Site Critique

[stilfx]

The good the bad the not too ugly.. at least I don't think.

My first shopsite: http://www.richardkroll.com/

Where can I improve it?

[stilfx]

Ok, I'm humbled, really. But come on.. I need some negative feedback to help me make it better.

[Jim]

Overall it has a nice clean look. It is wider that what I like to have my browser window open to. There is a lot of wasted space on the left side. If you look at the page Pureology_Hair_Care.html about 40% of the page is blank after you scroll down past the menu. If you were to put the menu under the mini cart content it would make the page narrower and reduce the wasted space. You might also consider putting some "special" below the menu and mini cart to use that space better.

[loren_d_c]

I had the same thoughts as Jim. It looks very nice, but in order to see the all of the pertinent info on the page it seems like you would have to have at least a 17" monitor and have your browser window expanded to the full size of the monitor. Otherwise you would have to scroll horizontally to see stuff on the far right side.

-Loren

[BFChris]

I also agree with what Jim and Loren said. The site has a very nice, clean, modern look overall. I'm not overly concerned about the width of the page (as site stats I've seen for a site I work with show less than 10% of people with monitor resolutions as small as the old 800 x 600 standard), but moreso with the fact that your primary content is what would end up scrolled off the edge of the page in a smaller window.

I hate to see all that wasted space. My 2 thoughts for fixing it: The mini cart at the far left as a third column seems to create the problem. Perhaps you can put it BELOW the left side menu (even in an expanding/collapsing section if you want to get fancy). Or, make it a far RIGHT column so it gets scrolled off the page rather than your product info in a smaller browser window.

[stilfx]

Thanks for the replies!

According to our analytics 9.94% of our users still use 800px wide screen. Down from 14% last year. I'm not too worried about my 1000 wide layout, but a shrink/expand button or min/max width css should be easy enough to employ.

I also think the white space needs to be filled. I just don't have any data on the best approach to the mini-cart. I'm thinking just a simple subtotal approach might be better, now that I have it all up and running?

Has anyone else tested or come to the conclusion of the best way to employ a mini-cart. ie. Fully expanded like mine, partial, subtotal, none at all?