3 Sites Breaking a Usability Rule

Confusing navigation menu's

McPheeters Turf and Nursery has a confusing side navigation menu.  Some of the menu options were blank.  It could be hard to tell one nav item from another and they are not all in the say font size.  I would have made them into more of a button, shorten and clean up the nav titles.

 

Possible usability issue with non centered web page.

Crook County Parks and Recreation District.  I found this page to be very usable and easy to out want I wanted to know.  My main issue with this one is they 'body' of the site is all the way on the left side of the screen.  This was kinda difficult to get used so I had to make my browser window much smaller.  This site, in my opinion, does a great job and looks good.  Although that small mistake of not centering the body it makes the whole thing look elementary.

Picture scroller towards end of page is not displaying pictures and appears to be broken

The website, Rock Climbing for Life, has info and stories from around the States in blog posts.  At the end of the page and before for there is a huge list of blogs from each state, is what looks like should be an image scroller with information to show underneath the photo (which also is not working).  There are some more things I would do to this site to make it more readable, I was not really sure about where I was within the site.

Great Audiobooks

Audio books

Audible is a digital audio book service with a huge selection of books in all category types. I've had an Audible account for years and listen to books almost daily. It's great for commuting to work or school. Books you purchase can be downloaded to your phone or computer. Audible has apps for Windows phone, Android, and Apple, which makes listening wherever you want a breeze. Through Amazon you can try Audible and get two free Audiobooks

The easiest way to listen to your books purchased through Audible is with it's phone app. I've used the Windows Phone app and Android, both are very good. I would assume the iPhone app is just as good or better. Comparing audiobook prices between Audible and other sellers and the price is about the same and cheaper. There are often discounts for the type of books you prefer listening to. It's also cheaper than buying physical Cd's of the book, and you don't risk damaging the discs or loosing one, which is never a good think when you're mid-book!

3 online businesses I visit most often

www.Etsy.com

Etsy.com

Etsy.com is a pretty cool site if you are really into DIY and crafts.  I wife recommended I look at the site and though I honestly don’t link I will visit this site for myself( aside from buying some pretty cool handmade customer cards) It is really neat.  The site looks sharp, stylish, and simple, it even has a search tool to find your favorite bloggers and see what items and sellers they like best.  The whole think is completely peer-to-peer so you can set up your own ‘shop’.

Cellular outfitters

http://www.cellularoutfitter.com/new-products.html

This is a massive site with some awesome deals on anything to do with electronics.  The site itself looks good.  It’s not as simple and Spartan compared to what I usually like, but it is very easy to navigate the whole site.  There are menus on top and to the side that will take you anywhere you need to go and the options are simple but descriptive.  I have ordered from this site a few times and they are good on shipping time and ALWAYS have 50-80% off sales on thinks I actually buy.  I keep going back to Cellularoutfitters because my money goes twice as far compared to, say, Wal-Mart.

Buffalo Games                                                      

http://www.buffalogames.com/

Buffalo games is an attractive, simple home site for the company.  Of course everyone knows you can go to almost any store and find a Buffalo puzzle, but if you pay attention you’ll find it’s a lot of the same puzzles from store to store.  If you are big on puzzling , then the website Is where you want to go.  Most puzzles you find on here you never see in the store.  I like to get my puzzles from here because the selection is good with a wide range of difficulty so my daughter and work on some, my wife, and I(We all like different styles and number of pieces).  So even though buffalo isn’t strictly just online, you have to go to their online store to get puzzles you really want and fit you skill and style.

 

3 Examples of Businesses Using Social Media

  Three businesses I liked their use of social media were Lowe's, HomeAdvisor, and Outdoor Photographer.

   Outdoor Photographer,, outdoorphotographer, uses twitter (Twitter) in a great way if you are interested or learning about photography. Almost every tweet is a cool picture and type of lense used to shoot the picture. Some tweets are more general tips and tricks. Seems anyone could possibly post something if it was good and useful.

   The second business I checked out was , HomeAdvisor,  This site is pretty neat. As well as all their social media links(Google+, twitter, Facebook, Pintrest...) Their google+ page has a large selection of articles, pictures, tips, and how-to's you can do on your own.  Their most recent post was "tips for successfully running a lawn mowing business" and the picture and article were showing tricks on laying sod, which would have came in handy earlier today!  My wife and I layed our hole yard with sod. I really like the look and content of HomeAdviser on Google+, check it out!

https://www.facebook.com/lowes   Lastly, I checked Lowe's website out. Lowe's Facebook page was nice.  I was expecting for the most part a list of what they sell, or big sales going on.  Rather the focus seems to be on DIY projects(presumably with Lowe's products).  Something I appreciated about their facebook page is a map showing the closest Lowe's from my current position.  Lowe's Facebook page was nice.  I was expecting for the most part a list of what they sell, or big sales going on.  Rather the focus seems to be on DIY projects(presumably with Lowe's products).  Something I appreciated about their Facebook page is a map showing the closest Lowe's from my current position.