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I think it would be best if you looked at other sites that sell vintage clothing and take some cues from them in over all structure.
Some points I would like to make are: - Make sure that links and other things that can be clicked on are made obvious that they can, in fact, be clicked on. Don't hide them in pictures like you have on the home page. If I hadn't moused over the picture I would have never known that there were links there. - Make all the buttons and links in the same style so that your customers know what to expect. Don't make them guess. For instance, you said that your customers complain about not being able to find the buy button. The reason is you made the buy button look like a picture and it looks different from the other buttons. Make it look like your view cart button and they'll be able to find it. - Alignment! Alignment! Alignment! People don't like to search for things in unexpected places. - Pick a color scheme, style, and structure and stick to it. Each one of the pages you've displayed look like they could each be from different sites. This confuses people. - You have to make things consistent. For example, on your catalog page where you have choose a vintage era, filter by size, exc., make it all the same size font and I would also make it a different color so it stands out more. - Make things friendly on the eyes. Make all text easy to read by using contrasting colors but don't use colors that are too bright either. - Use white space. Don't smash everything together so that it becomes overwhelming for the customer to look at. - Put the name of the site or store at the top of the page. It should be the first thing the customer sees.
I know everything on your site seems like it would be obvious to find and use, but that is because you designed it. Of course you know where everything is and how to use it. The real challenge comes when you have to step outside of yourself and see it through your customer's eyes. I hope you found this helpful. Best of luck.
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Lindsay Montgomery commented:Betsy,
Thank you and I'm glad I've given you something to think about.
Ok so on second thought your white space isn't bad but I still feel overwhelmed on your policies page. Looking at it again I think it's because you use too many different colors for your content and the background is too busy. Try sticking with one color for the links and lists and one color for the other content. If you choose to stick with having a background pattern I would use one that has less contrast and an obvious pattern. Another thing to think about is when using pictures, you have to make sure they are free of any pixilation, otherwise they just look awful. I would suggest taking some pictures yourself of a model in some of the clothes you are selling with a digital camera. This way you don't have to rely on trying to find a picture big enough on the internet to use.
As for the compliments you're getting, maybe they like the "vintage" feel. The colors and patterns remind me of my grand parents house, which is very 60's-70's style. They have orange shag carpet and avocado green appliances. Personally, I think it's yuck but other people like it. Still, there are other ways to make it vintage without making it look outdated. Take a look at some of the examples on this page and you will see what I mean. http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/40-beautiful-examples-of-vintage-and-retro-in-web-design/
I will say that I like how you don't have much clutter on the product page, but again you need to make things align with each other so that it looks cohesive. Also use a clearer picture for the mannequin.
Another important point to make is that where you have customer compliments on the home page there should be content explaining something about your business. I would even make a catalog of your clothes right there out in front so that people will immediately see what you have to offer. It just looks very awkward how you have some random comments up there floating around.
In all honesty I think it would be in your favor to hire a professional web designer. Just sayin'.
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thanks so much, Lindsay! I appreciate the time you took to look at my site and the elaboration of your suggestions. You've given me a lot to chew on. I have a question regarding your comments "Don't smash everything together so that it becomes overwhelming for the customer to look at". I use white space throughout the site to organize the busy sections. Is that what I need more of -- or are you referring to something else?
I'm having trouble reconciling the many compliments I've received on my site (usually including the words "cool" or "unique") with the severity of the criticisms here. I'm glad I posted here because it's obvious from your comments that my site has issues, but I know I must be doing something right -- to be getting the unsolicited positive feedback -- and, frankly, now I'm wondering what that is. Do you see good things on the site? -- in other words, that I shouldn't scrap? Any feedback on this is very helpful!!
Although your four comments have been wholy negative, this has been a great experience for me because you've given me so much to digest & work with. At the present time, I'm imagining a redesign in which a color palette, upper navigation (I hear ya :), larger logo & background pattern unify the site, while retaining the pictorial imagery.
I'd love any further input you have for me.
Luke, I'm twitching with anticipation to see what you've got to show me :) (or maybe that's coffee jitters) Can't wait...