Kasia Magiera's Blog

Apples?

kasiamagiera — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:34:54 +0000

As a student in search of websites with usability issues (having a difficult time with that) I performed an apple search… Bingo! Plenty of them for everyone. As interesting as it is, I did not look at the content of that website.

I encountered the following: a scrolling issue, erased table?, uneven margins for the main content and an empty/not working link etc.

Innvista

Innvista has an awkward-to-use layout. The links (very often irrelevant to a specific topic) placed directly above categories force the user to use scrolling too much. It can be fixed by placing the links on the right side of the website, which is currently an unused space. Besides, reason why this website exists is somewhat unclear.

Dress Up Games

If you’re looking for a ton of dress up games this is the place. If you’re looking for something more specific – you got a problem. This website has a huge amount of links. The bad thing about it is… They’re poorly organized. The bold, blue links are also an issue. A more neutral color would be easier to look at.

greening.info

No way to turn off the music! It has been demonstrated how important it is for a user to be able to turn off the sound, on a site. Besides this one issue I think this blog was pretty well-made. A different title is suggested. I associate “greening” with farming and gathering of apples, which just doesn’t quite fit.

In search for interesting websites…

kasiamagiera — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:09:04 +0000

I was looking around the web and I think I found something interesting. It was when I visited D&G‘s website for one of my design projects a long time ago that I became curious about Flash. I am not completely at that level yet… I just don’t know how this stuff works! I am looking forward to our classes next week… Err… I mean Thursday. Next week’s classes should be interesting too.

I think that this website is not taking Flash to the extreme, but it looks the part - and that is a big challenge for me, as a new Flash user. I wish I could make my assignments look like that… Notice the smooth Flashy rollovers. I want them!

Go Mobile!

kasiamagiera — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:53:23 +0000

I just finished my website: Assignment 4 - Go Mobile.

Customize your blog for free!

kasiamagiera — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:58:13 +0000

How to customize your wordpress blog without spending any money?

Enter your Dashboard/Appearance/Themes.

It’s important you choose one with the right color scheme of the background and bars and most of all…

A Custom Header! (search for in “OPTIONS:” below the theme images)

Once you choose the theme you think is appropriate, upload an image you want to use as a custom header, then you can scale the image.

Note: the size of the header will always appear the same as the original in the chosen theme.

Lethbridge Herald

kasiamagiera — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:08:01 +0000

I just visited Lethbrigde Herald. The main thing which interests me about it are all those advertisements on the side of the main page! Haha. How do you get to put up an advertisement on your page and earn money from having it there? Is it some sort of weekly payment or does it depend on how many times a person clicks on it? Another thing I found interesting: the weather forecast. I wish I knew how it works and how the data is downloaded/connected with your site. Another things I want to know is how can I make a rollover of that kind. By this I mean, when you roll over the forecast window, additional information is revealed. Interesting. Just those little things that you don’t think about immediately make html (etc.) interesting for me.

Hm. How do you make an animated, online advertisement in the first place?

Bol

kasiamagiera — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:56:09 +0000

Bol.com is a site where you can go online shopping. I want to know how this application of online payment can be applied to a website and how does it actually transfer your money from your credit card. I saw other websites where you have to pay (for example and online newspaper) for a subscription to be allowed access to additional information stored on a site. How does that work when you’re designing a website of this kind?

Facebook

kasiamagiera — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:45:48 +0000

I find facebook to be quite well put together. I want to know how it’s made possible to leave a comment on someone’s profile, how can the fill-in-information tables be all the same for everyone. Just basically how can the code be sort of applied automatically to a new person’s account. And how do those accounts really work when you’re sitting behind a desk working on all of those facebook hackers? There is just a lot of things I wish I knew about facebook and relative websites like flickr, but it’s mainly about the application of data to different sections of the website without having to manually direct them, and their automatic application to user-created profiles. How can a part of a website be maintained by a person like a myspace user, who can change the layout of his/her profile but is not allowed to change the main content of the whole myspace … Hmm… How are the limits created?

Scarygirl

kasiamagiera — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:31:43 +0000

I don’t know if this will count towards my blog evaluation since I’m using this website twice, but I really want to know how they made this menu! It’s so amazing! Flash magic I want to know it all. Great design job. And how was that game made? It all looks great but I have no idea how it was done.

Our class blogs – Usability issues?

kasiamagiera — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:03:29 +0000

It drives me crazy that people don`t place their links (inspiring websites etc.) in some kind of a submenu or a list! It makes it very difficult for me to find out which links have or have not been posted.

I don`t even have time to check out who exactly posted what and where, since it takes me way too much time and I tend to give up after 3 blogs.

I really, really wish I could find some time to change my blog`s layout. I wonder what other people think about it. Knowing myself I will either do it later today, or later tomorrow.

A custom skin for a blog is not a requirement in our syllabus but I don`t know if Leanne will take that into consideration, and to what degree.

The Sims 3 website is a mess…

kasiamagiera — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:45:48 +0000

Yes it really is. EA didn’t (and so far doesn’t) do a very good job there when it comes to usability. There are links which lead to errors, or just to put it simply – they lead you to nowhere at all. However, if the links are working I have no trouble moving around different submenus, etc. I think that the issue of this website’s usability should be paid attention to not only by the potential customers, but also EA. What you see is what you get.

Last week when I visited The Sims 3 forums, I couldn’t even enter any of them. The only thing I saw was… The code of the forums(!). Yes it’s true.

And yet I visited that website again (today) and the “Holiday Specials” link still isn’t working. I see no point why EA would insert blind links. It doesn’t even serve the purpose of self-promotion they are known for. If the designers of The Sims 3 website didn’t care about inserting the link properly, the content of it, probably isn’t even (going to be) worth my time or interest.

However, imagine a person wanting to buy this game. Imagine a person who is looking for additional information about The Sims 3… I believe it says something about the quality of the game being produced, promoted, and sold in great quantities. I believe if the website is promoting the game, it’s not doing it any justice. Or does it?

Oh, I just love it. When The Sims 3 World Adventures became available, the forums were not accessable. Maybe it’s because they expected gamers to post topics about bug issues? Hmm…