Wednesday, September 12, 2007

YogaYoga.com

This website provides an array of information about a chain of yoga studios and services offered in Austin. The first studio was started by a married couple in January 1998 on S. Lamar, and has grown to four very popular studios throughout Austin.

Audience:

Anyone in Austin or in the surrounding areas looking to take a yoga class, sign up for a workshop, become a yoga teacher, or buy products relating to yoga or overall health and well being.

Content:

The site includes:a list of the studios and their physical locations of course, the back story to how Yoga Yoga was started, contact information, a class schedule, a description of each type of yoga available, a list of teachers and their resumes, special event date and times, online shopping, and info on their famous tea, and information for students looking to become a certified teacher, or already certified teachers looking to teach for Yoga Yoga.

Consistency of Design:

The design seems a bit strange to me, but I have to admit, I'm so new to critiquing web designs that I'm not sure I can put my finger on it. There are usually two or three ways to get to a piece of information on this website. For instance, you can click on the left hand side menu to choose a schedule for a specific studio, or click "classes" on the top menu bar that goes from left to right to get to the same information, but you have still have to choose the studio you want to see.

Some of the listed information seems like it's in the wrong place. For instance "Beginner series" can be found on the left hand vertical menu right after rates and above the schedules. But then there is also a link right in the center of the page that directs newcomers to this beginner's series, or you can find out about it under "workshops." All the other links on the left hand menu of the home page are more administrative information, so this link seems out of place. As you click on the top menu, the left hand menu changes....Something I found really random is the link for "class etiquette" can be found under "workshops" and "classes," but not under the home page or "studios." Seems like this is more administrative information that belongs on those pages though...

Ease of Navigation:

One thing I really don't like, is when you're clicking on a hyperlink that takes you to the class schedule, you're routed to a completely different address that opens another window and does not allow you to just use the "back" button with your mouse to return to the previous page. You have to click on the "www.yogayoga.com" link provided on the page or switch pages by using alt/tab, or navigating the mouse on your computer's bottom screen. This really annoyed me the first time I used this website....took me a bit to figure out what had happened.

Although there's a place where you can sign in and check the status of your account (customers are given a plastic member card when they buy a package of classes), it seems as though it needs to be in a much more obvious place. Right up at the top it should say "MANAGE MY ACCOUNT" or "LOGIN" and a space for your User ID and password. Most frequent visitors probably just want see how many classes they have left, or want to add more before their next visit.

If you didn't look a bit further, or didn't have any need to see the class schedule, you would miss the shopping options on the website. You have to be linked up to their class schedule on the secondary website to look through their online store--I couldn't find it any other place. Not good. They might lose some business for random web browers just checking out the yoga scene that stumble onto their page. If the internet user doesn't live in the area, or have any need to actually check the schedule, they miss the opportunity to still give their business to the company.

Overall:

Although I complained about it a lot, the sight is very useful for its regular students, and I like that there is a link about their tea and a recipe for it. They have the best tea EVER! Everyone gets a small cup of tea when they come out, and it's the main reason I kept going back when I first started with the studio!

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