Gordon Richards had a Web site for his company, TreeQuest, but he needed help integrating the e-commerce features. Because selling items on the Internet was an integral part of his vision for the site, Gordon started looking around for company that could provide both the hosting and programming support he needed to create the site. He hired Sandpoint.com to host and recreate the site. Ken Lenz of Sandpoint.com redesigned the site to make it easier to use, while James Byrd of Logical Expressions, Inc. wrote the ASP and programming code for the e-commerce elements. Although the programming isn’t complete yet, the redesigned opening page shows what just a few simple changes can do to improve a site’s usability and load time.
The first thing Ken did was change the logo. The old logo was a JPG file that used an outdated
font. Ken redesigned the logo and saved it as a GIF file, which made it smaller (only 4K) and retained more detail. He also reduced the size of the entire site, so it would work better for visitors using 640×480 monitors. Whereas the old site used a sort of haphazard color scheme, in the redesign, consistent use of colors, gradients, and fonts make it easier to understand and navigate.
- The old logo was 14K; the new one is 4K, which downloads more quickly
- The old “blocky” layout didn’t tie the site elements together well.
- New navigation is easier to use
- Ad placement is consistent
Toolbox:
Redesign by:
Ken Lenz
Programming:
James Byrd, Logical Expressions, Inc.
Hardware: Site running on a Windows NT server.
Software: Front Page 2000, Adobe Photoshop, IIS 4.0 (ASP), Visual Basic 6.0, VI 6.0