Queen of Puddings

There's nothing quite like a good pudding. Then again, there is nothing quite like a good website. Farmhouse Fare provides me with the best of both. JavaScript libraries are becoming more and more commonly used everyday. Helen Colley's website shows why. The use of mootools and jquery is excellent and for a largely image intensive site - loading time isn't bad at all. The amount of interactivity without the use of flash is such an added bonus and really helps take this site to the top shelf (right next to those puddings!).

Right from the start you can see the designer has put some love into this piece. The box grid has been broken, chopped up and turned upside down (excellent!) and the overall feel of the site has been pulled off really well. A warm "Farmhouse" feel is demonstrated right from older style photos of Grandma Anderson through to the style of kitchen utensils, cup decorations and photo frames. The use of texture is fantastic. Check out the subtle texture on the wall of the house, the wood grain on the cabinet or the snow on the phone box (not too mention all the shadows). Branding is kept consistent which is a definite must. Whole pages change in look and direction but majority of the time the logo is always prominent and in the same place. A big pat on the back for Farmhouse Fare and their puddings. Anyone else getting hungry?

With usability in mind I handed the website address around the office and started to watch a few people drive this thing. They were all really impressed but I did notice some users where left trying to work out how to "make it move to the next bit". They seemed to forget the navigation up top, not that it's drowned out - it looked like they were just really engrossed in the site - either that or hungry! That leaves me to wonder. Would an arrow either side of the screen allowing the user to move from slide to slide hurt that much? Just comforting and gaining trust from the user to the full extent.

Over 50 pudding awards in five years is pretty outstanding (I had no idea there is so many pudding competitions!) but this site certainly wins an award from me. Top notch Design, usability and very attractive pudding recipes wins me over yet again (or could it be that Christmas spirit). Who knows? Merry Xmas, Happy Holidays. See you in 09.

Matt Evans