National Oilwell Varco Websites Problem Analysis

Summary

This website works well as far as the mechanics go, and it could be quite attractive if it were not so dark. I think the background should be lightened to dark charcoal instead of black. I know that red and black are the logo colors, but they do not work well in such a large space. The logo and trim could stay the original colors and then the dark charcoal would look good and the blue, which now looks too dark, would look better. The videos need improving and the arrangement of the site is excellent, even though the labels do not always match what is found.

Navigation

The navigation of the site is easy for the most part. However, the Home link says NOV.com instead of Home. The links all work, but some content is disappointing or misleading. The catalog goes to a simple list of links, very small and not the catalog at all, but a download link. It could just as easily be labeled Download Catalog and skipped the second page. The videos play in very small windows and I could not get the sound to work. I tried redownloading and installing Adobe Flash Player, but it still did not work. My system is pretty good, and the sound works elsewhere, so it is probably something peculiar to these videos, which are made mostly in AutoCAD. They look nice and the designer took care to put in all the details, so it would be nice if I could see them clearly in a larger window.

Consistency

The site is consistent. The look and feel are established well enough that the user knows they are still on this site. The logo is usually present, not too large or too small. The catalogs are well done, especially the archived catalogs, which do not have to be downloaded to view. The link that says NOV Merchandise is also a link to their products. The first page under this link is the confusing one which looks like download links. They need to have boxes to match the rest of the site.

Clarity

The purpose is pretty clear, especially if the user knows about this company. The site provides a lot of information about the company and its products, company and industry news, and the purpose of the products. The link labeled Cor4porat Overview should be labeled All About US because it is considerably more than a mere corporate overview. It covers the company, the structure, the products, history, and a lot more. This was a very interesting section, but it might be missed by a user not want to know about corporate things, but only about the company and its products. I expect a lot of people miss this section.

Legibility

There is nothing wrong with the writing of the content. Even a novice or a non-engineer can understand the descriptions and the articles. Most of it is written in non-technical language with the technical terms defined or indicated by labels. This makes it very interesting to read. This is some of the best writing for a mechanical engineering-type site I have seen. The experts will not be bored by simplistic writing, and the non-engineers will not be overwhelmed.

Conclusions

This site is full of great information and it is easy to find what you need. However, the best information is hidden under inadequate labels and the videos did not work right. The videos were too small and the sound did not work. I did not like the color scheme, even though it matched the corporate logo. The black background is just too dark. I would prefer dark charcoal. A lot of care has been taken with this site. A little change would make it an excellent example of a corporate site for oil well engineering products.