January 08, 2007

Our Review of Correct Craft's New Web Site

As mentioned in a previous post, Correct Craft has updated their Web site for the 2006-2007 model year. In previous years, Correct Craft fans, prospective customers, and general enthusiasts waited with baited breath to see what color scheme they would use to re-skin their Flash brochureware Web site. That is such a snarky and cynical expectation, but one that was developed over nearly 7 years of seeing the same sort of Web presence from a company that is considered to be the one of the finest tow boat manufacturers in the world. It was just such a curious mismatch.

But they got it right this time. We're not sure if this is because Terry Dunagin and her brilliant Marketing team listened to the advice of real Web professionals, or because this is some kind of one-off experiment. Regardless, the reasons we like it are numerous - and as I sit on a plane heading for Orlando, hyper caffeinated and ready to write, yet without a Web connection - I am going to do my best to review the site right here and now, working from the 23 screenshots I took of Correct Craft's Web site last night.

This review will be broken into several categories. These are the same ones that I have criticized them, and their competitors, of getting wrong in the past. These categories are design, navigation, content, and overall user experience from the perspective of a person who is a Web Developer and Designer, Correct Craft owner and nerd.

Design
Certainly this is a more subjective category, so let's get is out of the way first.

We like the design. Simply put, it is sufficiently current and as overall compositions, each page on the site looks good, as framed within the header, footer, and left nav areas. It is proudly centered and it employs many of the design elements seen on the Web these days, such as slight color gradients, textured patterns and rounded corners. Although common, these elements work well together and Correct Craft has assembled them well and to be honest there is nothing wrong with using common elements as long as they are nuanced uniquely enough by a good designer. We like the gray and black (and points in-between) color scheme, because when the body pages are decorated by a brilliant photo of one of their boats, the focus is on the boat: and that is where it is supposed to be.

They also addressed one of the more glaring issues with the previous versions of their site: high-resolution images. Within the Air, Crossover, and Ski categories, there are striking images that provide plenty of visual detail about each boat, and there are images that show people in and around the boats - and that provides scale. For example, many manufacturers are hesitant to show people in the bow area of their boats because open-bow wake boats that are based on slalom boat hulls, these areas tend to be small and poorly apportioned. Correct Craft isn't afraid of showing off their boats in this way. And they shouldn't be.

Navigation
With sections that are named appropriately, navigating any Web site becomes a far easier endeavor. In the past, Correct Craft has made their site difficult to due to their use of confusing section labels. The site is now clearly labeled, and I had no issues locating the material I always want to find when I visit the new version of their site.

They even added footer navigation. A breadcrumb system would have been appreciated, almost as much as a site map. But the site doesn't have very deep levels of navigation and this mitigates the need for tertiary navigation elements that assist users in orienting themselves within the overall site structure.

Content
Initially the reaction in the community indicated disappointment with the breadth & depth of the actual content of the site. For a site like Correct Craft's though, we have to consider what the definition of content is. For a site like Correct Craft's, content is delivered through things like images, manuals, news. And so from that standpoint - the content is extremely solid. Most of the primary and secondary-level pages are filled with new material. Before describing it as slim, please consider the alternative. We'd rather see new content, even if it is brief, than a copy & paste from an old iteration of a page or brochure. We found the online manual to The Wakeboard Report's 2001 Super Air Nautique easily, and due to an unfortunate glass cleaner explosion last summer that took the life of our original owner's manual, we now have a handy replacement. We found it in 2 clicks from the index page.

Also we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the Build a Boat feature. I have to remind this audience that may not remember that not unlike the wakeboard tower - Correct Craft did this first. Despite the potential cost of such a complex piece of Flash, the build a boat feature is an element of the site that almost certainly results in a few Web-only sales conversions per year. In other words, there are probably a few boats that are designed, configured and optioned in this application and purchased - all over the Web. Many others use it as a way to visualize the boat of their dreams. In the automotive industry, this type of customization tool has been around for almost as long as Flash itself - but Correct Craft was first to bring it to the towboat industry. They remain leaders in the delivery and implementation of this type of tool. And incase you were wondering how I want my Super Air Nautique 220 to look - well, wonder no more.

Overall User Experience
The usability quirks I encountered were minor - and primarily related to a browser compatibility issue found on a few pages where large images that are offered on the boat detail pages. The issue is that when the mouse pointer is placed over a thumbnail, the cursor changes to the pointing finger Web standard that indicates an active link in Internet Explorer only. Donning the nerd glasses for a moment - this is because there is a piece of JavaScript that they are using to produce the enlarged version of a given image. We would rather have seen a popup here. That Javascript could be fixed in about 10 minutes. Hey Correct Craft - wanna give me edit access to the domain?

We would have liked them to consider the initial rendering of the home page, or even consider the following advice: Despite being less important on body pages within a site, the home page should fit within a specific standard, and that standard is somewhat of a moving target right now so there are a few options. Web giants like CNET.com are pushing the envelope with their recent change to a 1000 pixel wide home page. Judging by the pile of small CRT monitors that I see every week at the dump, and by the analytics tool that I use to monitor The Wakeboard Report and The2001.com, it is reasonable to consider 1024x768 the average screen resolution today, not 800x600 (because 1024x768 is a common native resolution on flat-panel monitors and those things are absolutely everywhere except my desk. But the home page is too tall for either standard, and this would be best fixed by reducing the height of the Flash element on the home page. At nearly 400 pixels high, this is generous but should be reduced to allow the "Experience Our Boats" banners and the vertical featurette to the right of the banners to be seen. We're not fans of the "above the fold" argument, within any other context but the home page. It would be phenomenal to see them fix this.

We've worked with many Web agencies, and assume that Correct Craft does not have an internal large team of Web designers and developers; so we assume they used an agency for this. It appears that the agency advocated for the users of Correct Craft's Web site, rather than appeasing internal politics and the personal opinions of someone unfamiliar with the Web. Whoever it was did an incredibly competent job both in delivering the new site and in advocating for this type of approach.

Conclusion
We're so glad to see Correct Craft put out something like this. In 2007, a Web site should be considered an evolving project - not one that can be stamped out once a year and never touched thereafter. It looks like Correct Craft has adopted this philosophy, and for their part - by providing a site structure like this, they've made it easier to update, easier to add new sections, and reduced the hassle of developing upon existing sections.

We're giving this site, an A. And in terms of the distance that they have traveled - the leap that they have made in their 2007 iteration from their 2006 iteration - an A+. Speaking from experience here - it is difficult to change the mindset of all stakeholders involved to do something that is such a departure from the norm.

Posted by erik