Hello, this is my Design Critique 1 project.
My website genre is a blog, specifically about book reviews. Even more specifically, my blog is about mostly YA books, reviewed from a Christian perspective. Here are some other book review blogs.
Pretty Little Memoirs
Overall Design: 9/10
The design of the website is attractive and easy to understand. The information on the first page is good. There was animation when I first opened the page; the words “the story never ends here” were typed across the screen. There’s a lot of information on the first page, but I think it’s helpful and interesting information. The colors go together well, and the pictures match the design of the website. The owner of the website, Becca, makes the reader feel welcome; she says things like, “Let’s find your next perfect read together” and “I’m so happy you’re here.”
A few negative things…the font of the logo doesn’t match any fonts on the rest of the website, the font is a little bit small, and there’s some distracting animation. When I opened the website, some animated leaves started falling down the page, and that was nice at first, but it repeated and got a little annoying. On one page, a picture looked like it was supposed to be a fixed background, but it moved a little bit when I moved the page, and that didn’t really look right. It was only one page, though.
Navigation: 9/10
Everything was easy to find and understand. There was a lot of information, but I think it was organized well. One minor detail–on the “About Me” page, there was a row of pictures at the bottom, and when I clicked on a picture, it took me to the owner’s Instagram posts. That was a little unexpected; it would be nice if she could put an Instagram logo or something on the picture.
Functionality: 10/10
Everything seemed to be working well. I didn’t notice anything that didn’t work.
Content Quality: 5/10
There was good content…however, the owner isn’t a Christian, so I don’t agree with her about some things, and many of the books she reviews are not good. The way she reviews them seems to be fair and easy to understand.
Site Effectiveness: 9/10
Overall, her website is easy to understand, interesting, and nice-looking. Unfortunately, I probably wouldn’t read many of the books she reviews, but her website is good.
Here’s an example of a book review website that isn’t as good, in my opinion:
Laura’s Books and Blogs
https://laurasbooksandblogs.com/
Overall Design: 5/10
The website design is kind of simple. The main page has a lot of white space at the header and a small logo in the middle. There isn’t really any information about the website or its purpose on the home page. The pictures seem a little bit unprofessional, and there are a few ads. Positively, the colors go together nicely and the fonts are consistent.
Navigation: 4/10
The reviews are easy to find. However, there’s not really any information about the website on the home page; some of the page names were a little confusing. The website came up when I searched “book review blogs,” and it’s called “Laura’s Books and Blogs,” so I assumed it was a book review website. However, some of the pages were called “Affiliates and Freebies” and “Writing Resources,” and as I read more, it became obvious that this website is a resource for writers, not just readers. Laura is also an author…I guess that’s obvious in the title “Laura’s Books.” I think that should be a little more obvious on the home page though. Every time I opened a new page, it opened in a new tab, which was a little annoying.
Functionality: 10/10
Everything seemed to work. I think the new pages were supposed to open in different tabs, so I won’t take off any points for that.
Content Quality: 5/10
It had some interesting information. The owner, Laura, isn’t a Christian either, so I don’t agree with all of her information or all of the books she reviews. The content didn’t seem consistent…some of it was about books, some of it was about authors, some of it was about her own books and writing. Maybe that was an organization problem, though.
Site Effectiveness: 5/10
I think it would be more effective if the owner explained the purpose of the website on the home page, or in the title of the website. It seems…more focused on the website owner than the people visiting the website.
There are two similar book review websites. Thanks for reading!