I’m taking an online course on design and usability from P2PU.

Discussion point 1: Give an example of a site that has translated badly to mobile format.

http://www.sensisoft.com/ – because it is fully made in flash which is not supported by almost all mobile browsers.

Discussion points 2: Pick two websites, one as a good and one as a bad example. How do graphics affect your usage of these sites? Are they obtrusive? Do they have “ad-like” graphic elements that you have ignored? If yes, were they intended as content? How do you think that affects your experience?

Bad example: http://www.mmiarch.com/
I find this website to be poorly designed. It is not easy to figure out what the site is about. All the images look like ads and that I tend to ignore yet these images represent important menu elements. This makes me feel lost and confused.

Good example: http://www.nairobiliving.net/
I find the site to be well designed. Most of the images on the site are definitely ads and I tend to ignore them but this does not affect my usage of the site because I can easily find what I am looking for.

Discussion points 3: Pick two websites, one as a good and one as a bad example. How do the colors affect your usage of these sites? Run each through a color blindness test (#10 in the reading list has several linked). How did they do?

Good example: http://www.kenyanlistings.com/ I find the colour combinations to be attractive and well contrasted. The site did well on the colour blindness test – it was still somewhat attractive and one could find information relatively easily.

Bad example: http://www.mikemunga4makadara.com/
This website is a sad green. I feel that the colour green (and bad shades of it) have been overused. I can easily get around the site but the colours are off-putting. When ran through a color blindness test, the site is seen as a dull green, making it worse.

Discussion points 4: Pick two websites, one as a good and one as a bad example. How do fonts affect your usage of these sites? Are they obtrusive? Do they use graphics for text? How do you think that affects your experience?

Bad example: http://www.africanscifi.com/ This iste uses images instead of text. I do not think that this is a good design decision – the site feels rigid and unfamiliar and is difficult to work or move around one.

Good example: http://www.lakelandgroup.net/ the choice of font is superb. The sizes and colours are finely tuned to make the site easy to read.