INTERACTIVE DESIGN-EXERCISE 1: WEBSITE ANALYSIS
22.04.2025 - 29.04.2025 / Week 1 - Week 2
Christopher Jayson Tan/ 0378500
Interactive Design / Bachelors of Design (Hons) in Creative Media /
Taylor's University
Exercise 1: Website Analysis
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INSTRUCTION
2. TASK
3. FEEDBACK
4. REFLECTION
INSTRUCTIONS
TASK
1. Take Me To Christmas
URL : https://christmas-2024.riven.ch/
When you click the website, you are greeted with a festive dark red background and a 3D nutcracker standing in the center, which feels very on theme (1). When you click the start button, cheerful Christmas music starts playing, and the screen reveals a series of card designs that you can choose (2).
In a visual perspective, the cards are aesthetic and matches the Christmas theme very well. You can scroll through them smoothly, and when you select one, you can customize the inside by writing names and wishes (3). This part is the main purpose of the website and it feels interactive.
But even though it’s visually impressive, there are some negatives. text readability inside the customized cards can be an issue. The writing space is quite small, and if you’re on a mobile screen, the font gets a little hard to read because the font is cursive (4). Also, while the animations look nice, users on slower devices might experience lag when the site first loads, especially during the part where you customize the card which is the main purpose of website.
Overall, the website creates a fun and festive experience, but a few usability issues like small writing spaces and an occasional lag make it less smooth than it could be.
Figure 2.1 1st website images (24/04/2025)
2. Foundation
URL : https://www.thefoundation.house/#about
When you first enter the site, you’re instantly shown a data section that displays property prices which gives you an idea that this website is probably correlated with buying properties or investing (1). The design feels very modern and sleek. The fonts are clean, sans-serif, and give off a futuristic or tech vibe. The layout is simple and minimal, with soft pastel colors, which make it look calming and elegant (2). It’s visually appealing and not harsh on the eyes.
Scrolling is very smooth on this website, and the animations are subtle, which makes the experience feel professional. One thing I noticed is that the site feels extremely polished in terms of design, but it doesn’t give much information. For example, on the homepage and even in the “About” section, there’s little text explaining what The Foundation House is, because the sentence are quite vague (3). Another example is the numbers that are presented to show the current success of the company and the perks you get from using it (4).
Another thing is that most of the sections focus on visuals like large images and floating data but not much on content. It feels a bit too minimal in a way that might confuse some users (5). You can scroll down and see nice layout designs, but if someone’s trying to get clear information or context, they might feel lost.
Overall, while the website looks amazing and professional, it could use a bit more explanation and clearer communication about what the site is actually offering.
Figure 2.2 2nd website images (24/04/2025)
3. David Whyte Experience
URL : https://davidwhyte.com/experience/
When you open the site, the first thing you see is a black loading screen, and then a single tree emerges in the center of the screen along with a poem. The tree is interactive you can drag around it to “paint” it using a soft, watercolor-like textures (1). This section feels artistic and poetic, which matches the theme of David Whyte’s work, because he’s a poet and speaker. The whole experience feels like it’s trying to be deep and reflective.
However, the website is also kind of confusing. For example, after the tree appears, it’s not really clear what you’re supposed to do. There are barely any buttons and words beside the poem to guide you (2). The interaction is cool, but the meaning or goal behind it isn’t explained. It might leave some users unsure of what they’re engaging with.
The biggest issue is the text. The words that appear on the page like the small “Enter Experience” button are really tiny and hard to read, especially on a phone or smaller screen (3). The font size could be bigger, and the contrast between the text and background isn’t strong enough in some parts. It affects the readability a lot.
The lack of obvious navigation (like back button) when you continue to experience the rest of the content makes it feel a bit disconnected (4). Overall, artistic part is definitely interesting, but it ends up feeling more like an interactive art piece with very little content than a functional website.
2.3 3rd website images (24/04/2025)
4. Museum of Digital Influence
URL : https://digital-influence.org/?preloader=true
When you first enter the website, you’re met with a loading animation, and then suddenly you’re in a room with glowing doors (1). At first, it’s not clear what to do or where to go, which makes the website feel quite confusing. But once you realize that you’re supposed to walk forward by clicking or scrolling the bar on the bottom, the navigation becomes really interesting (2). It feels like you’re moving through a digital art museum.
Inside each “room” behind the doors, there are different images many of which look like they were AI-generated and there is a music playing in the background (3). This makes the experience feel immersive and creative, and it's very unique if we are comparing it to most websites.
However, navigation is still limited. You can only move forward or backward through the bar and there’s no way to jump to a specific section in the museum (4). So if you want to revisit a certain room or image, you have to go through everything again, which can be a bother to some people.
The website is also a bit heavy because of all the contents and transitions as well as the way it present itself with seamless transitions. On slower internet or older devices, it will take time to load, and sometimes the transitions can be choppy. The fonts are readable, but some texts (description on the images) are quite small and can be hard to read if you are using your phone (5).
Overall, the site is visually striking and cool, but it sacrifices functionality for style, which might confuse users who are expecting a more traditional website.
Figure 2.4 4th website images (24/04/2025)
5. Saapro
URL : https://www.saapro.ae
When you enter the site, you’re greeted with a full screen layout and four circular shapes that float around in the middle of the screen (1), which is a unique start. But once you scroll past that section, the site starts to feel overwhelming. There’s a lot going on tons of images, text, and different layout elements stacked on top of each other (2). The scrolling experience also feels heavy and slow which makes is tedious and you have to scroll quite a lot to get through everything, which can be tiring.
The color palette mainly uses beige and forest green, which gives the site a natural and earthy tone . It looks professional, but after a while, the colors can feel a bit dull and repetitive (3). The font is clear and very readable, but because there’s so much text in some of the sections, it starts to feel cluttered and it’s hard to focus on what’s important because everything is packed together without enough spacing (4).
The navigation is straightforward because its just scrolling down but it’s not always effective because of how dense the content is. There’s not much breathing room between sections, and it could’ve been better if they had clearer breaks between different parts of the site.
Overall, while the site looks professional and has all the necessary information, the user experience suffers from how crowded and heavy the layout feels. It’s a bit exhausting to scroll through and hard to stay focused because the information is all over the place.
Figure 2.5 5th website images (24/04/2025)
FEEDBACK
REFLECTION
I never realized that websites can turn into such interesting pieces of art because i always thought of them as the "traditional" dull looking corporate websites but i was wrong. This exercise is very fun because i get to assess 5 interesting websites and see each of their pros and cons. Each of these websites have their own unique purpose and goals which makes it intriguing to explore each one and unravel. Overall i really enjoyed this exercise and it managed to defy my expectations and made me realize that websites can be a navigatable pieces of art.
Comments
Post a Comment