OUGD504 - Design for Web: Fundamentals 2

This afternoon we looked at the 5 websites we bought in, and tried to draw out the underlying grid systems.
I found it quite difficult as it wasn't clear where the grids where if text and images didn't line up or it wasn't in equal sections.

Here are the couple that I figured out:

I then realised that some websites use the rule of thirds, or more intricate grids which aren't necessarily very clear. Because of this, I then realised that actually the websites I had chosen are actually better organised and laid out than I originally thought, and they are a lot more intricate than I first anticipated.

Centerparcs
For instance, in the Centerparcs website it uses the rule of thirds initially, and I then realised its made up of a lot of grids. As it is a complex site, which needs to be read easily due to the nature of the booking system, this is done for a functional and usability reason, as it isn't necessarily the most attractive design. However, none of the navigation bars are lined up the content which to me was strange, because this is something I notice usually in websites.

Wythe Hotel
The Wythe Hotel website was probably the most easiest to figure out because it is very symmetrical and linear, which makes for a very easy to understand website which is why I like it.

Navigation
This is how you get from one page to another on a site, and find your way through the different links.

I created a flow chart for my own website, and when I was doing it I was thinking about the amount of pages that I want to include. Is it too many pages? Should I focus on one part of it for my website? Or is this just right for the kind of website it is?

We discussed as a small group the common and uncommon conventions in terms of navigation:

There are a few rules we follow when creating navigation for a website. For example, the nav bar is typically at the top of the page, because its where the user can first see, and sometimes it is on the left because we read left to right.