This website: Moods of Norway - is a quirky and uniquely designed site that engages you as soon as you start to navigate through the different webpages. The background image of Norway's snowy mountain peaks draw you in and it's then you start to notice the rather amusing foreground images. The hot pink tractor and fishing trawler out on the lake cause you to smile as does the burnished gold limousine which speeds easily over the snowy terrain past young couples dressed in the fashions which this site is intent on selling. At first glance, it appears that all of these design elements are meant to just attract you as a visitor to explore the site more in depth.
However, once you hover over say the little farmhouse... you see a pop up text message to "Find Stores". Now as you begin to hover over other elements in this pleasing landscape, you find that many of these objects lead you to other pages and sections of the website. This design feature in addition to the traditional navigational text buttons at the top of each webpage give the user/visitor a much more interactive way to engage in learning and potentially buying the products showcased on the site. I was immediately intrigued and amused which led me to exploring this site fully even though I would probably not buy the clothes offered here. The shoes, on the other hand, are another story and I may revisit this site to purchase a pair or two.
Moods of Norway is a website that uses experience design in a very compelling and intelligent way. This website in its overall design and elements used just begs the viewer/visitor to smile and engage in further exploration of the entire site. The limo, tractor and flying plane w/a banner reading: "Happy Clothes For Happy People" are fun and add a game like quality to the navigation. This design element appeals to the kid in all of us as we have control over the objects and are given a reward when we follow them to their destination and view the results. These design elements are equally as effective in navigating the site as they are easy to discover. There is a pop-up button that invites the viewer to scroll across the landscape and this is when you find that many of the objects are actually links to different webpages. If a visitor did not have the time to explore this website in this manner, they could easily just use the standard navigation links at the top of the site.
To me, designing with the concept of experience design in mind would involve a website that has the elements which Moods of Norway incorporates and makes excellent use of in its website design and navigation. The concept of experience design means that most of a viewer's senses are engaged from sensory, sound, cognitive recognition of the user elements for learning, exploring, navigating and elements that produce a fun or pleasant experience. I think it is fully possible to use experience design and still have a website that is efficient in its usability and navigation. Some web designers might be concerned or feel that using experience design in the way that this website does would slow down the user's ability to navigate or find what they are looking for in a timely manner. These designers might consider experience design to be more of a frivolous design concept and/or one that should only be used for more artistic/creative websites. I disagree as the user experience is what will bring visitors back to the website and to tell others of their great find regarding the particular site.
Moods of Norway is different from other websites I have explored that are similar to it in that it includes the traditional text navigation buttons at the top of each webpage. Including this traditional way of navigation ensures that all visitors will be able to navigate this site efficiently and quickly. The pop-up scroll button is also a unique feature and helps the viewer to see parts of the site that they might not otherwise notice. As the viewer is travelling within the landscape to different design elements, the standard webpages are grouped in a smaller window w/in the landscape so that at any time, the viewer can click on them and navigate this site in the more standard way. This website's design, creativity and innovation is also why it is one of the winning websites at the web design awards site: Awwards.com
No comments:
Post a Comment