Arcade.nick.com: Site Structure
The site structure of Arcade.nick.com can be overwhelming at first glance. Due to loud colors and animated graphics the site looks cluttered. However, if the user takes a moment to analyze the website's structure they will recognize its organized and simple layout. The structure of Arcade.nick.com is what the WSG calls a path based website. Horton and Lynch say that in such cases it is often advantageous to use the home page to split the audience immediately into interest groups and to offer them specific, more relevant information in menu pages deeper within the site (Site Design: Home Pages). Arcade.nick.com separates the audience by categorizing games by television shows. As demonstrated in Figure 1.A, there are menus for games by Nick shows and games by Nick Jr. shows.
Figure 1.A
Figure 1.B
While organization and children don't necessarily match in a game of analogies, they match when it comes to website design. The site's organizational framework and easy navigation are essential for adult users and especially adolescent users. Arcade.nick.com accomplishes organization through the use of menus and subsites. Menus further organize the site by sequences, hierarchies, and webs (Site Design: Basic Information). The site's top menu bar is general Nick.com links (Fig 1.B). In the left sidebar, sequences narrow into specific Arcade.nick.com links. There is hierarchy in the sidebar where important links such as arcade home, accounts and the shopping cart are the first menu (Fig 1.A). Hierarchy is also visible in font size. Figure 1.A shows a distinction in font size between the arcade home menu and the games menus. Arcade.nick.com uses a web-like organizational structure providing links within the site and outside links. For example, the right sidebar displays links to the site's top five games. Outside links are displayed at the bottom of the site. A culmination of organization, categorization and menu structure are evidence of what Horton and Lynch call a well-designed site.
Rasia Middleton
CMS 3710
Updated: November 12, 2008