Klik launches Gecar Website

Klik recently launched the Gecar website, a product catalog and online store showcasing their latest and hottest products such furniture accessories, hardware, and jewelry. The site is the first to be powered by the Klik CMS with e-commerce support. You can check out the site here.

Wireframes, a basic design requirement

Wireframing is a method usually done by professionals employing User-Centred Design (UCD) measures to a website. Well I say, it is very important to any design as a basic requirement.

Most of the designers jump up to photoshop and do the visual layouting of the pages. One biggest mistake here is you are more or less finalizing the look-and-feel of the webpage, and the problem with that is you are not sure yet whether or not the clients likes it even if you have decided on the color schemes to use. You can't always be sure and my main concern here is that you're putting the layout structure in danger. In case the client doesn't like the effect of the color scheme, there's a big probability that the layout structure could also get disapproved and you'd be just wasting your whole time.

So the best thing to do is follow the best practices of wireframing and have your layout structure approved by your client before putting any color schemes.

Usability + Direct-Experience Branding

I read Jared Spool's article about Branding and Usability and he made an interesting comparison between the two basic techniques of branding: direct experience and indirect messaging.

He stated there that with direct-experience branding, users attribute emotions directly. However, for those marketing campaigns where users can't have direct experience, they need to use indirect messaging with the use of slogans, TV commercials, magazine ads, billboards, or even sponsoring events that helps promote the brand. Sad to say, he did not talked about usability much in conjunction with branding, but nonetheless, discoursed what the true meaning of branding is to the web. Spool also sampled websites like Ebay, Ford, and Edmund and which branding strategy they take for their website.

Since the nature of websites is interactivity, there will always be a direct experience. And it's important to note that designers should focus on building on top of that rather than keeping more busy with too much graphics and falling short of user experience. As you can see, direct-experience branding and usability has a common objective - it's all about users and achieving the best user experience. So it seems the two are the perfect strategy to take when designing a successful website.