Website Evaluation Research Paper

Evaluation Essay

This is an Evaluation Essay of three clothing retail websites discussing five criteria that could be vital to the success or importance of the website. The criteria being discussed is design, accessibility, navigation, technical, and security. The three clothing retail websites I will be discussing are Target, Wal Mart and Kohl’s.
The website I found to be most effective out of the three I evaluated was Target. The design of the home page has bright appealing colors, with an image in the center that immediately draws attention. It has a quick info button for convenience of reading the information that applies to the image you scroll over. Seems to be less crowded than the other websites I evaluated. Easily accessible, having the structure of the content separate from navigation. Alt tags are in place on significant images with link information clear and readable, which makes navigating the site easier. There is a search bar in place to easily access a specific item you want to look up, as well as a site map link to help guide you through the web page. There is a clear statement of purpose for the rotating
images that relate to the home sale event they are having online. More user friendly in regards to buttons and signs on page than the other sites I will discuss. Seem to have a secure area for purchases made online, with no obvious flaws noted. Forms are resilient to special characters, with password protection for personal private accounts to store customer information secure. Website loads quickly and promptly without any server errors.
The second website being evaluated is Wal Mart, which seems to be very similar to Target’s web page, as far as the design.
They also have rotating images in the center of their home page. Colors are harmonious, bright and appealing. Although may be difficult for the visually impaired due to low color contrast. Content and navigational elements are separate for easy accessibility. Site links are clearly labeled with depth being three to four clicks. Quick response on clickable items related to style, easily readable without any dead ends. No flaws noted in their security system. Ordering forms are resilient to special characters, and customer info safe guarded and stored online with password protection specific for each individual customer. No technical errors noted on site, links and scripts are valid and active without any server
errors.
The last website and one that I found to be least effective in reference to the five criteria I chose is Kohl’s. The site is easily accessible, however not as user friendly as the previous sites because of overload of information on the home page. It is responsive to one click feedback but may have issues depending on the internet or computer being used. Good readability in regards to font, but again too crowded. No dead end pages found, with depth being up to three clicks when retrieving subject matter.
Design is again like the previous websites, very colorful rotating images, but again too busy making some of the content easily missed because of the overload of info on home page. The moveable band in center of page listing the different brands they carry is very distracting. Security seems to be similar to the previous websites, redirecting you to a safe and secure area to enter personal info for purchases made. Only the customer personal info such as; email, physical address and phone number, but not credit card data. Site loads quickly with all links valid and no script errors found.
In conclusion upon evaluating these three websites I found that most of the criteria were very similar and all had secure areas for purchasing items online. It all comes down to the design of the home page, and how easily it is to access info and navigate the site. In my findings relating to the three retail websites I chose to evaluate, I found the most effective site was Target. Wal Mart was the second most effective, with Kohl’s being third.