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Redd’s www.nicholaspatten.com Review

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Redd Horrocks

Published

November 28th, 2008

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This site is very simple and fairly bright, but the purpose and intent of the site is a little unclear. After looking at it for a few minutes it looks to be an online video repository for a video editor. However, it gives us very little other information or incentive to stay on the site. 

Aesthetics

The site design is eye-catching. The swirls of color and texture stand out well. The video player in the center is the dominant feature. Actually, it’s pretty much the only feature. 

The text below the video player looks like it should be all be links to something different, or maybe to an online resume or further portfolio examples, but it remains dormant text with no click ability. 

Who are you, Nick?

There is no About Me section, something that I firmly believe every site should have. This is a personal connection that makes the site more memorable. It’s always good to have a story to connect to words and images. 

The email address at the bottom of the site is also not clickable. This is a major usability flaw. Make it simple, make it obvious, make it easy. Eliminating unnecessary steps by the user makes your site more useful and more navigable. Simply making that email address a link will make it so much easier for people to contact you.

Give me more information about what you do, who you are, and why I should care. It seems as though the focus is on you being an editor, but tell me where I can see your web design that is alluded to in the text below the videos.  

So, in summary, the design of the site is simple and eye catching without being garish, but the lack of depth is disappointing and the fact that the text appears to be a link but doesn’t go anywhere is not very usable. The video also auto-plays, which is good for grabbing attention, but may be found to be annoying by some. 

Helpful Suggestions

My recommendation would be to make those links clickable and add some more depth and detail, especially about you as a person, to the site. Show me a deeper range on your portfolio and turn off the auto-play on your videos.