Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

I'd suggest the following:

1) Add an RSS feed for interested parties. Perhaps even provide a notification service, emailing subscribers PDFs of product updates, etc.

2) It takes too many clicks to drill down to the key information. For example, the Products, Industries/Applications, etc. menus should be drop down hierarchical. There's far to many "click here" then "click here" in the site.

3) It would be nice to have the common searches available with a drop-down menu.

4) A flatter site map (you have one, but it's fairly high-level) to allow people to quickly see the breadth/depth of information in a "flat" format.

5) The News/Events links are only clickable if you click on the heading. Make the entire title clickable as well.

6) Because the home page is so rich in keywords, it would make sense to allow people to click on the keywords to produce relevant information (i.e., Makrolon©, elastomers, etc.)

7) The layout of the home page can be improved. There are menus in the left column, the right column, and across the top. Streamline them, perhaps into a two-column layout.

8) Some of your text doesn't increase/decrease when you ask the browser to do so (menus, fast find, etc.). This is useful for "older eyes".

Here's my feedback:

1 - The homepage is content-rich but the amount of text is overwhelming. What do you want web visitors to do? You may have already done this, but make sure the things you want them to do are most easily visible.

2 - Features section on homepage - maybe just include the headline, and link it to the full story. Lots of text there.

3- Fast Find section -- Your navigation should be easy enough that you don't need an additional "faster" way to navigate the content. The Bayer Links section on the left could be a page entitled "Links" or "Resources". Your "Fast Find" links can be in the left nav.

4- The search box could be smaller and at the top right (then you can remove the redundant Search link at the top).

5 - Can you shorten the intro paragraph? I would put the "what the site is" line under your name in the upper left - "polymers and high-performance plastics." That's a standard place to explain what the site is. Then reduce the intro paragraph to "Browse this site to learn about:" (bulleted list) coating, adhesive... etc.

6 - You should have your logo in the top left and you don't need to repeat "BayerMaterialScienceNAFTA.com". The logo should be linked to the homepage.

7 - Link style. You can use the underline for your rollover state, but it's more modern style to make links a different color, and make them highlighted in rollover state. You've got entire paragraphs that go into underline in rollover state, but aren't links. That's confusing and inconsistent -- comparing the News section to the Features section.

Before undertaking a redesign, I would recommend conducting a usability study. It's easy, can be done in-house, and will inform your design. Just get a group of people - the more the better. They can be employees if necessary. Create a list of tasks for them to complete on the website (e.g., "find information on polymers", etc.), and watch them while they complete the tasks. Videotape these sessions if you can. You'll quickly see what tasks are non-intuitive.

Also, try checking out some sites for ideas -- sites like yours that need to present a ton of technical information, but can manage to make it easy to navigate with a clean look & feel. Oracle, IBM, and Nasa.gov are some examples I like. Hope that helps!

1. At this time, the focal point of the whole site seems to be: Upcoming Events. I would make sure your focal point in the new design revolves around your product(s) or your business solution for your customers.
2. The secondary focal point is the search box. This could be smaller and positioned in the upper right corner.
3. Due to 'banner blindness by customers, the teal colored main nav bar (horizontal) is lost and the eye goes to the left nav. Your main navigation should be very obvious. Tabs are a good example of this.
4. Keep hierarchical formation of text always in mind. The largest font will attract the main attention - also be consistent with your headings.
5. Remove secondary graphic – it’s eating up valuable real estate.
6. The ‘Features’ and the “News” sort of run together as they both have New and News in them. News is great and makes your site look very up-to-date, however have just the latest two to three news items.
7. Under the right nav that says “View our eNewsletters”, have a drop-down of the n-letters you offer and remove the buttons on the right.
8. Add a testimony of a happy customer on each page. It doesn’t have to be long, a simple 1-2 sentence statement. That will give you ‘street cred’.

An ideal way of figuring out grouping(s) of content is to put each bit/subject/heading/item on post-it notes and arrange and rearrange on a board until you get a very concise set of groups, then put the groups into order of importance. There’s your navigation.

What is your marketing message? Why should business customers buy Bayer? Is it your service, your product, your reputation or all three. Showcase that in an upper marketing area near the top of the page.

The product sections are well arranged. The homepage has the most difficult of all jobs…getting the customer to where they want to go in the easiest manner possible.

Good luck!

Overall not a bad site, IMHO.

It wasn't asked, but I have to comment about the URL. Way too long. And way too easy for someone to mistype. maybe better (though still long) as www.bayermaterialscience-na.com, which is closer to what I assume is the global corporate site address (www.bayermaterialscience.com). Note - I went to this global corporate site, and didn't see any links back to your site.

You may want to change the text on the search box to say "Search Site" rather than just "Search". This way they will know for sure that searching there will help them find something in the site.

Hi,

I have no PhD but I'll help by giving you a layman's perspective of the website:

1- Too big a name to type and to remember
2- There's a lot of free space and yet the content looks too congested. If you could use a bigger font size, it should make it a bit more friendly to the eyes (especially to the poor browser with no glasses.
3- I like the search space and the way it is positioned 'coz it saves the browser's time
4- Overall, the site is really simple but congested so it seems confusing. If you could include some pictures or relevant graphics, it might help in remembering the pages.
5- Also I didn't quite understand the relevance of the backdrop used on the webpage (in blue)

Hope this helps.

All the Best!!