I'm going to do something risky, so I may disappear in a cloud of smoke.
Barrieeld, you may like to look at this website. They're not forum members, which is why I'm a bit hesitant, but I can't see them minding since I've giving them a bit of free exposure.
These people have constructed a site not dissimilar to what you are trying to achieve, but it's a lovely site and it works. It works so well that we rented their apartment.
www.relax-spain.co.uk (try .com if it doesn't work, I'm doing it from memory). You will find that it works better in IE than in Firefox - it tends to minimise in FF.
Pauline
Its been prob discussed before but im looking for help!
Barrield's site
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Hi Pauliner,
Dont think that Paolo etc mind us pointing to other websites ....[and they definitley dont only have to be Forum users Im sure...be a bit like inbreeding...not very healthy]
Its just that he doesnt want ...Best thing since sliced bread /Ive always got loads of Enq / service/etc. from people pretending not to be related to a site or benefitting from a site that theyre recommending .
Without being upfront so we can make our own conclusions as the reason for recommendations.
Its what makes this Website so great all the IMPARTIAL advice that is given so freely....
Dont think that Paolo etc mind us pointing to other websites ....[and they definitley dont only have to be Forum users Im sure...be a bit like inbreeding...not very healthy]
Its just that he doesnt want ...Best thing since sliced bread /Ive always got loads of Enq / service/etc. from people pretending not to be related to a site or benefitting from a site that theyre recommending .
Without being upfront so we can make our own conclusions as the reason for recommendations.
Its what makes this Website so great all the IMPARTIAL advice that is given so freely....
Well put Ros - I couldn't have put it betterIts just that he doesnt want ...Best thing since sliced bread /Ive always got loads of Enq / service/etc. from people pretending not to be related to a site or benefitting from a site that theyre recommending .
Without being upfront so we can make our own conclusions as the reason for recommendations.
I always wait in anticipation for the glowing testimonials. (And that's not the same as Paul's testimonials)
Robert
Hi Guys thanks for the feedback i had a look at the various websites and although i like them i dont see anything wrong with my design....im from a technical background and am a designer at trade, bar perhaps some changes to the headers and some hi-res pics why is the site so difficult to navigate?
The site design is uniform right the way through and there are instructions on the page to click on the map etc?
Im not saying people arnt offering luxury properties im just trying to do things differently, surly innovation isnt all bad till weve all tried it, i mean if we all had the same websites how would we differentiate from one another after all were only markting pictures and text?
The site has been disigned for maximum expansion with elements like video walkthroughs etc of the properties, im just trying to implement a new fresh approach to a rental site...(dont shoot me!)
ill put the site up when its finished as it seems pointless sticking it just yet.
The site design is uniform right the way through and there are instructions on the page to click on the map etc?
Im not saying people arnt offering luxury properties im just trying to do things differently, surly innovation isnt all bad till weve all tried it, i mean if we all had the same websites how would we differentiate from one another after all were only markting pictures and text?
The site has been disigned for maximum expansion with elements like video walkthroughs etc of the properties, im just trying to implement a new fresh approach to a rental site...(dont shoot me!)
ill put the site up when its finished as it seems pointless sticking it just yet.
Last edited by barrieeld on Wed Nov 15, 2006 12:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Barrieeld,
Just my two pennorth, but I agree with all the earlier comments about yours not looking like a holday rental site. I don't see potential customers getting past the first page, because it shouts "property sales" to me, not holiday rental - the only obvious reference to properties even says "...properties available to buy...".
I really hope you succeed, but I don't think you will unless you re-think your approach and look at what you're saying from the point of view of the customer. The history of advertising is littered with well designed ads which didn't do the job they were intended to...
Just my two pennorth, but I agree with all the earlier comments about yours not looking like a holday rental site. I don't see potential customers getting past the first page, because it shouts "property sales" to me, not holiday rental - the only obvious reference to properties even says "...properties available to buy...".
I really hope you succeed, but I don't think you will unless you re-think your approach and look at what you're saying from the point of view of the customer. The history of advertising is littered with well designed ads which didn't do the job they were intended to...
Chalky
Well I must be weird then, no, don't answer that one, because I found the site pretty easy to navigate.
What I will say though is that I really don't like things being in little boxes. I can't see the point in having all that space round the outside and the bit I want to see in small boxes having to scroll down.
Agree that the photos, whilst a good idea to have little, click on, then see the larger ones, they are still not big enough for my poor eyesight and it seems one click too many to have to click again for a bigger picture.
Glad the reference to buyers and sellers has gone because that really was confusing, unless of course you are buying or selling.
Weirdo me again but I actually wasn't keen on the website from Paulina's link. Main reason, again, being a forgetful soul, I don't like clicking on one subtitle to see say three or four others and when I go back to the home page I've forgotton which subtitle I was on and end up repeating myself.
What I will say though is that I really don't like things being in little boxes. I can't see the point in having all that space round the outside and the bit I want to see in small boxes having to scroll down.
Agree that the photos, whilst a good idea to have little, click on, then see the larger ones, they are still not big enough for my poor eyesight and it seems one click too many to have to click again for a bigger picture.
Glad the reference to buyers and sellers has gone because that really was confusing, unless of course you are buying or selling.
Weirdo me again but I actually wasn't keen on the website from Paulina's link. Main reason, again, being a forgetful soul, I don't like clicking on one subtitle to see say three or four others and when I go back to the home page I've forgotton which subtitle I was on and end up repeating myself.
Don't waste energy on things you can't change.
Costa de la Luz apartment rental
www.ownersdirect.co.uk/spain/S5386.htm
Costa de la Luz apartment rental
www.ownersdirect.co.uk/spain/S5386.htm
Hi there partridge thanks for some positive feedback.
At the moment the site does allow you to click on each image to ge a full large picture i just havent documented this online to see if i like it or not yet? like you said maybe it is one click too many but it is there for you to try never the less
At the moment the site does allow you to click on each image to ge a full large picture i just havent documented this online to see if i like it or not yet? like you said maybe it is one click too many but it is there for you to try never the less
Hi Barrie
I think a good point has been raised many times, which is that people want and need to get to the info as quickly as possible, if it takes too long they get bored and give up.
The slide show pics are too small to be very relevant, so you click and see it bigger above but if it interests someone they want it even bigger, so click on it again, which is for me one click too many ie maybe take the slide out and have the bigger ones as a slide to click on and enlarge if you see what I mean.
The same with the property location. No, it wasn't overly obvious how to get to the property description but I did find it but then I'm a bit persistent, lots of people aren't. This for me was another example of an unecessary click, once on the 'x' on the map, then on one of the houses.
Still not keen on little boxes of type though, it seems such a waste of space.
I like it in general but if you could just think maybe 'is it quick enough' 'is it visable enough' am I 'wasting space' it would work better for me personally.
Did you say you were a designer before, made me laugh because I honestly believe that designers sometimes like to over complicate things which blows us non designer peep's brains sometimes.
I think a good point has been raised many times, which is that people want and need to get to the info as quickly as possible, if it takes too long they get bored and give up.
The slide show pics are too small to be very relevant, so you click and see it bigger above but if it interests someone they want it even bigger, so click on it again, which is for me one click too many ie maybe take the slide out and have the bigger ones as a slide to click on and enlarge if you see what I mean.
The same with the property location. No, it wasn't overly obvious how to get to the property description but I did find it but then I'm a bit persistent, lots of people aren't. This for me was another example of an unecessary click, once on the 'x' on the map, then on one of the houses.
Still not keen on little boxes of type though, it seems such a waste of space.
I like it in general but if you could just think maybe 'is it quick enough' 'is it visable enough' am I 'wasting space' it would work better for me personally.
Did you say you were a designer before, made me laugh because I honestly believe that designers sometimes like to over complicate things which blows us non designer peep's brains sometimes.
Don't waste energy on things you can't change.
Costa de la Luz apartment rental
www.ownersdirect.co.uk/spain/S5386.htm
Costa de la Luz apartment rental
www.ownersdirect.co.uk/spain/S5386.htm
Example of navigation problem. Site comes up, click Properties, eye immediately drawn to animating magnifying glass, click magnifying glass, map comes up with two arrows, click one arrow, click arrow again, click arrow again - no back button, no way back to see other properties, no way to know how many properties are there - stuck in a loop going nowhere. The type is not legible and I'm looking on a 17" screen. Sorry to be brutal.
This is my last post on this topic (bet you're glad about that Barrie ), but I'd like to end by predicting that anybody looking at this thread a few months down the road is not going to be looking at the same thing on the www link as we see today.
This is my last post on this topic (bet you're glad about that Barrie ), but I'd like to end by predicting that anybody looking at this thread a few months down the road is not going to be looking at the same thing on the www link as we see today.
That made me laugh Joanna, you're saying the same as me but we are definitely seeing things differently, as in you see two arrows, whereas I saw two brown houses (like monopoly). That should demonstrate nicely what we are saying Barrie, that it is not clear enoughJoanna wrote:Example of navigation problem. Site comes up, click Properties, eye immediately drawn to animating magnifying glass, click magnifying glass, map comes up with two arrows, click one arrow, click arrow again, click arrow again - no back button, no way back to see other properties, no way to know how many properties are there - stuck in a loop going nowhere. The type is not legible and I'm looking on a 17" screen. Sorry to be brutal.
Don't waste energy on things you can't change.
Costa de la Luz apartment rental
www.ownersdirect.co.uk/spain/S5386.htm
Costa de la Luz apartment rental
www.ownersdirect.co.uk/spain/S5386.htm
Hi barrieeld,
I had a look at your site last night and I was struck by what appeared to be contradictions within it.
Not about content, that's not what I mean. I felt a contradiction between the professional feel of the site and its (at least for me) lack of effectiveness.
It is clearly well-designed from a standpoint of color scheme, graphic design, that sort of thing. But I do agree that it's hard to navigate. I only knew to click on the "arrows"/"houses" on the map because I had read this thread. Otherwise, I might not have even seen them because I was reading the text. And I think those links are the only way to get to the property photos. So if I hadn't known to look for them, I wouldn't have known about them at all. So I'd be willing to bet that you will lose a lot of potential clients because they just don't know what they're supposed to be looking for in your site.
As to what we're talking about, here's a link that might explain my take on it:
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/dontcon ... thsex.html
That site has a lot of good pointers on just what the purpose of a web page is. It's not meant to be a work of art. It's not meant to be a graphic-design showcase. It's not meant to be an example of haute technologie. It's not just for disseminating information. In your case, it's meant to sell something. It needs to make money first, and all other considerations are secondary.
Though your site looks nice from an aesthetic standpoint, I just don't think it will sell like you are hoping it will. It could, without you having to change the design very much -- you'd just have to rearrange what goes where in terms of content.
Oh, and, I should point out that I tried to view it again this morning and I couldn't. Last night I was on my home computer, which has Flash 8 installed, and today I am on my department computer, which uses Flash 7. Your menus and such don't seem to work properly in Flash 7. And what about someone who doesn't have Flash at all, or who isn't as diligent with upgrades as they should be? You'll lose those customers.
I'm not trying to be really negative. I think this site has the potential to be really unique and better than many others. But in its present form, it needs some re-organization -- in my opinion.
I had a look at your site last night and I was struck by what appeared to be contradictions within it.
Not about content, that's not what I mean. I felt a contradiction between the professional feel of the site and its (at least for me) lack of effectiveness.
It is clearly well-designed from a standpoint of color scheme, graphic design, that sort of thing. But I do agree that it's hard to navigate. I only knew to click on the "arrows"/"houses" on the map because I had read this thread. Otherwise, I might not have even seen them because I was reading the text. And I think those links are the only way to get to the property photos. So if I hadn't known to look for them, I wouldn't have known about them at all. So I'd be willing to bet that you will lose a lot of potential clients because they just don't know what they're supposed to be looking for in your site.
As to what we're talking about, here's a link that might explain my take on it:
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/dontcon ... thsex.html
That site has a lot of good pointers on just what the purpose of a web page is. It's not meant to be a work of art. It's not meant to be a graphic-design showcase. It's not meant to be an example of haute technologie. It's not just for disseminating information. In your case, it's meant to sell something. It needs to make money first, and all other considerations are secondary.
Though your site looks nice from an aesthetic standpoint, I just don't think it will sell like you are hoping it will. It could, without you having to change the design very much -- you'd just have to rearrange what goes where in terms of content.
Oh, and, I should point out that I tried to view it again this morning and I couldn't. Last night I was on my home computer, which has Flash 8 installed, and today I am on my department computer, which uses Flash 7. Your menus and such don't seem to work properly in Flash 7. And what about someone who doesn't have Flash at all, or who isn't as diligent with upgrades as they should be? You'll lose those customers.
I'm not trying to be really negative. I think this site has the potential to be really unique and better than many others. But in its present form, it needs some re-organization -- in my opinion.
Brooke