Wheelbase – A high quality experience

www.wheelbasealloys.com

Wheelbase is one of the UK’s largest suppliers of alloy wheels and performance tires. They have been providing the public with top quality products for over 15 years.
Upon entering the site, it is evidently clear what the purpose of the site is – to sell wheels. The layout is clean and efficient, and exactly what I expect to see on a motor based site. Design looks like a shopping cart site, but again, expected. The color scheme is pleasing, and fits well with the subject. The left side of the page is well designed offering clean images with suggestions about where to begin perusing their site.

Fig1. Search Options

My eye is immediately drawn to the “alloy wheel search” located in the center of the page, and this is where I began browsing. The three pull down menus offer several makes of automobiles, followed by their models and finally an option to view sizes of wheels and tires. This worked efficiently with no errors. I was inclined to want to click a search button, but instead was immediately directed to a page of choices suited for my chosen car. I did note that many automobiles are not listed within their makes, as the car I currently drive, a Mercury Mountaineer, was not listed.

Fig2. Search Results

I chose a “Ford” + “F150″ + “Show all sizes” for my search. The results are displayed in order by size from the smallest to the largest. The thumbnail images are spaced nicely and are of a high quality. The prices are clearly displayed below the products in GPB, which is the default method due to the company being based in the UK. They have made it simple to change the price display option with a simple click at the page top converting the standard display to either US or Euro.
I was not looking for a specific brand of wheel, but the site has taken that into consideration by offering a concise drill down including display by brand, model, color and style. This makes it very easy for users who are comparison based on knowing exactly what they are looking for. I also found it smart that the company displays a Top 5 Wheels suggestion just to the right of the search results. I feel this is a good selling tactic for someone who does not know exactly what they are looking for.
I chose the first wheel displayed in my result listing, the Decorsa 20″ Alloy. The now larger image was of a high quality and nicely spaced to the left of the text description. The enlarged image, when you hit Zoom, is very clear and offers a detailed picture of the product. From here  you can add the product to your cart, or browse their suggested pairings for tires that fit the wheel you have chosen. They also clearly promote the ability to speak to an expert which is very smart considering that the purchase wheels and tires is a large purchase that someone would want to do right. I added this item to my cart and went through the checkout process up to where the final purchase is made. There were no issues, very simple and left me with no questions about my intended purchase.

Fig3. Clearance, Competition and The Zone

With my ordering experience final, I began going through their navigation bar. They offer a Clearance section that displays products that are discounted. When clicking on one, the system they have in place remembers your previous make and model selection and notifies you if the wheel you have chosen will not fit your car. You can continue to browse through, however they do want to get you back to the selections that are matched for your car and clicking OK in the prompt takes you back to the search results page mentioned above.
Friendly competition and targeted content makes for a sticky site:
They offer a monthly competition to win a set of tires, with the winner being selected by random draw on the last day of the month after answering a single question. I find this a very good way to engage a user, and keep the site sticky. They have a gallery of cars sporting their wheels, which would give a user a decent idea of how a specific wheel would look on their car.
My husband particularly enjoyed the site’s Wheelbase Zone, which I found to be a very good way of keeping their target market, men, entertained. They offer photos and profiles beautiful ladies, several modeling with the sites product, screensavers and news from the company.
Finally in the navigation bar, I went to the Wheels Advice section which I found a valuable asset, as it offered tips and suggestions for the care and maintenance of your wheels and tires. This is also great for the site’s organic SEO as the phrases found in the page are questions that people would search for.
Conclusion:
In closing, the point of site is clearly sales, no advertisements in sight. While I am not the person that would use this site, I do rate my experience here very high. I was not misdirected within my purchase path – it was very clear and easy. I was not offered ways that led me away from the point of my visit, to browse and possibly purchase their products. I was not offended by their display or content even though the target market is clearly men. I found this site to be rememberable and a I had good enough experience that I would refer it to others who were looking for products of this type.

http://www.sitecritic.net/2011/01/26/wheelbase-a-high-quality-experience/

Faceflow

www.faceflow.com

Upon entering the site, I questioned exactly what it was. The graphics and introduction text indicated that it had something to do with video, but did not offer enough information above the fold as to why I would want to use it since I already use a video conferencing program.
The look and feel is a clean web2.0 layout, however, there is no navigation menu, making it difficult to pinpoint exactly what is being offered. The main focus area flips through three informational bits that tell you that you can use FaceFlow for video conferencing, group chat and to meet people. However, it does not state clearly enough that you do not have to download any software to use the program. This would be nice to know immediately.

Fig1: Focus Area - Needs a clearer message

The graphics in the focal area are of a decent quality, but to me, they are not clear enough to sell a user into signing up for the service. I would totally redesign this focal area, stating clearly that FaceFlow is a free web-based video conferencing service that requires no software download. I would design a single graphic that details this versus the three screens they currently rotate.
Also within the focus area, there is a link for a faceflow youtube video and the quality is good, but that still does not give enough information about what it is or why I would want to use it. The video immediately states that “FaceFlow is easy to use, sign up for free”. This is not what I expect in an introduction video. I instead expected, more details about what it is, why I should use it, how I can use it, THEN show me the sign up process.
Scrolling down the page offers some resolve to the question of what the capabilities of the program are but again does not offer enough information about what FaceFlow IS, or why I would want to use it.
The focus is obviously on getting a user to sign up for the service, but I personally do not just sign up for things that I am unsure of. It would need to be useful to me, and I just do not get that message within the main page of the site. As mentioned above, I feel that the main page content needs to be rethought out.

Fig2: "Why" is finally answered

I decided to click on the link under the instant messaging heading and was taken to a page that offered more details on the IM portion of their service. At the top of the page, I finally got what I was looking for on the front page – text that states why I would want to use FaceFlow. However, past that I was stuck… again, the lack of navigation was an issue. There was also a features link at the footer but that seems to come in a bit late.

Fig3: Navigation with SEO (not users) in mind

There is no Home button, so I usually click on a logo to go home, but it was not click-able. Scrolling to the bottom offers a navigation menu (mind you that it is different than the one offered on the home page) that did get me back to the home page, but did NOT offer me any clear idea of navigating around the site for information. The menu instead is created for SEO purposes and not for users.
I did click from link to link within the text areas of each page so I was able to view all of the pages in the site, but an average user would not think to do this. They would be confused and just leave. Also noted in my perusing the pages, the fonts used in the sign up buttons change three times, the visited link are the standard purple and do not fit within the scheme of the design, and the spacing of the footer navigation needs some attention – should be laid out as it is on the home page throughout the site.
Conclusion
I would guess that faceflow could be a good product to connect with friends using only a browser, but cannot sense that this would be a useful business tool.  However, with some attention to the details of their message mentioned in this review, FaceFlow could rebrand itself as an application that speaks to businesses as well as average users.

Popularity: 3% [?]
 http://www.sitecritic.net/2011/02/11/faceflow-a-web-based-video-website/

The HTML5 ?

Since it was introduced in the mid-'90s, Adobe's Flash has remained one of the most popular ways for developers to create animations, video and complex interactive features for the Web--regardless of what browser or operating system an end user is running. According to Adobe, which makes the Flash Player and various Flash development tools, 98 percent of Internet-connected desktop computers have Flash installed, and 95 percent have the most recent version, Flash Player 10.
In an effort to further push the adoption of Flash technology, yesterday Adobe released a new set of features for Flash, including a cloud-based service that lets developers connect applications to 14 different social networks through a single programming interface.
However, Flash's days of dominance may be numbered. Experts say there are two major threats: Apple's open hostility to the technology on its iPhone and iPad devices, and the rise of a new open Web standard called HTML 5, which seeks to make interactivity an integral part of all Web browsers. While Flash introduces extra capabilities to browsers after it is downloaded and installed, HTML 5 would ensure that similar functionality is included in browsers that adopted it as a standard by default, and it would not be controlled by a single company.
Although HTML 5 is designed to vastly extend a browser's abilities, including the handling of graphics and video, Adobe continues to release tools that keep Flash a step ahead. Its development tools also offer a simpler way to create rich Web content. For example, many social networking companies offer different interfaces of their own, and Adobe's new social-network service makes it easier for developers to tap into these.

However, the core strength of Flash--its ability to render graphics and animation in the browser--is coming under attack. At a panel discussion held last week at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, TX, industry experts debated whether a key element of HTML 5 called Canvas could perform the same tasks for many developers. Canvas allows graphics, animation, and interactive features to run inside a browser without any additional plug-ins.
Ben Galbraith, who works on Palm's WebOS and has been involved with the community of open-source software developers responsible for the Mozilla Firefox browser, recently used Canvas to create a rich Web-based code-editing application. Galbraith and his collaborators had to build many components from scratch. "We had to do a lot of work, but we had great performance and control," he said at South by Southwest.
All this effort shows why Flash is still useful, said Chet Haase, who works on the software developer kit for Flex, a framework from Adobe that can be used to build sophisticated Web applications that run through the Flash player. Flex makes it simple for users to create and reuse visual features of an application, Haase said. Referring to the extensive work Galbraith put into his code editor, he joked: "I would love to reinvent a user interface tool kit every year. It gives a great opportunity to do a lot of interesting programming."

http://www.technologyreview.com/web/24844/?a=f

Facebook

It’s nearly impossible in this day and age not to know about Facebook. Facebook is a social network site that started out strictly for college students and was available by invitation only. Now, it is a cultural phenomenon stretching across the globe. With more worldwide users than MySpace, Facebook has taken hold as undisputable leader amongst social networking sites.

The network is made up of hundreds of separate networks based around schools, businesses and regions. Although registration is now open to the public, the site still caters to a college and high school demographic focusing on networking through groups and social activism.

Profiles allow users to post pictures, comments, blogs and apps. Additionally, it has some of the best privacy options on the Internet. We felt that Facebook really encouraged using the site to foster relationships with people you already know, or friends of friends. Within hours, we were already in touch with scores of old friends, relatives and acquaintances.

The only real griping we could do concerns Facebook’s lack of customization options. However, most users like the design and uniform feel of the site the way it is. Choosing between MySpace and Facebook is really a matter of interface preference and going to where your friends are. But, if you’re new to the whole social networking thing, Facebook is the place to be.

Profiles:

Facebook’s website design is straightforward; it has few graphics or decoration, but they managed to create a uniform utilitarian interface that most users adore. Although you can’t customize skins or change your color scheme, you can rearrange the position of some of your information boxes on your profile by simply dragging and dropping them to other spots on the screen.

Unlike MySpace, your Facebook backend looks exactly like what others see on the site when they look at your profile. You see what they will see.
When you register, your location and/or school become your first “networks,” from there you can search for others in your network looking for friends or colleagues.
Once you’ve found someone you want to connect with, send them a message, see a list of their friends and invite them into your network of friends. Share photos, notes and news feeds. Your friends can also post comments on your profile wall.
Facebook apps are probably the most appealing aspect of the site. One of the first social networking sites to incorporate third-party applications into the system; you have a variety of options to choose from. You can add quizzes, support tags, feeds and more.
Some other interesting aspects to Facebook profiles are the automatic linking and News Feed. The automatic linking happens when you place a specific noun in your interest or education section. The link will direct you to others that also have the same interests written down or school selected. It’s not a perfect science, but kind of fun to see which other members share your music, movie or book selections.
The News Feeds work like mini spies. If you subscribe to someone’s feed or if you are subscribed, your friends can see what music you are listening to, the website you are on or what you’ve just bought on Amazon.

Security:

Users must be at least 13 years old to register with Facebook. In their Terms of Service agreement, Facebook states that they do not allow offensive content such as sexually charged language and explicit photos; however, they also state that it is not their responsibility to closely monitor the content on their website. They encourage members to report content they find offensive, Facebook provides a “report this person” link on all profile pages.

Facebook has some of the most specific and custom privacy setting of all the services we reviewed. In addition to making your entire profile private you can select which section of your profile you would like displayed and to whom. For example, your Wall can be open to everyone, but your photographs can be set to only display to your friends or friends of friends. The same is true for your personal information, education, work and contact information.
Facebook also allows you to block individual users, report spam and report profile abuse. Additionally, you cannot browse through the Facebook database without registering.

Networking Features:

Facebook’s bread and butter are their groups. Much like college campuses create groups, so does Facebook. You can join your favorite band, political candidate and local organizations. They have more than 500 groups in 23 categories.

Facebook has really ramped up its networking features. Before it used to be just a simple place for people with similar interests to, well, network. Now, they are filling it up with additional options like apps, and instant messaging, forums, photo tagging and more. Facebook also allows you to send whole photo albums to friends even if they are not members of the Facebook community.
Recently they’ve put more emphasis on additional features like uploading personal videos and expanding the marketplace. We also found an app for Facebook Mobile, a mobile version of Facebook that can be accessed on your phone.

Twitter

Twitter's overnight Internet fame stems from one simple question: "What are you doing?" You have 140 characters of text to answer, and as soon as you hit Update, the site's millions of users can see what you're up to. This small idea has blossomed into a hugely popular phenomenon, with its users covering the entire Earth, developers creating scores of helper apps for it, and a raft of imitation sites. This is the "social-networking and microblogging" site where you can read fascinating and mundane quick takes such as "ate a piece of cherry pie" or "just had a great workout." But despite the service's seemingly trivial function, which causes many to snub it and can at times make it akin to listening to other peoples' cell-phone conversations, Twitter fills a gap left by other forms of communication.

After a simple sign-up involving the standard username, password, e-mail, and CAPTCHA entries, you can join the conversation, adding text to the "What are you doing?" box. Each Twitter entry, aka "tweet", is followed by a time stamp and its source. Clicking on the time stamp brings up a page of the tweet alone. If you don't want everyone in the world to be able to see your tweets, you can make them private and visible only to people you approve by checking the Protect my updates box. It's all or nothing: All your posts will be either public or private. I'd prefer to see more options that would let you make some posts public and others private. It doesn't seem as if this would be particularly difficult to implement—blogs have had this ability for years.
But posting via the Web site is hardly the whole story. Since the post size limit fits within the SMS 160-character limit, one of the features that adds immediacy to Twitter is the ability to update your posts from a cell phone. You can do this by sending a message to the service's short code, 40404, after you've verified your phone number. (Short codes should be familiar to you from TV promotions that ask you to vote via text message—these are reserved numbers that work just like telephone numbers.) Finally, you can make a post through AIM, Jabber, Gmail, .Mac, or LiveJournal instant messaging. This misses a couple of the big IM names—Yahoo! Messenger and Windows Live Messenger—but it still covers a lot of ground. Oddly, when I sent a post from IM, it was marked "from Web" at the end. If you send from your phone, the tag says "sent from txt."
Once you enter a tweet you can't edit it, but you can delete it by clicking the trash-can icon. A star next to every post lets you designate it as a favorite, and you can access all your favorite posts by clicking the Favorite link under Stats on the right sidebar. There's no way to search posts based on text—something I think limits the usefulness of the site—but it's a limitation shared by Jaiku.

In addition to being able to view everyone's public Twitter posts, you can "follow" another user, which means his or her posts will appear in your Home page timeline, and you'll have the option to receive text messages or IMs to alert you of your followed one's posts. To find people to follow, you can click on Find & Invite at the top of the page. From here you can search for Twitter users in your Gmail address book, invite new friends, or search existing Twitterers. Once you find other users you can opt to follow them. You can also add people to follow on your phone. The icons of all the users you're following will appear at the bottom of your right-hand sidebar. If there's someone in cyberland that you don't want to be followed by or don't want as a friend, you can go to that person's page and choose the Block link.
To respond to a post that strikes a chord in you, there are two options: You can reply publicly or Direct Text the original Twitterer. To reply publicly, Twitter uses another fairly counterintuitive method: You have to begin your response with "@" prefixed to the username of the Twitterer you want to reply to. This will be familiar to posters on non-threaded discussion boards, but I'd prefer a simple "Reply" link. Jaiku's Comments feature handles this better, despite the argument that everything posted in these microblogs is a comment, so why the need for a separate comment feature?

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2197413,00.asp