www.cocktailstars.com

**cocktailstars** · 11-04-2004, 03:10 PM

Hi All
I was hoping you would be able to review my site www.cocktailstars.com

It has recently been redesigned by Seb Eynott at www.aottoa.com. We are very pleased with the look etc.

This is a commercial site as we are a premium mobile cocktail bar service.
The site is very important to us to gain new business and therefore am interested in several aspects of its usability:

1. Do you think it is easy to navigate and find information.
2. Is it clear what we do - content wise?
3. Against the advice of Seb I have insisted that the video be embedded directly into the pages - so that visitors have to view the video. This is because the videos are the best way to show people what we do (we have some of the world's best flair (bottle-throwing Tom Cruise style). We have chosen to use Quicktime videos. Some people do not have quicktime installed - do you think there will be any usability problems with the current arrangement?
4. We are aiming at the premium events market, large/prestigious corporate events, celebrity & VIP private parties - do you think the design /feel of the site reflects this?

Any other comments are of course welcome!
Thanks
Kate

Kate O'Neil
CocktailStars 0870 950 55 66
www.cocktailstars.com

**DaveMo~** · 11-10-2004, 08:58 PM

Hi Kate,

Here are some IMOs.

1. Do you think it is easy to navigate and find information. I think it is easy to navigate with one exception, the color of the links (a red on red) is extremely hard to read which could make navigating hard. I didn't find any broken links and the load time was good on all pages except the home page.

Also, the side navigation on the inside pages are white on red and also extremely hard to read. I suggest using a light grey and bold to make it easier to read.

The bottom site map navigation is okay, but I wouldn't make the top and side to match since it's another red on red.

2. Is it clear what we do - content wise? I think it is very clear what you do.

3. do you think there will be any usability problems with the current arrangement? Since the added video makes for a longer load time, I would also suggest it not being on the first page. You could have a link to another page with the video saying something like "See us in action!" Then, you could use the larger size and the video could be better quality. Of course, you may want to put a link for low and high bandwidth users.

4. We are aiming at the premium events market, large/prestigious corporate events, celebrity & VIP private parties - do you think the design /feel of the site reflects this? I think the design and feel of the site makes it seem that you could handle any size event. However, I would change the navigation colors (not the layout) to make it crisper.

I hope that helps.

Dave

**pixelputty** · 11-11-2004, 06:30 AM

Hiya Kate

1. Very nice nav, but DARK.
2. YEP!
3. Good idea, but I won`t download the plugin, maybe this should be done in standard windows media, as many users have the correct pugins on their system and would be able to view the video straight away, remember people can be bone at times and won`t bother, I`m one of them...lol, oh padding is needed next to the player and directions of use.
4. Yes, with small changes as mentioned from myself and other members.

**scotia** · 11-17-2004, 10:02 PM

*WOW*...hiya Kate!....what a GREAT site!....ok, ok, ok, so I DID get taken with the flair tenders...but

Navigation, top nav bar works great for me, easy to use, and neatly done. I admit I got distracted by the content below, but prob just because I was really interested and my attention "flitted around".

Content very precise, explanatory, easy to understand.

Colours, I love the deep red, has a brilliant "new era night club" feel about it, but admit that the text links (good to have 'em) might show up better in a slightly lighter shade.

Video, great to have in there, but quality is poor in places, quicktime is a great program,but many people dont bother with it, and you could simply have that put into a flash file, which would be considerably quicker to download. (and there is a higher percentage of users with this palyer than QT)...

I loved this site, really did, watching the video got me in the party mood, and the music behind it is up to date too...great credit to Seb Eynott.

For me, if I were looking for a premier venue, with style, quirk and good service, yup, Id look seriously at your company.

*smart, funky, enjoyable*....and aint that what your business is about?

cheers, scotia

**brainy76** · 11-18-2004, 03:35 AM

great looking site which describes exactly what it is you do, i may contact you for my next party.

**Lobster** · 11-18-2004, 03:52 AM

My only concern is that some people would have a problem with the flash menu and the quicktime movies. Its a small minority these days but you have to provide alternative viewing methods otherwise you are going against UK law on accessibility. But I notice that your designer has added text links at the bottom of the page so that gets around it to some degree although as someone else mentioned the red on red is hard to read for someone with colour blindness so you should change that.

From an SEO point of view you need to do some work. You page title is too long, you have no description or keywords and the ALT tags on your images could be improved. Although keywords aren't used by Google anymore its worth adding them as they are used by other search engines and also it gives you focus on what words and phrases to use in the body of your text.

Hope this helps
Russ