When I first entered the Damashi website, I was rather impressed with the clarity and simplicity of the home page. The links are in plain English, and self explanatory. It loaded fast, and though rather plain by some standards, is not unattractive.
Damashi Peer Review – Visual Design Problems
The biggest problems with the Damashi web site are visual. (And the fact that I couldn’t access the shopping cart due to 404 – Object Not Found errors.) The site contains a distinct market niche of which the owners are clearly experts. The products are logically organized, and combination specials are displayed when a user views either of the components. Normally I am not in favor of alphabetical listings of products, but in this case the listing is not overwhelmingly long enough to make a negative impact.
Damashi Peer Review – Needs Drama, Atmosphere
When one thinks about karate, he thinks of action, suspense, precision and that “oriental flavor” that is only evident in this art form. However, when I visited the website Damashi: Traditional Karate Videos and Books (www.damashi.com) I don’t get that action or “oriental flavor” that may draw me to the site to purchase videos about karate.
Damashi Peer Review – Short Comments
Because while all comments aren’t long, they are all potentially useful.
Damashi Peer Review – Make It Easier To Find Products
My first thought as I look up here is “Oh my gosh! How confusing!” At second look I CAN see where to go and find things but perhaps a separator from buttons and text using a pale color would be nice. The white background has got to go.
Damashi Peer Review – Only Keep What’s Relevant
I always try to find a positive in every site…and I think DAMASHI has a good start with solid, to-the-point content and a interesting product concept. Here are my suggestions to improve this good site:
Damashi Peer Review – Make It Appealing To Customers
This site is not terrible, but it could certainly use some enhancements. The navigation is not intuitive and the content is not conveniently laid out. Trying to read it is difficult because of the different font sizes and colors.
Damashi Peer Review – Provide Background Information
It’s a pretty good site; these comments are more about turning a good site into a great site, not correcting major flaws.
Damashi Peer Review – Keep Visitors Coming Back
In this review we will address the utility of the site for e-commerce and not the design itself; recognizing however, that the two are not easily separated in practice. We will also focus principally on the opening page and the overall site concept.
Damashi Peer Review – Spruce Up The Code
The first thing I do, is view the source file to see if good and proper Meta data is present. Brian appears to have done a good job of including this at the top of his file, making it search-engine friendly.