Critically Evaluating my Website

Now I have completed all my pages. Now I am going to answer these questions therefore, I can understand my mistakes and issues. Moreover, I can do any changes prior to the completing of  my website.

 Planning stage:

● What were your initial ideas for creating a website? style / name / template

My initial idea for creating a website is to represent my work in Architecture as my continuation route is Architecture. I wanted to showcase my work as a single booklet which contains all the details. I selected elegant and minimalist architectural template because I wanted my website to be simple, clear, detailed and easy to be accessible to my audience.

● Do you have a tagline on your website?

Research: When I research about taglines of websites, I understood that "tagline" defines the catchy lines or  phrases in a website. To be honest, in my website I did not add any tagline . But I have added subheading to my website.

● Which designers / artists (relevant to your continuation route) websites did you

look for inspiration?

My continuation route is Architecture .Therefore, I researched about talented  Architects who are related  to my project . My main theme is a combination of "Traditional Sri Lankan" and "Modernism" architectural style. I mainly researched about "Geoffrey Bawa" who was an architect focused on "Traditional Sri Lankan " architectural style and " Modernism". Apart from him, I researched about " Frank Lioyd" who was a theorist of Understanding the nature. These architects were great examples  for me because of their working style, techniques and mindset.(“Unseen Glimpses inside Geoffrey Bawa’s Lunuganga Estate in Sri Lanka,(Foreman )  Moreover, I looked for "Zaha Hadid" and "Santiago Calatrava" s website for the inspiration for the organizing my website. Specially, I did a comparison between their website in order to understand about creating, organizing and continuing a website. However, their website were my initial inspirations to creating my website.(Zaha Hadid Architects), (“Projects (Thumbnails) - Santiago Calatrava – Architects & Engineers”).

● How many pages did you want to make on your website and why? Did that

change as you progressed onto the research / designing stage?

Content: First, I wanted to make four pages such as home, contact, portfolio and  about me page . However, throughout the process I completed all my pages, added more details and  and edited them according to my preferences . However, throughout my progression , I added more pages such as sub pages  as well.

● What is the purpose of your website?

The main purpose of my website is reaching towards the audience and attract my audience easily and in a pleasant way. I focused on organizing my website which is detailed, short, clear and simple . I added " contact page" to reach us easily and added " portfolio page " to showcase my work therefore, I am able attract my audience and reach towards my customers. I mainly focused on their preferences while organizing my website. 

● Who are your potential website users?

 My potential  website users are mid aged people who have kids. Specifically, I focused on families with two kids because my project is a holiday cottage which mostly suits for a family.

● Why do you think it is important to have a digital portfolio website?

It is very important to have a digital portfolio website, it allows us to successfully showcase our work , skills and talents through a digital portfolio. It is the way that we can reach towards the audience with our works without physically . Moreover, it is possible to engage with the audience from anywhere. Not only that but also most of the people try to access through online, so it is vey important to have a digital portfolio as an architecture student.

Design:

● Which design elements / tools did you use? (e.g.: infographics, fixed header,

static background image, navigation menu design, text boxes, image galleries,

social media feed) and why?

In my website , I used "site theme "color palate which contains beige and light blue colour . Then, I added the static header and footer too .  And for the background I added an image of an architectural building which fills the homepage. And I added navigation menu buttons on the header section so my audience can easily access to my work. Moreover, I added text boxes and image galleries to showcase my work and added social media to get in touch with my work and contact me .

● Which template did you use in Wix and why?

I used architecture template as my continuation route is Architecture. I selected simple and minimalist template which suits for my project. 

● How many pages does your website have and why?

Navigation: In my project I have four pages such as home, contact page, portfolio and about me page. But I will add sub pages to my portfolio pages so the audience can find my work from there.  

● Does your website have working social media icon links?

Yes, I added social media icons such as Blogger and Instagram icons in my header section and I checked whether the link work in the website. And the links work too. I added social media icons because it is easy for the audience to get in touch with my work.

● Are your pages connected / interlinked?

Not yet, I did not complete connecting the pages but I added a subpage for my portfolio page and connected it . 

● Is it easy to navigate?

Yes, It is easy to navigate the website as all the buttons and the navigation menu work well. and the navigation menu is appeared in the top of the header section . Therefore, it is easy to navigate for the audience and get in touch with all the details.

● Does the “Contact” page / email link work?

Testing (this will be completed in week nine):yes, it does work

● UX (user experience) testing – get your partner to view your website on their

mobile or other digital platform.

● Ask your blog buddy for feedback on your blog.

● If your website is not working on a mobile platform, you will need to go back to

the Wix Editor and check that you have enabled the mobile view.