EPJ Web Site Critique #1: MediaStorm

For this assignment, I chose to look at MediaStorm’s Web site. I think the site is very effective in terms of content, interactivity and design. The content of the site seems appropriate and is understandable. It seems pretty current for the most part, with suggestions like “Become a fan on Facebook” and “Follow us on Twitter” in addition to user tweets and facebook activity posted towards the bottom of the homepage. There are also current blog posts and press articles, as well as a calendar with upcoming events. The one section that seems to be a little bit behind is the projects. There are a few recent ones but a majority are from previous years and some even go back to 2006. It would be nice to see some more current projects and maybe have a separate archive page where users can view older ones if they want to.

Overall, the site is really easy to navigate around, and it seems pretty user-friendly. There a TON of links throughout the site but for the most part they are clear and easy to find. However, the way the three main tabs “publication,” “clients,” and “training” are set up kind of bothers me because you have to click on each of them first to see their subheads. Personally, I like it when you can just put your mouse over the tab without clicking and then a small list appears with options to click on. That way before I click on the tab, I know if I’m looking in the right place for something. Dead ends also pretty frequent throughout the site, with many pages set up so the user has no other way to go back other than using the back button on the browser. However, I really like how the site embeds their projects so the user can start and stop the file on the same page. We talked in class about how important it is that the files don’t start playing automatically, for this frustrates users and often results in them leaving the site.

I think the design of the site is what I like best about it; it is so well organized with its clear and user-friendly layout. The colors and graphics are clean and simple, definitely not overwhelming. Overall the site looks very professional, and I’m highly impressed with its content, interactivity and design.