Hannah

Schepler
ENC4416
11/29/16
Prof. Martin
Web Audit of Ripleys Believe it Or Not! Website
1. Introduction

The Ripleys Believe it Or Not! is an extensive brand that has many branches and functions
within its entertainment niche. With multiple popular publications, and various physical
attractions world wide, it is no wonder that the Ripleys Believe it Or Not! website,
Ripleys.com, is a wealth of information about anything anyone wants to know about this
oddball company. However, the more extensive the website, the more extensive the
content, and the higher the potential for issues. And, as seasoned as Ripleys is as a
corporation, it is not immune to these issues. Of the many issues that exist on the website,
this audit will focus on reviewing them through the following points:

Usability: that is how easy the website is to use and maneuver for visitors, and
overall organization.

User experience: the aesthetics of the website, how well it flows and meets the
needs of visitors.

Through examining these points, the questions that I want to address in this audit are, how
well this website appeal to the chosen audience, and how well does it fulfill its intended
function. Due to the massive amounts of information housed on this website, there were a
lot of items to be found.

2. Summary of Findings

With well over 500 pages on Ripleys.com, according to XML-Sitemaps.com, there is

no shortage of content or information for even the most knowledge thirsty visitor.
Ripleys.com has no shortage of issues within its site, but at first glance, offers a very
familiar color palate to the user that identifies it as a classic Ripleys Believe it Or Not!
product. The mapping of this website is extensive, and the menu functions leave much to be
desire, with two menus that offer some duplicate tabs, a view can get lost in the navigation.

The multi-purpose function of the website allows it to hold a lot of information

about many different things. With a large blog function for the entertainment side of the
website, the extensive amounts of blog posts is a given, and is a naturally occurrence for
blog. Following Halversons example (55), I will use a scale of 1-5 to further examine these
issues in context of usability, user experience, and objective, with a higher score being
better.
3. Analysis of Findings

One of the main issues that present itself within Ripleys.com is that there seems to

be an identity crisis. The content, though organized, is topically across the board, so much

so that it is difficult to pinpoint what exactly the website is purposed for and what it is
trying to accomplish. It awkwardly houses a lot of information pertaining to the Ripleys
Believe it Or Not! brand, as well as a extensive blog. The issues is not that the website
should not have this all of this information, but rather that it should hold it a lot better.
3.1 Navigation and Content Organization

The website is menu heavy, giving the view two options for navigation that

essentially do exactly the same thing. The layout of these menus suggest that the site may
not be the optimum design for what I perceive to be the purpose of the website. The layout
in general is visually, a lot to look at, and is a big distractor for the content.

As the website is menu heavy, thus is it also content heavy. And as was discussed in

previous sections, the extensive amounts of content is to be expected coming from the blog
aspect of the website. Nonetheless, it is important for the other functions of the website to
keep a regular eye on the more static pages. While no page seems to be out of date
currently, the danger is that the content will become too much for all functions to be held
on one site. This will eventually become and issue and affect the usability for users, which

will eventually have an impact on the viewership of the website. First impressions are
important, and it may be time to consider that Ripleys could make a better one.
Usability: 3
User Experience: 2
3.2 Store and Advertisement

Another content issue that could potentially be distracting the viewer from the

content is that while the Ripleys brand does offer products, primarily in the form of books,
it does not have its own in house shop for visitors to purchase merchandise from. A
single box on the home page in the form of an ad links to Amazon.com, where people can
then purchase items. This is one of the only places that links back to Amazon. Additionally,
if users have ad blockers on their web browser, this link will not show up at all, leaving an
oddly place blank white space in the middle of the home page. Such a prominently placed

advertisement leaves the website susceptible to an awkward whitespace in the middle of

the home page, in the event that an ad blocker is in use. This becomes an issue of not only
usability, but also of design aesthetics. This flaw in design throws off the already delicate

balance of the website, and is an issue that could easily be avoided, and is one that must be
addressed.
Usability: 2
User Experience: 1
3.3 Social Media

The Ripleys brand uses nearly all forms of popular social media that are available.

Seen at the top, they have prominent links to each account. Looking deeper into the use of
social media, they post to these accounts in mass. Meaning, there is no unique content
between these media, the same post on Instagram is the same post made on Twitter,
Facebook, and Snapchat. Thus, their social media use, while very active, is lacking in
creativity, unique application, and understanding of each platform. Non-unique and
specific posting to social media can bog down the stream of content for users that follow
the brand across platforms. This will potentially have a negative impact on public opinion
of the brand.
Usability: 5
User Experience: 1
3.4 Color

Another issue that arises along the lines of aesthetics is the color choice. The color

choice used in the banner is one that may be mildly unsettling for the user. Thus, if the
overall design is unattractive, or otherwise visually unappealing, it will effect usability and
will impact the traffic that the website gets.
Usability: 4
User Experience: 2

4. Recommendations

According to an article by Visser about the usability of a website, the purpose of a

website can be broken down as follows:

One can categorise the intentions and motivations for visiting websites as:

exploration

information

entertainment

shopping.
Whatever reasons visitors have for visiting websites, developers create websites for
information, opinion, marketing and/or for financial gain in one way or another.
Website usability (WU) addresses the functional application of information about
visitors ability to interact successfully with that information. Therefore, the goal is
to remove any obstacles that could impede visitors experiences when interacting
with websites (Eisenberg et al. 2008). (Visser, 4)

By looking at the design of the site, it points towards an entertainment purpose, however it
lacks an identifiable purpose. Ripleys.com is doing many things fairly right now, but needs
to decide on one identity and do it well. I recommend fully taking on an entertainment
identity and allow for additional information, as far as attractions, to be directed to regional
web pages.
4.1 Usability

According to Visser, the first impression made through the usability of the website

will undoubtedly affect if the user will ever revisit. Website usability statistics have shown
that there is only a 12% probability that visitors will revisit a particular website. This
shows that, once a website has lost a visitor because of the lack of [website usability], the
visitor is usually lost for good (Nielsen & Loranger 2006). (Visser, 4) The navigation and
pure volume of content is overwhelming and makes for a less than stellar first impression.
This large menu also muddles with the mobile website, making it much less than user
friendly and a very challenging experience.

To increase the usability and overall make a better first impression, the following

should be done:

Only one menu bar

Fewer categories less is more

Smaller drop down menu that doesnt take up the entire screen

Remove the three boxes on first page allow content to be seen without scrolling

Create an in house store, dont send users to an external website

Remove self promoting ads that may be blocked with ad blockers

As detailed by Westerman, design can not only consider the concrete aspects of

usability, but should also consider the abstract. The assessment of abstract attributes is
more subjective and can take the form of design descriptions (e.g., elegant) or refer to the
users psychological states/experiences (e.g., experiencing fun). (Westerman, 457) As is,
there is no hook, I would recommend including a small scrolling highlights box that will
feature clickbate content that would entice the audience to examine the website further.
4.2 User Experience

Making the website more useable will ten fold increase user satisfaction and

experience when interacting with Ripleys.com. However, aesthetically, there remains a lot
that can be done to heighten the experience and make for a more user friendly website.
Chevalier argues that interactive systems should not only be evaluated by usability, but
also with regard to emotional, attractiveness, and aesthetic levels. (117) The color is the
first aesthetic that needs attention.

In many studies done, there have been connections made between color, and

emotion, and what certain colors mean. This is most widely practiced in advertising but

has its place in web design and branding too. In one study done by Li, et al. they had the
following to say about color and its effect on user experience and even usability, A proper
utilization of color in interaction design of user interfaces can promote not only the visual
aesthetic but also the perception of user interface information, which both increases
efficiency and improves user experience in color ergonomics. (Li, 547) The aqua color as it
is now is not the most appealing for user; I would recommend a blue color be used instead.

Social media use also needs to be evaluated. While the functionality of all platforms

is fine, the content is repetitive across the board and is detrimental to user experience.
Each platform should offer its own unique experience to users, based on strengths of the
specific platforms in use. Intentional content needs to be made across the board, or risk
loosing users to dj vu.

Overall, the Ripleys Believe it Or Not! website is passible, and is indeed functional as

it exists right now. However, as has been shown, there are several steps that can be taken
to improve the usability and user experience on Ripleys.com. The site is ok now, but it has
the potential to be amazing.

Works Cited
Chevalier, Aline, Anne-Claire Maury, and Nicolas Fouquereau. "The Influence Of The Search

Complexity And The Familiarity With The Website On The Subjective Appraisal Of

Aesthetics, Mental Effort And Usability." Behaviour & Information Technology 33.2

(2014): 116-131. Applied Science & Technology Source. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

Halvorson, Kristina, and Melissa Rach. Content Strategy for the Web. Berkeley, CA: New

Riders, 2012. Print.

Li, Xia, et al. "Color Association Research On Red-Green Dichromats In The Color

Ergonomics Of User Interface Interaction." Color Research & Application 6 (2016):

547. Academic OneFile. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

Visser, Eugene B., and Melius Weideman. "Fusing Website Usability And Search Engine

Optimisation." South African Journal Of Information Management 16.1 (2014): 1-

9. Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 29 Nov.

2016.

Westerman, Steve J., Samuel Shaerf, Gareth C. Tuck, and Peter H. Gardner. "Structuring

Users' Self-Report Responses To Website Designs." International Journal Of Human-

Computer Interaction 28.7 (2012): 456-471. Applied Science & Technology Source.

Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

"XML Sitemaps Generator." XML Sitemaps Generator. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.