------------------------------------------- http://www.intracen.org/textilesandclothing/ http://www.intracen.org/creativeindustries/ I will do these two together, as they are VERY similar in design. *Positives:* I like the navigation Menu on the left side. Much easier to use then the second website, yet it follows the same format. In addition, the way it follows you as you scroll down the page is a huge positive for those who are not used to being online or using a computer/internet. Once again, the fact the websites used the same layout and design all the way through makes it much easier on the novice user. *Negatives:* Lots of backgrounds and graphics will make the page load quite slowly for those with dial-up access. I have a cable modem, and this page hung for me for about 10 seconds, as opposed to 3-4 seconds for the other two WebPages. In addition, some of the pages you search for information on are very busy. You have a printed background with light text. You then have the dark text of the website, radio buttons, and colored boxes for options. This is very distracting and confusing. A very simple search system is what is needed when dealing with users who may have difficulties with the language and the internet/computer Ex: Go to ?Data Analysis,? then ?Trade Map,? then ?All HS Codes from Fibre to Clothing.? That will show you what I mean by the last ?negative? (http://www.intracen.org/textilesandclothing/) Also for the (http://www.intracen.org/creativeindustries/) site. On the right, a menu starts with FAQs, and has a red bar next to it. To me, that looks like a progress or relevance bar for loading a webpage or in search engine results. It is, in actuality, a graphic. I sat there and waited for it to load completely, before I realized it had no purpose. I think this may be confusing for novice internet/computer users. ---------------------------------------------------- http://www.cims-la.com/ES/ *Positives:* Nice Layout, simple, lots of white, everything is carefully labeled. Gives you an option of the language you want to view it in, English or Spanish. This may be good for you with users where English is not their mother tongue. The rotating guidebooks in the upper right may be confusing as well. Maybe a list of the different guidebooks in a column would be more user-friendly. *Negatives:* Lots of pictures and graphics, some that change will make this a slower loading page. It is quite hard to find where to login, since it is right next to something else in small text. It does not follow the same navigation design through out the website, making it confusing to the user how to navigate. ---------------------------------------------------- Some simple designs. http://imdb.com/ Always a quick loading site, because of the simple graphics. The pictures make it take longer, but I doubt your site will have as many pictures. It is easy to navigate, and follows the same system of navigation through out. http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/index.htm It has one simple page, with all linked material the same color and type. It is not very graphic intensive. Shows the path you navigated to get somewhere at the top right, so you can remember it or write it down for next time. I hope this helps you out in getting started. If this answer requires further explanation, please request clarification before rating it, and I'll be happy to look into this further. Nenna-GA Google Answers Researcher