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My family has been in the auto repair and sales industry for a long time (my father and brother both ran collision repair shops and sold cars at auctions) and I'm a usability / user experience designer so I feel like I have a good handle on how your users are likely to experience the site...
Overall it has a credible and professional look and feel. It's sharp but a little on the cluttered side. There are a few easy steps you can take to fix that.
Since you've done a good job at consistently using blue text only for links, you don't need to include the underline. The lines are just unnecessary visual noise. Users will have no trouble recognizing those as links without the underlines.
Also, the newsletter signup form is taking up a considerable amount of prime page real estate. It may be important to you that the people see this form, but most users won't consider it to be very important. Give the products priority. You might be able to move the form into the Free Shipping banner area. It might be a nice tie-in..."Free Shipping!" Oh wait I just realized that the banner is already a giant call to action to sign up for the newsletter. In that case, eliminate the separate form above the product categories. Consider incorporating the form fields into the banner area so users don't need to go to a separate "Sign up now" page.
Random other observations: - The tag line is virtually invisible because of the dark text over the dark background. - "Go" isn't the best label for the Search button. Searching for a specific part is likely to be a highly utilized function. Make it more prominent by changing the label to "Search" and changing the button's color. The button itself is difficult to see because of poor contrast with the gold background. Consider using either of the Search buttons you use in the Shop by Brand or Shop by Vehicle search modules.
- Consider grouping the gold, free-form search with the Shop by Brand and Shop by Vehicle searches. Or perhaps move it to the spot where you have the newsletter signup form currently. In it's present location it seems somewhat disconnected from those related functions and content.-
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Scott Smith commented:Hey Adrian,
The updated version looks much better. That parts Search button stands out nicely (as does the tagline).
You've got the right idea with the Newsletter area, but rather than calling out "Autoparts Newsletter!", consider calling attention to the reason someone should sign up for the newsletter instead.
- Lead off with the statement "Receive the latest offers and exclusive discounts" (ok so I made up the exclusive discounts part but it sounds more persuasive)... anyway, consider giving that statement the emphasis and visual treatment you're currently giving the "Autoparts Newsletter!" text. Follow that statement with, "Sign up for our newsletter" or similar.
-Remove the "Open" button/graphic (it doesn't make intuitive sense... it begs the question, "open what?") instead, provide the form fields for the newsletter sign up right there so people will see how easy it is to sign up and won't think they'll have to leave the page to complete an annoying form. If there's space try to include a statement to the effect, "Spam free" or "We do not share or sell your email adress" (or similar).
I think taking these steps will increase conversion rates for the newsletter signup.
Other than that, I think you're good to go. Build it out and see how people are using it. Feel free to contact me with questions if there's any area of the site where people are having trouble or bailing out.
- Lead off with the statement "Receive the latest offers and exclusive discounts" (ok so I made up the exclusive discounts part but it sounds more persuasive)... anyway, consider giving that statement the emphasis and visual treatment you're currently giving the "Autoparts Newsletter!" text. Follow that statement with, "Sign up for our newsletter" or similar.
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Scott Smith commented:
Hey Adrian,
The updated version looks much better. That parts Search button stands out nicely (as does the tagline).
You've got the right idea with the Newsletter area, but rather than calling out "Autoparts Newsletter!", consider calling attention to the reason someone should sign up for the newsletter instead.
- Lead off with the statement "Receive the latest offers and exclusive discounts" (ok so I made up the exclusive discounts part but it sounds more persuasive)... anyway, consider giving that statement the emphasis and visual treatment you're currently giving the "Autoparts Newsletter!" text. Follow that statement with, "Sign up for our newsletter" or similar.
-Remove the "Open" button/graphic (it doesn't make intuitive sense... it begs the question, "open what?") instead, provide the form fields for the newsletter sign up right there so people will see how easy it is to sign up and won't think they'll have to leave the page to complete an annoying form. If there's space try to include a statement to the effect, "Spam free" or "We do not share or sell your email adress" (or similar).
I think taking these steps will increase conversion rates for the newsletter signup.
Other than that, I think you're good to go. Build it out and see how people are using it. Feel free to contact me with questions if there's any area of the site where people are having trouble or bailing out.
- Lead off with the statement "Receive the latest offers and exclusive discounts" (ok so I made up the exclusive discounts part but it sounds more persuasive)... anyway, consider giving that statement the emphasis and visual treatment you're currently giving the "Autoparts Newsletter!" text. Follow that statement with, "Sign up for our newsletter" or similar.
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Thanks for this great review. I knew about the problem with the newsletter but you opened my eyes about some other problems. I will definitely implement some of the changes you suggested.