Site review please

[Phil_s]

Hi All,

My company is about to launch a new 'budget' site, which has been created from scratch by a colleague (Stuart), who 6 weeks ago knew nothing about e-commerce etc.

He's had a massive task getting to grips with things and has done really well but I feel as the site launch is now imminent it's time for some constructive cristicism..


http://www.budgetartsupplies.co.uk

Over to you.

Cheers

Phil

[gabrielcrowe]

though i am a fan of minimalism, perhaps some adiddional images are required? since this is an art shop, it stands to reason that it be arty in design, i'd expect perhaps something with paint and canvas, to illustrate the nature of the product?

its nice and clean, but could really do with some flare.

and, also, an easy one to fix would be putting your product sections list on the front page, as well as the acatalog page.

:o

on the catalog page, this main logo image is broken:
http://www.budgetartsupplies.co.uk/acatalog/Logo-writing.jpg

perhaps it should say:
http://www.budgetartsupplies.co.uk/acatalog/label_resize.jpg

like the first page?

[Ally]

Just my pennys worth here, I do like the layout, agree its nice and clean, however....


and, also, an easy one to fix would be putting your product sections list on the front page, as well as the acatalog page.

I totally agree with this, I think it would help the customer to see more of what you have without them having to navigate around to find more info. Also could you make the logo clickable to link to the homepage, dont know if its just me but i think thats always a good idea?!

How about a page for delivery costs? I did see it was on T&C page but sometimes people dont think to look there!

You seem to have a big blank space next to your logo which to me seems a waste of space to me, could you put a phone number there or something maybe?

And yes I think more pictures would be good too!

Hope that helps!

Ally :)

[shutton83]

Hi,

I'm the Stuart mentioned above.
I've made a few changes since this thread was started and gone live, but I'm constantly trying to make it better so thank you very much for the advice!

[completerookie]

I was expecting two or three people to start saying "No, I'm the Stuart . . ."

[Phil_s]

I was expecting two or three people to start saying "No, I'm the Stuart . . ."

...and so is my wife?

[completerookie]

I've made a few changes since this thread was started and gone live, but I'm constantly trying to make it better so thank you very much for the advice!
Stuart,
if you have some time, we would love to hear how a "complete novice" got on with actinic, did you have web experience prior to the start ?, what was the hardest point to get to grips with?, could the learning curve be made any easier ? . ., and so on.

I've just set the missus on learning actinic, she really does have a learning curve to go through and (being German as well) she struggles to get to grips with things like "permutations" and complex ideas like that - any ideas would be gratefully received.

kev

[shutton83]

I dont know if theres an easy way to explain the whole components thing is there? I'm still not sure why its done the way it is. I had to look it up and just follow the instructions. Oh the humiliation...

I didnt have any experience beyond the absolute html basics (italics, changing colour, etc) and I think that was the hardest bit for me. I had (perhaps too many) ideas for the layout and couldn't figure out why weird things would happen when i attempted to edit the code.