Week 4 Assignment, Part 2

To get this part of the week four assignment going, I started by digging through my internet browser history to find the websites I frequent. One thing I learned was that I only seem to go to social media websites. After that interesting revelation, I looked in my bookmarks folder to find what websites I could use for the task at hand. I have my bookmarks organized by frequency of use with my most frequent at the tops of my lists. There I was able to dig up some websites for the second half of this week's work. I hope you enjoy my thoughts and look forward to any input, especially any contrary opinions, you might have!

My websites:
https://hellonwheelsmc.com
https://www.moto-anatomy.com

Why are they effective?
Again I have chosen websites related to my current passion and hopefully future career, motorcycles. I understand that it might get a bit repetitive for the readers, but you have to go with what you know. When visiting these sites you are struck by their use simplicity as their main design feature. The key to their effectiveness is the use of pictures and simple menus to display the information available. The information contained in the website is well organized and easy to find and the readers aren't confronted by lots of ads, music or other distracting gimmicks.

What specific principle of good design do they include and why?
Some of the specific principles I see common to both of these companies are the use of simple colors and linear organization. The colors are specifically muted to allow the aforementioned pictures to stand out as the main focal point. The colors of the text also seem to have been chosen be easy on the readers eye. Nowadays we use computers so much I appreciate a web designer's choice of softer text that still stands out from the background. My eyes aren't as good as they used to be. The size and color of the text makes it easy for me to not pay attention to the layout, but to organically enjoy the website. The picture links and text blocks are placed in a simple left/right, top to bottom reading style that again does not distract from me from getting the information I need from the site.

What makes you come back again?
In both of these cases it is the product that keeps me coming back. One is an event promotion company that also sells apparel. The other is a motorcycle training company that I am planning on attending later this year. The product got me to the site and the site design keeps me coming back. I look forward to clicking on the link to get updates on upcoming events.

What could be improved?
The Hell On Wheels website needs to get updated more regularly. There are many event listings on the home page that are years out of date. I know for a fact that they have more current events planned as I follow them on Instagram where they keep the event information more current. There are also a couple of other signs that the website isn't maintained as thoroughly as it needs to be. Maybe a quick Quality Assurance check by a friend or family member not as well tied into the company would help. For the Moto-Anatomy site, I think their message could be improved by limiting the use of some of the HTML tools they are employing. Aside from the internal links themselves, they also use tabs at the top of the page and a weird side link menu selector. I would go with one or the other just to keep the website from getting cluttered.

One concern I have is the speed at which web design comes into popularity. Just as I get my blog to emulate the styles of website I've found to be appealing, popular styles will change. What today is fashionable and relevant can quickly turn to a dated eyesore. Now if you'll excuse me I have to play with my blog layout to get it up to speed!