Review: www.chicolink.com

Hello All,


My name is NIck, and I am a new user here to the forum. I am also a fairly new designer to the freelance world, even though I have been doing web work for serveral years.

At any rate, I would be curious as to what type of feedback anyone has on these two sites:

URL - my design / hosting / isp site

URL - recent client

I specialize in flash pages of 10 or fewer sub-pages (for size considerations), and can have sites up VERY quickly, as well as assist in all hosting needs / email needs.

Theres a few things i would say,

The first site:

Its seems hard to know much about what u do straight away. I have to use the mouse to find information in the first place. 90% of the screen does absolutely nothing to help me.

On the drop down menu want are the weird .[> for? Jus seems to make it harder to read and are not needed.

Other than that, apart from the fact i dont like all flash sites, especially when it cuts of a large amount of customers, i like it, unique colour, and does show the infromation i need to know.

Other one (probably what they wanted but....):

Love the buttons.. they are great

On all the pages why do u squash all the content to the right hand size and have pictures in the middle with large spaces around them. Waste of space, and interrupting the flow of the users eye from the buttons to the content

Why the background, it makes it harder to read.

What is the point of the scrolling bar at the bottom moving back and forth, apart from making me feel sick, it doesnt seem to do anything. Hard to read, and i have to scroll to see it.

When i start there is nothing to say to me what they are or what they do.

What is the text at the bottom saying "start"

When when i wasnt to view the pictures do i go to a new page, why not jus have a load of thumb nails, in maybe a scroll bar down the right, and then select them so they open in the middle. Its quite annoying sometimes. I can see whay u might do this, so its not to bad. Saves messing up the consistency of the site.

I think somewhere someone said its not good to use frames, but will have to check on that one.

Sorry i slated you so much, better than i could ever do, but jus the things i found annoying or didnt like. I mean it might jus be me. I do like the buttons on both sites, and the drop down menus and the colour schemes though.

You certainly have a talent that I was not born with. The sites are quite pleasing to view, but I would be more in favour of a simpler easier to navigate site as well. I found your site quite confusing at times, which leads me to believe that I know a lot of people that just wouldn't stay to view.

I think you have an incredible design talent which I am somewhat jealous of, but I think you need to tone down on the sites and remember that most people won't waste time sorting through design to get the real goods.

I don't have any suggestions for changes because I think you have more talent for that than I. Most of the sites I view, like Devshed for example, have a very distinct layout and do not require much thought to navigate. And though I see some sites that are a marvel in web design - I do not know of any that I frequent. Good content and ease of use will win over flashy pictures and artwork - 99% of the time.

Awesome talent.

Flash runs slow on my computer. I got about as far as "portfolio" and closed the page. I hate flash.

i have to agree with this point...there is a huge space in the middle that is not used yet this is the first thing the user sees...i did not notice the info on the right hand side immediatly i thought it was just random info and not the page i was loading!!

I have not one of the people that hate flash, i actually quite like it and wish i was better at it ... but im not !! All credit to you.

the backgrounds on the bands site that are mentioned above i think are cool and make the site more interesting and certainly not more difficult to read!

I also love the buttons...very swish !!!

right well i have commented on the bands site so i should comment on yours too!!

i have to agree that it is not immediatly apparent about what you do/offer! maybe that could change...i love the dropping down menu things...they are really great!! and although i see no use for the enter button it is GREAT !! i really really like that

i have to say tho that again you use very little space for the content!! which in all fairness is why people go to a website..for information..i hate hacving to scroll too much and i find that i do on your site..

anyway i hope that is all constructive!!

all the best with it !!

RF

I just want to say, I don't hate flash either, but I see a need for you to develop your sites with the user in mind.

If you get anything from this forum, it will be that you have a distinct need to appease all of your viewers and not just the aesthetic. As I have said earlier, you certainly have a talent that would make most jealous; the challenge now is to use it so that all viewers will find your site accesible. When you do that, you will be King or Queen(if that be the case).

I wish you the best of fortune and I will certainly leave out your name when I am bidding I on web design contracts!

I appreciate everyone taking a look at the site and providing feedback. It's greatly appreciated!!!




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