The ONION (Website Evaluation)

MESSAGE AND COMMUNICATION THEORY
Characteristics of Communication in General

• a.)The writers are conveying a clear message with everything they have put on the site. (.. And when it’s not clear, it’s meant to be confusing. )
• b.)Audience is able to clearly translate and navigate through content.
• c.)It’s obvious the medium is a website, though papers are available as well.

Guidelines for Effective Communication specific to websites

• a.) Their message might not be completely clear, since its described as “Americas Finest News Source” and it’s all gag articles. It might confuse some people.
• b.) Site elements are all used well and flow with one another.
• c.) Content is easy to find and sort through.

Navigation and site organization principals for better usability

• a.) Navigation is right at the top, easy to find and easy to use.
• b.) User should know where they are going before the click.
• c.) Not too much around the navigation to distract the user.

Characteristics of good content and content presentation

• a.) Page is easy to visually navigate through.
• b.) Text is useful and helps the user instead of distracting them.
• c.) Pictures and all other multimedia relate to the message.

VISUAL DESIGN THEORY
Design principles that promote viisuial clariity and simplicity.

• a.) Pages isi well balanced and visually pleasing to the eye.
• b.) The major articles are more dominate while they smaller articles or editorials are smaller.
• c.) Each individual part of the page relates to the next and helps it flow well.

Page layout principles that help users visually negotiate the page and site organization.

• a.) Users know it is a news site and it’s easy to find the articles.
• b.) Contents help them to navigate around the site quickly and efficiently.
• c.) Contact button is placed at the bottom of all pages making it easy to contact the website.

Design Fundamentals most critical to good web design.

• a.) The content itself is engaging, and the simple design doesn’t distract from it. The design itself is too simple to be engaging but I think it helps by not detracting from the articles.
• b.) Site is well organized.
• c.) Pages are consistent in layout.

COLOR DESIGN THEORY
Guidelines for how/why to select a color palette

• a.) The colors themselves don’t evoke much emotion.
• b.) Nice color scheme; No color clashes that distract the viewer.
• c.) Navigation stands out in the green shade, but the titles of the articles are the same color as the links and that makes it a little difficult for me to navigate through the text.

Principles of color use specifically helpful for effective web page design

• a.)  Good contrast against the white background. Everything is easy to read.
• b.)  Uses color effectively to tell the viewer what is important on the page.
• c.)   Seems to be simple enough that if someone were color blind it would be easy for them to navigate through.

Advertisement