SITE REVIEW: Curiobot

Hey guys...

My girlfriend and I just launched this site and are hoping for some feedback regarding interface, layout, cross-browser bugs, etc...

http://www.curiobot.net

It's a constantly-updated visual archive of some of the wildest and most wonderful things for sale across the internet. PHP/MySQL-driven with some ajaxy stuff and other miscellaneous DOM-scripting.

Thanks for your feedback!

D

wow i like it! Are you trying to sell these products from the site? or just showcasing them?

Nice idea. The titles on top of the pictures were a bit hard to read and so was the subheading next to the site title, too light, doesn't contrast well with the background. Also scrolling was a bit sluggish for me in Firefox.

Do you get any money for referring users to products that are sold?

It's a good idea, but I think you should organize things better. Arrange them into categories instead of just splashing them across the page.

I agree with tbl that the slogan at the top is hard to read.

The site feels a bit uneasy how there's no real visible container ... you don't really need one, but I guess I'm just used to them.

Another thing that may confuse first timers to the website is the inability to press the back button to go back to the front page when you're looking at an item page. You have to really look for that little 'X' down the bottom. Maybe you should make that more prominent and move it to the top or something.

I like the idea for the site. I think it's interesting and displayed in a nice manner. However upon first clicking on the site I was unsure of what was going on.

You said that it's

But upon first glance I didn't know what it was. Perhaps you should tell your viewers this exact sentence to help them out.

It is also a little difficult to read the text above each of the products that are being displayed.

Nice idea!
When you click filter, you see the product filter, but I think it's more convenient to show it whole the time. Or show the search form all the time.

I do like the "Come In" or "Go Away" doormat.

opinion from newbie :
- need more improvement in layout and design
- add search options
- group the product by category

thanks

I have no choice but to view it in IE6 (work firewall only lets IE6 through), and when I click on one of the images on the "home" page, nothing happens ... So I don't really know what's going to happen, please check if you can sort it out ... and let me know ... maybe when I have time at home I'll try and have a look again ...

What I can say so long is to remove the "Click to activate and use this control" issue ... see this

Very good idea!
Add links directory for links exchange partners.
Andy.

I have to agree, both your slogan and the image titles are very hard to read.

I also noticed that if the title is longer then it can fit into the picture, the last few letters come off the picture and cover the space to the next picture then go behind it. (in Firefox at least) It might not be a big deal, but it would be nice to cut the titles so that they stay on their picture only. Also, I don't think you need all-caps titles.

Second, scrolling on your page is very slow and I'm not sure if you really need the Titles on/off and Width 800/1000 options at the bottom. If you could eliminate these options and make the page run smoother I think you would get a good compromise.

And one note on the images: I noticed you used the same quality on all of your pictures. While this is good for complex pictures, you will notice that simple pictures (e.g. the BaloonLamp) will look pixelated. I suggest you define the quality of the images in such a way that all of the will get to approximately the same size (3.5-4k)

Other then that, I really liked the idea of your site. I think it will work great for you, but don't forget that you need to update a lot. If you will start getting regular visitors, they will probably want a new full list each day. You would be best off if you could pull that

Good luck!

A good idea... I also like how it is valid...

Its a great start, modern and clean but the site's extremely crowded. I recommend spacing everything out a little more and giving things space to breathe. There's nothing wrong with the images themselves, in fact some of them are very nice, however bunched together they cause visual confusion. (The human brain tries to group like objects to give the eye a way to rest). I think there are several ways to solve the problem. One is to provide a background for the content that is different from the site background and add more space between individual images. Other options would be to place fewer images on the page or allow some sort of filter system to decrease the overwhelming feeling.

Here are some examples that I personally think solve the problem.
http://store.mediumcontrol.com/store.cfm?SubCatID=1
http://www.youworkforthem.com/list.php?cat=4
http://www.etsy.com/index.php
http://coudal.com/swapmeat/swappedthumbs.php

ok I love this site. I love the idea, I love the layout, I don't even think it needs any grouping or anything. (maybe it will when you have more products though)

but why oh why can I not click on anything? I tried clicking on the thumbnails or the products names - nada. whassup with that?

I like your site design and concept your choice of colors

categorize your products

well any how i have learnt not to clutter many things in one page rather it confuses visitors, focus on one or few things

Product details shoud be there may be i was not able to get anything when i clicked on images it showed error on status bar( maybe javascript error)

now i do not bring everything on equal levels
some products hosuld get more weightage like popular items, new items, most viewed item etc.

over all color choice and layout thing looks good that you have done a great job

Hey guys. Wow. Thanks for the very thorough review.

I've made many changes according to the feedback I've received from this forum and others. Check out the revised site here: http://www.curiobot.net

A few general responses:

-Yes, we use affiliate programs when applicable to take a commission off of subsequent product sales. Products are admitted to the database regardless of affiliate program status though.

-I'm afraid that I know about the site's bug with IE6 (righteous_trespasser, celandine)... booo. Too much DOM scripting I'm afraid... I've jslinted the javascript and stuff... but can't find the mistake... I'll get it eventually... and post again when it's fixed. Gotta be some event function returning a value IE doesn't like.

-I decided to keep the density of images. As much as I am aware of all that graphixboy wrote, I don't mind visual density, and I think the sort of where-do-I-look-first theme works well with the site's concept. I did, however, reduce the number of images shown per page.

Thanks again. More feedback encouraged regarding the newest version of the site!

D