CHENOT Associates, Inc.

I worked with this architectural firm to create their first website, both in Flash and in HTML. Chances are I will not be making any changes because the client is happy with it, but I'd love to get some feedback.

http://nightstand.org/chenot

Not something really amazing for the flash version. The client could have sticked just to HTML.
The design of the flash site is nice. I mean its simple, easy to recognize and easy to navigate. The banner seems out of place. I dont know what is it. Maybe its too big.
Some of the images in the banner are nice, some not, specially the sketch.

Well - you did a good job graphically, but usability wise the website fails. First of all, there is no way to increase text size on the flash portion of the website. Considering the text is already very small (10pt i am guessing) it will be very difficult for many inviduals to read - especially those who may be partially blind or disabled.

Second, I don't like how the gallery page suddenly changes layouts, it confuses the user. Websites should always use the same basic layout and menu system on every page. Not everyone is going to notice the small "back to main" link and may just eventually close the website all together.

Your HTML does not validate on the static page, as it has no DOCTYPE or encoding specified and it consists of many unnecessary table elements. This is largely due to the fact that you used ImageReady to generate your HTML for you.

Your graphics look great - but when designing websites you really need to consider all of the above.

Neupix, thanks for your helpful input--you have brought up many valid points. I am still fairly new to web design, especially in Flash, so feedback like this will definitely help me in the future.

Neupix, thanks for your helpful input--you have brought up many valid points. I am still fairly new to web design, especially in Flash, so feedback like this will definitely help me in the future.

No problem. Nobody will ever get better unless other people let them know whats wrong

I enjoy the simplicity of it, but I agree that the navigation is a bit confusing. On the "Gallery" page of the flash site, there is too much white space between the "choose a category from above" and the actual category choices.
In the future, from a design standpoint, you might want to explore the relationship of white space and type or imagery a little more. Sometimes the negative space can create more interesting shapes than the positive elements.
Good Luck

just curious, how much did you get paid for it? i did like the simplicity, but yeah i found it hard to read on my resolution

Like neu said, the navigation needed to be consistant. I think it has a nice feel, lot's of open space, but seems a little under-developed I guess. I think you might have been too caught up in technical execution and missed out on developing a stronger concept. Still, it shows a lot of potential, and if your client is happy, then that's the main thing.

I also believe that there were some usability flaws. When you click on gallery you should be able to click on each of the names on the navigation. When I go to click on residential nothing happens. So I have to ask myself, "Why isn't going to a page?" "What is 'Multi Fam' and 'Single Fam'? If I click on one of them where will it go?" If it would have been as a drop down menu and "Fam" would be spelled out to be "Family," I wouldn't have to think twice to know that I'm going to the Multi Family Residential Gallery.

Now, the gallery in the Flash web site, has a lot more flaws. When I click on "Gallery," I'm expecting to see some pictures, but that's not the case when I click on "Gallery." I pretty much just see a blank page, and some dots that turn gray when I hover over them and do nothing when I click on them. "Choose a category from above" is the last thing I see, instead of the one of the first things. That's when I'm like, "Oh! So that's what I have to do." I had the patience to do this, but some people might get frustrated and just leave. That person could have been a big client and your client's company could have lost them.

So the trick to fixing or avoiding usability problems is just asking yourself questions like "Do I know where I am? Does everything make sense?" You want to shave down the questions as much as possible. The visitor should be able to go into your site and be like, "That's the ________ and that's the ________. If I click on this link, it'll go to the _________ page."

It might be useful for you to read up on usability or buy a book on it. I recommend buying "Don't make me think!" by Steven Krug. It's very easy to remember and understand. Looks like he used his usability skills to write this book.

thanks again, to everyone; lots of things i hadn't thought of!

As far as the flash version goes:
The white space to the left under the pic on the homepage drives me a little crazy. It's like you want something to be there. Also those little circles are confusing. You think you can click on them but nothing happens. They don't seem to serve a purpose. I do like the nice choice of photo's used within the site.

As far as the flash version goes:
The white space to the left under the pic on the homepage drives me a little crazy. It's like you want something to be there. Also those little circles are confusing. You think you can click on them but nothing happens. They don't seem to serve a purpose. I do like the nice choice of photo's used within the site.

those are for scrolling actually, but a lot of the content (as of yet) does not require scrolling. i am looking into a way for these only to show up when scrolling is needed. (if anyone here can suggest a method of doing that in flash mx, i'd appreciate it!)

i still have a few days to work on this, so today i put a lot of suggestions to use, i think. take a look http://nightstand.or...enot/flash.html