Visual Display of How Their Service Works
If you go to the ‘How It Works” page you will see a format that is more common in today’s websites – especially websites aimed towards a younger demographic. Instead of a standard page of paragraphs piled on top of each other, with images sprinkled throughout the page you will notice a lot of space is taken up from visual cues such as “Step 1”, “Step 2” and “Step 3”.
In a span of 10 seconds you can get an idea of how this service works whereas, in the past, you would have seen a simple page with endless rows of text talking about how their service works and why you should use them. Today, when aiming towards a young demographic, you want to get to the point and capture their attention. This page does just that.
Interactive Javascript Menu
On the homepage you will notice a rocket with circulate images surrounding it. Put your mouse over one of those circles and you will notice a text tooltip appear. This feature allows visitors to see what kinds of gift cards they can purchase (these are categories) before seeing what options are available for each category. Unlike yesterday’s websites this method is built for all mobile browsers, as it uses Jquery and html, instead of something cumbersome like Adobe Flash.
Unique Footer Design
If you scroll down you will notice a pattern of ‘waves’ on the footer. This is a unique styling element that the designers felt fit the theme and color of the website while breaking from the traditional ‘block design’ you see so often. Like most Web 2.0 sites it is important to keep the style as unique as the service you offer and Gift Rocket does a tremendous job of that.
Summary
Take a look throughout the website and try to find other Web 2.0 websites that fit this trend. See if you can take any inspiration from them for your next project. Pay close attention to how icons and navigation, powered by Html5/Css3/Jquery, do the ‘heavy lifting’ animation that used to be reserved for Flash.
Magento Development Lead
