Peer review conducted on November 1, 2022. Link to peer-reviewed website: http://kobesam.ca/
First Impressions
Kobe has chosen to use the “Astra” theme for his website. The theme is highly customizable whether you use WordPress or Elementor as the tool to customize the website which makes it a desirable theme for many. I have to admit, I may be a bit biased since I have chosen the same theme for my website, but I love the simplicity of it and how modern it makes the website—I believe Kobe is trying to go for the same vibe.
Since the website lands right onto a collection of recent posts I am drawn straight to his content. I think this was an effective way to force his viewers to dive right into what he has to say.
He has created four main categories to organize his content and clearly portrays them at the top of his website for readers to click into what part of Kobe’s life they are interested in.
Design Elements
+ are the positives
! are suggestions for improvement
Color
+ The colour scheme of the website mostly consists of different shades of blue, shades of white, and black. I like how he is consistent with his colour scheme where the navy background ties nicely in with his website logo (the portrait of himself). A simple but effective design choice that work together in unity.
Typography
+ When clicking into the posts, Kobe does a good job utilizing headings by increasing text size and bolding the text when necessary to emphasize the hierarchy of importance. It really makes it clear what the title of the post is and the associated headings.
! I would suggest Kobe to change the text colour of his posts to black, rather than the grey-ish colour he has right now. I believe that if the text colour was changed to black, it would be clearer for readers.
! In his “About Me” page, his “Values” section has a white highlight behind it and is not bolded like the rest of his headings on the page. Definitely some inconsistency there, but I am sure that it was just a minor oversight that can easily be changed.
Layout
+ As previously mentioned, the layout of the homepage is simple and modern. All categories are effectively laid out on the top menu bar and his content is right front and centre on the homepage, allowing readers to be drawn to the main purpose of the website—that is, exploring Kobe Sam’s life.
! While I don’t mind the simplicity of the website, people may disagree with me and prefer to have more visual elements to look at. No photos or animations can be found on the homepage which may deter people exploring further of what the website has to offer. I would suggest Kobe to add some visual elements to draw more visitors to his site.
! Some aspects on the menu bar have no content, specifically “Leadership” and “My Toolkit.” This is just a light-hearted reminder as I know that these pages are still a work in progress for him.
Social Media Integration
! Currently Kobe has not provided any social media integration into his website.
Site Structure
+ Kobe does a good job of organizing his content into four main categories. When clicking into the category, readers know the main topic of the post. For example, in the Entrepreneurship tab, he has placed his post called “Casey Neistat | Inspirational Entrepreneurs” which talks about the life of an entrepreneur. And he has placed “30 Minutes: Managing a 99 Hour Work Week” in the Lifestyle tab where he talks about his own personal life.
Usability
+ Very good work here with keeping accessibility in mind for all readers on your page. Although I should not be commenting on the content of Kobe’s page, I wanted to take a piece out of one of his process posts, Regarding the Design of Kobesam.ca where he made it explicitly clear how he is addressing the usability of his website, “Perceivable: All media has alt-text and the website can be read by screen-readers. Operable: The website is entirely navigable by keyboard. Understandable: All posts are written in plain language and any complex terms are defined before use. Robust: The website is compatible and friendly to all devices.”
Conclusion
Overall, excellent job with your design elements so far Kobe! I hope you take this feedback as constructive criticism rather than me just complaining about little things! I am aware that sometimes the chosen theme limits you from making certain design element changes. If this is the case, then definitely do what you can and work with what the theme allows you to do. What you have is a great foundation and I am looking forward to learning more about your life from your website in the near future!
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