And for the teen audience?

I checked out MTV.com, a very popular website to check out new music, win prize and check out events, concerts among other things. Obviously this website is aimed toward the teenage crowd, then again one can been surprised by the occasion 30 yr old man or woman who loves MTV shows or something...
Which they are some scary people i might add...
Regardless, I clicked through here and there. Checked out a couple of things... and it worked out pretty well. Main page has easy access to everything, from music videos, tv shows and the thop three 3 things of the day. The menu tabs on the top work pretty well, i had no issues with loading time.
I can find certain albums with no problem, yet their selection is somewhat limited..... then again i might be looking in the wrong spot for certain types of music... but for new music it works out pretty well.

I noticed that each background for each page is different, but it is suttle and i didnt find it annoying. But then again, maybe some folk might find annoying. Or then againg they find it annoying because its the MTV website and no other reason behind it.

All in all, i think the website worked pretty for the type of audience its aiming for, i saw no major issues that would be abnoxious or would make me want go to another website with similar topics on it. If i was one of those MTV teenage kids who watch it religiously, i would be on the website on a constant basis and not be pissed about the layout, schemes or how slow it loads on my computer.

Anyway, what do you think? i know it hurts to visit such a disgusting website.... but you never know, our kids one day might enjoy this nonsense! LOL

Another Design to look at!

I thought of critiquing a website that is not know to many, but i dont see that as much fun. Unfortunately sometimes budget constraints and cheap designers create a bad website and what can you do. So what about the companies that have loads of money? can they create a well made website? can it be made so that most users can enjoy their experience on their site? or is it too hard to do even with all the money in the world? is there a perfect website that 80% of the people enjoy?
I dont know, lets look at the big guns first

First giant to look at is:

www.espn.com
A major website, that has probably thousands of visits per hour. For sports there is no other website that can compare. Shows movie clips of each sport and gives you many options to choose from.
But it is too cluttered? the changing news tab on the bottom and the highlight clips on the right, and the updated news on the top right, and on the bottom right is the online poll, and etc....
Is it consistent?
The top tabs change from link to link. If you click on boxing or NCAA basketball the top tabs change to a different style. We lose the side movie clips on certain pages, we lose the online poll on certain pages.
How about information on the not so famous sports, could you find Arena stats, film and highlights? How the new dart champion, or pool champion, swimming, or so on...
Is the search effective?
do the pop-ups annoy too much?
What about the fact the video player on the site automatically starts without you wishing it to.

Can this website be improved? it needs to provide online up to date stats and have the ability to show you all the sports in the main menu. Are all these nuisances a necessary evil?

Well in my opinion yes. As an avid sports fan, i wish to know everything thats going on. So the more readable sports that is displayed on the screen, the more i enjoy. What about a new user? would he or she feel comfortable with the loading times, since most of the website is not cached on their computer. Would they be interested enough in searching through the whole website to find a certain player?
i dont think so, to many distractions and pop-ups in the way. Then there is the constant reminder to buy the ESPN insider package. A new user would have a headache with all of this pumpin out at the screen.

what do you guys think?
Would a non-sports fan, who is interested in becoming one, would fall in love with this website?

The Hunt for Good Designs

As a software engineer, normally i didnt have to think too much about the design of a website, software or anything along those lines. Normally i would look into the functionality and plausability of the design, and at the very end of my mind would be a design.

But I decided to change my ways a bit and explore the other side of the spectrum. I want to be more flexible and be able use my skills in programming and be able to make good designs for clients.

I have researched a couple of websites and products to seek opinions. I have looked at the new XBOX 360 black machine that is being launched this year.

And i have looked at a portable video player

First the new XBOX 360 thats being launched.

Still has the same design, but now instead of a white system, its black. The remote is black and everything has changed.

Now it includes a 160 gig hard drive and it can play hd-dvds, but Everything is the same. Does this new look make it a little bit more sexier? does it make you want to buy it?

For a prospective XBOX 360 owner, of course. The idea of a system that has 160 gigs of space to watch movies & tv shows, play video games, and watch HD-DVD is a damn sexy idea.

Also the black color looks a whole lot better than the original one.

But! what is the intented client? Millions of the original white XBOX 360 with the 20 gig hard drive have already been sold.

Would people buy it? Wouldnt that make customers be careful for the next system? wouldnt they want to wait a year or so for the next improved system? why try to get the system immediately, a drastic change will be made.

Unlike the PS2 and PSOne modifications, which were minor and didnt make much of change in sales.

what do you think?

Here a link for more info:

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/xbox360elite/default.htm

Check it out and tell me if its a wise idea. If the design ideas are good and attractive, if the features would make you buy the system even though you already have the original system.

For years ive looked at this gadgets and thought what a useless piece of equipement... and honestly after reading into the new ones.... well... they are still useless pieces of junk. Who needs to watch movies, on a constant basis? how about playing some sports and doing ACTIVE stuff every so often...

BUT! this time I look at it differently now. Im just going to look at the overall design of these gadgets.

The one I looked was reported by CNET as the top of the line portable movie player. So i decided to take a good look at it and see how well the design is. And of course, read the reviews to see how the people reacted to it. The gadget is named the Toshiba Gigabeat. Two versions was made, the 30 gig and the 60 gig.

High capacity for lots of movie/music storage. Which honestly sounds pretty good if you edit movies for a living and want to get a quick opinion off strangers on the street! Just upload the movie in your pvp and BAM, instant feedback from people!

Anyway Here is the link for more info on it:

http://reviews.cnet.com/Toshiba_Gigabeat_S_MES30VL_30GB_blue/4505-6499_7-31679957.html?tag=prod.txt.1

The design is very simple and nice to look at.

I like the fact that it doesnt scratch easily, also there is a constant main menu button for easier exploration and a constant back button. Also switching for landscape to portrait mode is pretty impressive and nice to play with in this gadget.

Im not sure if im too fond of the volume being in the side of the player... but then again, maybe ive gotten used to the IPOD and the multi purpose click wheel.

Other than that, the menu are straightforward and simple, a novice user can use this product without much trouble and hassles.

And advanced users can defintely use this product with no hassles whatsoever. But then again, i cant see a use for this product... maybe for the constant traveler but thats about it.

Most people who reviewed the product, loved it!!! they only had a couple of non-major issues with it. Otherwise, its flawless if you need such a gadget.

What do you guys think?

would you agree? some counterpoints? do you like this product or no?

Well, this has been the first post from my cubicle during my many hours of work

Feel free to critique and butcher all you want.

Or!!

give me a couple of new gadgets to look at and critique. I'm always interested in new technology

many thanks for reading my material

until next week!

Brian