SweetFry- Share, Store and Rate Recipes

21 thoughts on “SweetFry- Share, Store and Rate Recipes”

1. Visit https://sweetfry.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?
   

   I think this website is about cooking and recipe sharing.

   Now go back to the site and comment on various elements of the site.
   

   I like the colors used. Works for what you are doing. I like the main picture for the hot summer recipes. I think you have the right amount of content on your homepage. Maybe you could have a “How it works” video or some way of instructing visitors how to share recipes. It looks simple to search for them in the search bar, but I wouldn’t know how to share without digging around and trying to find it.

   What do you think of the sign up process?
   

   Sign up is straightforward and simple.

   How do you think the site compares to other similar sites/competitors like cooks.com and grouprecipes.com?
   

   Group Recipes.com is similar, but I like your color scheme better and their text is gray and harder to read.
   Cooks.com has a decent site too, but they have a lot of text and smaller font. Too much really.
   I think compared to these two, your site is better.

   Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.
   

   I also like the most viewed, and just searches buttons. It is like we can see what is popular and “trending” as they say on Twitter.
   I found the add recipe feature under the recipe tab. I think it should be easier to find. When I look at the photo section for users, there is only a few photos and the rest are “awaiting photos”. It would make your site look more established if more users were personalizing their profiles.
   I also like the active contest section.

   For the most part, I like your site and did not see any obvious errors or glitches. I get the impression that your site is still fairly new by the “awaiting photo” placeholders. But it looks like it is coming along nicely.

2. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?
   Looks like a social media site for people who want to share recipes.
    
   Now go back to the site and comment on various elements of the site.
   Starting with the home page, I like what you have above the fold. Your simple tagline immediately communicates what the site is about, as does the photo of a meal. You also have a nice splash of color to brighten up the page, although I’ll admit that those particular shades of pink, blue, and green don’t make me think of food. I like that the search bar invites the visitor to jump right into the site.
    
   I also like that you feature a selection of recipes in several categories below the fold, but I’d suggest that you change the categories since the ones you have now aren’t all that useful, I don’t think. For instance, as a user, I wouldn’t really care which recipes were new or recently searched. Instead, I’d be interested in which recipes were good for breakfast or dessert or which recipes were low-cal. So I’d recommend that you get rid of your current categories and replace them with “Breakfast,” “Lunch,” “Dinner,” “Snacks,” “Dessert,” and whatever else you think might appeal to a large segment such as “Low Cal” or “Vegetarian.” You might keep the “Top Rated Recipes” category, as well, since I think people might legitimately be interested in seeing which recipes are tried and true. But why are the “Top Rated Recipes” separated out from the others? You should have just one filmstrip with a tab for each category. That simplifies things. Also, make sure each photo is accompanied by the name of the recipe. You do this in the top filmstrip but not in the bottom one.
    
   I decided to test out your search bar. I typed in “chicken.” This took me to an “Advanced Search” form and displayed my results underneath. There were only two results, but I suppose that’s because your site is new. I didn’t care for the placement of the results under the search form. I’d suggest you feature the results above or alongside the search form. Or you could eliminate the search form entirely and feature just the results. As long as you include a tab that says “Advanced Search,” users should be able to figure out what to do if they want to search further.
    
   The other tab on the search results page was called “Collections.” Out of curiosity, I clicked it, and I was taken to a page with what appeared to be random groupings of recipes. I was disappointed that only one of them was related to my search term, “chicken.” I can’t see what use this tab would be unless I just wanted to browse.
    
   At this point, I attempted to backarrow to my search results, but I was unable to do so. So I clicked “Advanced Search” and was returned to a blank search form. I wasn’t too thrilled about that. I performed the same search again and clicked on one of the recipes in the results. Again, I wasn’t able to backarrow to my search results from the recipe; I got a blank search form. It seems to me there should be some way to return to search results. Otherwise, users will have to conduct a new search every time they click on a result, and that will probably get frustrating fairly quickly.
    
   Finally, I decided to modify my search to see what would happen. You provide a lot of different search filters, which is great, but it would be nice if users could select multiple filters at once. For instance, what if I’m looking for a recipe that I could grill or barbeque or smoke? Shouldn’t I be able to select all those filters? I was also puzzled by your “Category” filters, which included “Breakfast” and “Dessert” but no “Lunch” or “Dinner.” Anyway, I went ahead and added some filters and got…no results. But, as I said before, I suppose that’s to be expected for a new site.
    
   Next, I decided to just browse through your categories. I was happy to see that once I selected a category, the results were arranged alphabetically. I clicked on a few recipes to see how the listings were set up. Bravo! These look really good. I like that each recipe page has a big picture accompanied by the recipe’s “vital stats,” so to speak. You also make it a snap to  take advantage of the social nature of the site with lots of networking features–users can “like” recipes, rate and review recipes, follow each other, and so on. The recipes themselves are laid out very clearly in separate boxes for “Ingredients” and “Instructions.” Looks great!
    
   At this point, I returned to the main tabs on the home page to investigate further. I found that “Recipes” took me to the same pages I had already visited. “People” took me to a database of “Most Followed” and “Newest Users.” To tell you the truth, I’d rather see a search feature that would let me search for users who like the same recipes or methods of cooking that I do. I don’t really care who’s new. I care about finding people who are going to have the kinds of recipes that I like to cook. Finally, I visited your Contests page. Although you only have one contest so far, I was highly impressed with the prize. A thousand dollars for a muffin recipe? Wow! I see, though, that unfortunately it’s a self-promotional marketing contest more than anything else. It would be better if you actually made the recipes and had independent judges choose the winner. Otherwise, it’s just a popularity contest.
    
   My last stop was at your Company pages. These were mostly just forms and legalese, so I skipped most of it, but I did take a minute to read the About Us page and was rather disappointed that it didn’t provide much background.
    
   What do you think of the sign up process?
   I easily located “Sign up” in the upper right corner. I was confused by the term “Email ID.” Shouldn’t it be “Email” or “Email Address”? I thought the rest of your sign-up form was too long. At registration, I don’t want to be bothered with anything other than my user name, password, and email. These other details are things I should be able to fill out at my leisure as part of my profile. I also don’t like that you force me to confirm my registration from my email account. I can’t tell you how much I hate those extra steps if there isn’t a good cause (i.e., if I haven’t given you secure info like a credit card number). I tend to be very reluctant to sign up at new sites, and one of the main reasons is that I don’t want to have to go through these lengthy registration processes…Oh, and now that I’ve signed into my email account, found your email, clicked on the activation link, and clicked your “Activate” button, now I also have to sign in again? Come on! Make it automatic when I click on the activation link. I can’t tell you how annoying stuff like this is!…Oh, great. And now I’m having problems signing into the account…All right, requesting that my password be emailed to me…Going back into my email account and getting the email….Are you kidding?! You reduced my password to 10 digits without informing me of that at sign-up??? Why would you do that? If I wasn’t reviewing this, I would be gone already. Too much hassle!
    
   How do you think the site compares to other similar sites/competitors like cooks.com and grouprecipes.com?
   It looks like Cooks.com isn’t geared toward social networking. Their home page is cluttered and overwhelming, and the color scheme is dull. I like your bright, simple home page much better. Their recipes themselves aren’t laid out as nicely as yours. They don’t have photos, and they’re not organized in the neat, readable way that yours are. However, their site is somewhat more elaborate than yours. They have forums and lots of nutritional information.
    
   GroupRecipes is more comparable to SweetFry. Obviously, they focus more on the social networking aspect, just like you do, and not only do they enable users to create profiles but they also allow them to form interest groups. SweetFry isn’t equipped for the latter. The GroupRecipes home page has the right idea, but it’s too long. They could stand to reduce their “New Today” photos and “Popular Recipes” feed by more than half. However, they have a good layout and nice touch of color. The recipe listings themselves are also similar to yours, but I like yours better. I think your recipe pages are more readable via a combination of good layout and bold color, icons, and boxes that logically draw the eyes from point to point. I also think your recipe pages are more informative. They summarize each recipe in a way that GroupRecipes does not.
    
   Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.
   I like your site. It doesn’t have enough recipes yet, but that will come in time. I really like the simplicity of the home page and the layout of the recipes, which are presented in a clear, informative manner and integrate the social networking features beautifully. I’d like to see you make some modifications to your recipe and member search features, which I’ve detailed above. I also think it would be great if you allowed users to form interest groups like GroupRecipes does. I can see how that would be a very attractive feature and, in my mind, it’s the one big advantage that GroupRecipes has over SweetFry. In addition, I’d like to see you simplify your sign-up process, which was very irritating for me. Finally, I just want to make you aware that the name “SweetFry” makes me think that your site is mainly about fried foods or maybe Southern cooking. I’m sure that wasn’t your intention, and digging further into the site quickly reveals its true nature. But I just thought you should know what the name conjures for me.

3. Visit https://sweetfry.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?

   First impression, based on Share,Store, Rate titles and highlights. I think the website tells about storing and sharing recipes based upon ratings.

   Now go back to the site and comment on various elements of the site.

   Use of color is very good. Contents are not cluttered.  The search facilities and other components justify the Rate process. I don’t see any Share and Store concepts unless I have to browse inside one of the menus or play around. I would rather include some HOW TO or HOW it Works menu as a short tutorial whether a video or content with images if it’s short.

   What do you think of the sign up process?

   Never force the user to signup especially for first time user. Add recipe should not force to signup and just add the recipe which has some pictures on it, short description, email address and name.

   How do you think the site compares to other similar sites/competitors like cooks.com and grouprecipes.com?

   Cooks.com is not good.  Grouprecipes.com, the menus are very similar but your colors make it appear neat and simple.  You have to compare it allrecipes.com.

   Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.

   If you want to be distinct, you should have at least highlight recipe of the day. Remove that top Rated recipes better include a carousel or similar to that top rated recipes but recipes should have some groupings/categorizations e.g.  similar to cooking menu, e.g. dinner, breakfast, all chicken , all meat, etc. Make it intuitive and itneractive and you will realize that cooking is targeted and not in general search anymore.

4. Visit https://sweetfry.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?

   My first thoughts on what the site is for, is visitors can share recipes with others, rate recipes they enjoy or perhaps have tried, and it looks like visitors can post pictures and videos of their recipes. I would think they would be posting videos of their finished products, or the process of creating them. Looking at the homepage I see the site includes contests, not sure if they are website hosted, or there are links to other off site contests at this point, a link to maybe connect with other people socially and it appears to have a search function to look for recipes.
   Now go back to the site and comment on various elements of the site.

   The homepage is clean and minimal, with nice colours, but with little information on what the site does. I would assume its a recipe sharing site, that includes videos, but perhaps a little more information is needed so visitors have a better idea of what to expect right away, and to catch their attention. The homepage is a bit dull, although I do like that it’s not cluttered. The photos are bright and easy to see, and they don’t clog up the homepage.
   I’m not sure if it’s a glitch or not, but clicking on the Home link takes you to a similar page, with a long list of pictures, but no information attached to them. I’m not sure if it’s just my computer, or something didn’t load properly when connecting with the link’s page. The drop down menu under the Recipe button is a bit too bright with the pinkish color and white lettering. I do like that the recipes are divided into categories like Halloween, Christmas and even a summer section. It does make it easier to find specific types of recipes a visitor would be looking for. I also like the further dividing of categories on the left hand panel into appetizers, breakfasts and desserts etc.

   Clicking on a category and picking a recipe is easy and fast. I like the information above the picture of the finished product like, how many servings it makes, the type of cuisine it is and how long it will take to make. The user’s instructions seem clear and it appears the user can add a video of the preparation if they wish to.

   When clicking on people, it does give a list of users I assume are posting recipes. It looks like you can follow the user of your choice and interact with them through their contact information if they choose to list it. I’m not sure if you are able to contact them via the website itself, like with social networking, or simply through their own email or Facebook; it might be a good idea to make that more clear on the homepage.

   It appears the site itself sponsors contests, this could be an incentive for cooks and bakers to sign up with the site if they are interested. Maybe it would be a good idea to add a forum or chatroom, so people can chat with each other and even ask their favorite users about each recipe or ask questions about techniques used.
   I think I would add a bit more information also under the About Us link, maybe more about the founders and what the site offers compared to other recipe sharing sites.
   What do you think of the sign up process?
   The sign up process is quick and easy, perhaps a bit too much information is needed however on the sign up form. I would assume this is needed to give recommendations of certain recipes I might be interested in, but that could be put in later under a user profile.
   How do you think the site compares to other similar sites/competitors like cooks.com and grouprecipes.com?
    
   The site is pretty new, so it needs time to really compete with with cooks.com and grouprecipes.com, both sites have more recipes and options at the moment. I find though the homepage is very similar to grouprecipes.com, except for the color which is different. I think I would make some alterations as the wording, placement and overall look looks almost like a copy of grouprecipes.com. I do like the color scheme better however on your site.
   Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.
   My thoughts would include maybe adding a forum or chatroom to the site so users can interact immediately without having to leave the site. It would make the website stand out more from its competitors. I would add a bit more information on what the site is for on the homepage, and maybe promote the idea the users can upload videos to the site, this could be a big selling point.
    

5. The website is very clearly for finding, sharing and posting recipes. It was simple to set up an account and did not request to much personal information. Other websites: Cooks.com home page has too much information and made my head hurt. SweetFry home page is much easier on the eyes. Grouprecipes.com has a feature I would like to see on Sweet/Fry. On the homepage, the first thing I saw was a search for “What are you hungry for?” I typed in ‘pork’ and got a list of different pork recipes. However, this site is not very pleasing to the eye. I like the look and colors of SweetFry better.
    
   I like the option to choose main dishes or breads etc. I also really like that within those categories there are further options. I look for slow cooker recipes especially in summer and they have been hard to find on other websites because they are with all the other main dishes and not a subcategories of their own. I also like that the amount of time to put the dish together AND cook it is the first thing you see when you click on the recipe. That way I can sort thru the recipes quickly and find one that I like and have the time to prepare.
    
   I only found a couple of problems with the site. There is an option to add a recipe to a shopping list. But once I do this I cannot for the life of me FIND the shopping list. This would be a great feature if only I could find it! It is the same with the Add to favorites. The home page has no links to either of these. This would be a great website that I would use often if these features were easier to find and use.

6. Visit https://sweetfry.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?

   The first thing that caught my eyes is the picture displayed the recipe. It makes me think that the site is about recipe sharing and i can get lots of recipe from the site. The share,store, rate makes me think that i can even rate and the recipe. The homepage make it clear about what the site is about.

   Now go back to the site and comment on various elements of the site.

   The homepage is simple and attractive. i like the color you used for the layout. The homepage makes everything clear about what i can get from this site. The search engine for the searching of recipe is very convenient. The text box for the search engine is a little unnoticeable, i suggest you can use a darker color for the box lining to make it clear. I like that you have the ‘ newest recipes ‘, ‘most viewed’ and ‘ just searched’ list displayed in the homepage. It help the visitor to select for a recipe to view when they do not know what they want to search. I tried to click one of it and i saw the description, serving etc. The ingredient part is too simple for me. I expect the design for displaying the ingredient is more interesting. You can highlight some important ingredient toward the ingredients listed. You also can list a step by step instruction telling the viewer what to do first also highlight for the important step. I clicked into the recipes navigator and under it have the collection, categories, search and add new recipe. Everything is fine for me. The interface design is very user friendly which i know what i should do with it.
   

   What do you think of the sign up process?

   The process is simple and easy. The required information is relevant to the site. 
   

   How do you think the site compares to other similar sites/competitors like cooks.com and grouprecipes.com?

   The service provided for these site is more or less the same with your site. The different is how they present it which is their feature and their website content, layout and the way they market it. For the cook.com, their homepage is too complicated, too wordy for me. There is too many navigation and links which will make visitor feel it’s annoying. For the grouprecipes.com, the site layout is a little similar to your site, which is simple and easy for the visitor to understand what the site is about. They listed the comments of their members in the homepage which will be a good marketing technique. When visitors see these comment, they will click on some that they agree with. This will make the visitor being active in the site. The color they used is green which i don’t really feel that it suit their site title. I would prefer your site better, because with the color and layout i feel more comfortable when viewing it. 
   

   Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.

   I suggest you can display the categories list in the homepage so that the visitor have a direction to click on. When they viewing a recipe site they definitely looking for recipe so the categories list will be convenient for them in the homepage. I also suggest that you can create a slide show in the homepage displaying some recipes and add some description on it to attract visitor attention to click on the recipe that they like. i like the contact us field which allow people to directly type in any question and send it to you instead of only providing the email address. I suggest you can have a service of uploading video for the member, They can upload their cooking tutorial video for others to view. This will be more specific and more professional. People will definitely prefer to watch a video than reading the instruction. The video will be the key benefit of your site as the cook.com and the grouprecipes.com does not have this kind of feature. Also you can list down what is the benefits of your site, why people should join your site at the homepage to clear the question marks in the visitor mind when they first visit.

7. Visit https://sweetfry.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?
   This site is about recipes in which you share, rate and store them. I can only assume that this site has a social networking spin to it but I could be wrong being that I haven’t yet explored the site yet.

   Now go back to the site and comment on various elements of the site.
   I really like the name of the site, it alone entices the feeling of eating something yummy and delicious. I like that you had a nice bold picture and nice use of three simple colors. Even though I like your use of simple colors I feel that the homepage is to white washed. You have these nice contrasting lines on your homepage but you can barely see them because they are so light. I also think that the font on your site needs to darkened because it again it makes it hard to read.

   I like the section where you have newest recipes, just searced and most viewed because it gives a user a real taste of what to expect from your site and what people are looking at. When it comes to the post where no picture is added and you just have your logo I would like to see it bolder in color. It doesn’t have the same visual flow with all the other food pictures being so pronounced in color. I thinking if your made it darker it will have an even flow of bold colors.

   You have a section where you have your top rated recipes and I just don’t understand why they are lined up going down the page. The presentation of them doesn’t do justice to the layout of your page or to the section in general. I think that not to overwhelm the homepage I think that you should move this to another section of your site and add a tab at the top of the page. I think that will instantly make people want to look at the top rates dishes on site immediately drawing users in. Further more I think that by removing them you can really do a nice mini showcase with the author of the recipe, and a picture of the dish that once clicked on will lead to what you already have set up having a full showcase of that dish.

   **Note** As I stated before the pictures were lined up, top to bottom, but when clicked on a pic and returned to the homepages they were lined up left to right allowing me to scroll through the pictures. I think that needs to checked out because I didn’t understand why the page was created out they way. Being that you have your pictures scrolling side to side I no longer find it necessary to have it removed to another page it works just fine as it.

   At the bottom of the homepage I see that you have an about us section which I think is a good start but needs to expanded upon. When it comes to sites like these, where food can trigger so many emotions, I think that people like to read more about what prompted someone to create it.

   I see that on your homepage that your the world’s number one recipe sharing community. I don’t mean to be rude but your site contridicts itself. On your about us page it says, “Jason Harvey created SweetFry.com with the goal of it becoming the World’s #1 recipe sharing community.” I would take that number one statment off of your homepage because it’s simply not true.

   I went under your recipes section and I really like that your had such a wide variety of categories to choose from. I was a little overwhelmed with the drop down section on the side of the page. I ran so far down he page that I quicly got tired of the thought of scrolling that far down to. I would suggest that only information clicked on be dropped down or slide ot across so that users are bombareded with food selections that they might not want to look at. I really like the size of the pictures, I can clearly see the product of each cook.

   As far a recipes are concerned I would like to see a search bar for users to quickly look up recipes my name and or ingredients. Also when it comes to the contest page the font needs to be darker and the content is to narrow. I personally don’t like to feel like I am forver scrolling down the page. Users may quickly tire and become interested in what is on the page. On the other hand I like that you have a contest which engages users on your site and also works to drive people to your site by posting on popular social networking sites. I also don’t think that you need a section to post old contest unless your going allow user to suggest old contest or to suggest new ones would be nice.

   I would have liked to see your about us page information at the top of your homepage. With site about food I think it would entice the reader to know that there is a good story behind the founder of the site. Do you have a cooking background? A good cooking moment? A story your rather not share of a recipe gone bad? Readers love to feel that they are engaged.

   What do you think of the sign up process?
   I thought the sign up process was quick fast and easy. I received my email within seconds and quickly activated my account. I like that I was able to have more than one way to sign up. I like that because some your order users may not have a social netwoorking account. It was nice to see that I could easy update my profile and share information with other people quickly. 
   
   How do you think the site compares to other similar sites/competitors like cooks.com and grouprecipes.com?
   Even though these are sites that are already devolped I think that your site is much more organized than theirs. I think that they have to much content bursting at the seems on every page. However I do like certain element/ features on their site such as: conversion table, food articles, alternating homepage picture, search bar and nutrrition facts.
   
   
   Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.
   The part of the site that I like the most was the collections page. It had great pictures and was just overall well put together. Being that you have so may collections I would consider adding a ramadan to have a full spectrum of collections for each user. I would like to see a place where you can upload videos or even a video contest where each user has to do demonstrate the a quick recipe of your sites choice within X amount of minutes. I think that you may even want to consider an ultimate sweet fry contest once a year where people are doing just what your sites name is frying something sweet. As a person who visits food sites 4 to 5 times daily I would really like to see your site excel. At the bottom of your homepage I would make the logo at the bottom colores just as the one is at the top. I would also play about with different background colors and bolder lines on your site.

8. What do you think the site is about?
   Sweetfry.com appears to be a recipe website where all the recipes and images are submitted by members of the site.
   
   What do you think of the sign up process?
   The sign up process is basic but includes some questions I found impressive and enjoyable such as the “food preferences” optional question for vegetarian, non-veg or “egg-tarian” and the favorite foods box. These questions made the signup process more fun than simply filling in information like a robot.

   How do you think the site compares to other similar sites/competitors like cooks.com and grouprecipes.com?
   Compared to other similar websites, Sweetfry.com seems to have a few major differences. The information presented on the Recipes screen is far more simplified compared to other sites that choose to cram in a lot of info on one page, and the advertisements are more limited. This makes Sweetfry easy to read and navigate. The images are also vibrant and appealing, which is a huge plus for me. I also like the “Contests tab, which adds some additional fun to the site. It is important that there is a comment section, such as on Allrecipes.com, and I see that Sweetfry has included this.

   Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.
   As an avid cook, I thoroughly and truly enjoyed Sweetfry.com’s setup and basic premise. The profile page is especially enjoyable since most other recipe sites do not have one as detailed and user-friendly as Sweetfry’s. As an amateur home chef, I would definitely use Sweetfry.com to manage recipes (both my own and others) as well as meet and exchange with other like-minded people.
   

9. Visit https://sweetfry.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?
   I think the site is interested and predominantly talks about cooking and different recipes. Very interesting to those who want to change their recipe.
   Now go back to the site and comment on various elements of the site.
   I like that the site used various colors in their wording. I also like that the site shows various food recipes.
    
   What do you think of the sign up process?
   The sign up process wasn’t hard at all. Very easy to do.
    
   How do you think the site compares to other similar sites/competitors like cooks.com and grouprecipes.com?
   I think this site is easier to read and scroll through compared to the other similar sites. sweetfry.com isn’t complicated to read through.
    
   Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.
   I like the site so far. Doesn’t have enough recipes yet, but I’m sure there will be some more soon.
   

10. What do you think the site is about? This site seems to be strictly recipes members have submitted to share with other members.
    What do you think of the sign up process? The sign up process was pretty standard. I am not thrilled the way this website as well as many others is making it necessary to go to your e-mail to validate the sign up. The letters/numbers you had to replicate were nicer than normal as they were very easy to read.
    How do you think the site compares to other similar sites/competitors like cooks.com and grouprecipes.com? The site seemed to be pretty new as it seemed there were several categories of recipes however not that many recipes in the category. The site is similar in the sense that you can get a shopping list or save the recipe as a favorite or also share on facebook.
    Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have. I love online recipe sites. This one seems very user friendly with recipes that are for the everyday cook.

11. Visit https://sweetfry.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?

    My first thoughts on what the site is for, is visitors can share recipes with others, rate recipes they enjoy or perhaps have tried, and it looks like visitors can post pictures and videos of their recipes. I would think they would be posting videos of their finished products, or the process of creating them. Looking at the homepage I see the site includes contests, not sure if they are website hosted, or there are links to other off site contests at this point, a link to maybe connect with other people socially and it appears to have a search function to look for recipes.

    Now go back to the site and comment on various elements of the site.

    The homepage is clean and minimal, with nice colours, but with little information on what the site does. I would assume its a recipe sharing site, that includes videos, but perhaps a little more information is needed so visitors have a better idea of what to expect right away, and to catch their attention. The homepage is a bit dull, although I do like that it’s not cluttered. The photos are bright and easy to see, and they don’t clog up the homepage.
    I’m not sure if it’s a glitch or not, but clicking on the Home link takes you to a similar page, with a long list of pictures, but no information attached to them. I’m not sure if it’s just my computer, or something didn’t load properly when connecting with the link’s page. The drop down menu under the Recipe button is a bit too bright with the pinkish color and white lettering. I do like that the recipes are divided into categories like Halloween, Christmas and even a summer section. It does make it easier to find specific types of recipes a visitor would be looking for. I also like the further dividing of categories on the left hand panel into appetizers, breakfasts and desserts etc.

    Clicking on a category and picking a recipe is easy and fast. I like the information above the picture of the finished product like, how many servings it makes, the type of cuisine it is and how long it will take to make. The user’s instructions seem clear and it appears the user can add a video of the preparation if they wish to.

    When clicking on people, it does give a list of users I assume are posting recipes. It looks like you can follow the user of your choice and interact with them through their contact information if they choose to list it. I’m not sure if you are able to contact them via the website itself, like with social networking, or simply through their own email or Facebook; it might be a good idea to make that more clear on the homepage.

    It appears the site itself sponsors contests, this could be an incentive for cooks and bakers to sign up with the site if they are interested. Maybe it would be a good idea to add a forum or chatroom, so people can chat with each other and even ask their favorite users about each recipe or ask questions about techniques used.
    I think I would add a bit more information also under the About Us link, maybe more about the founders and what the site offers compared to other recipe sharing sites.
    What do you think of the sign up process?
    The sign up process is quick and easy, perhaps a bit too much information is needed however on the sign up form. I would assume this is needed to give recommendations of certain recipes I might be interested in, but that could be put in later under a user profile.
    How do you think the site compares to other similar sites/competitors like cooks.com and grouprecipes.com?
    The site is pretty new, so it needs time to really compete with with cooks.com and grouprecipes.com, both sites have more recipes and options at the moment. I find though the homepage is very similar to grouprecipes.com, except for the color which is different. I think I would make some alterations as the wording, placement and overall look looks almost like a copy of grouprecipes.com. I do like the color scheme better however on your site.
    Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.
    My thoughts would include maybe adding a forum or chatroom to the site so users can interact immediately without having to leave the site. It would make the website stand out more from its competitors. I would add a bit more information on what the site is for on the homepage, and maybe promote the idea the users can upload videos to the site, this could be a big selling point.
     

12. Visit https://sweetfry.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?

    I think the site is for sharing and rating recipes.  From the home page it looks like a community where anyone can add their recipes and photos.
     

    Now go back to the site and comment on various elements of the site.

    NAME:
    From just hearing the name “Sweet Fry” I thought this was just about fried food and fried recipes.  So it was great to see the image of the grilled chicken straight away on the home page which changed my first impression of what the site was about.
    HOME PAGE:
    I thought the home page was bright and fresh. I wouldn’t expect such bright, bold colors to be used for a recipe/food site but I think they work well in making the site look fresh and modern. The bright words “SHARE, STORE, RATE” are great and catch the eye straight away but, share, store, rate ………… what? The light grey text underneath doesn’t stand out as much so maybe you could change it to “SHARE, STORE, RATE RECIPES”.
    LOGO:
    I think the logo is great but I think it would be nicer if it was a little larger on the home page so the little images in the speech bubbles are more easily visible.
    PICTURES:
    I like the pictures on the home page. It would be nice to see a slideshow of about 4 or 5 different pictures for the main picture, I think this would entice the user more.
    RECIPES:
    I like that you can search for recipes in a search box or in different categories.  It’s also great to see images when scrolling through the categories rather than just a description.  One thing I noticed is that all the recipe’s are by someone named Linda. I assume this is someone from the company that has added them to create some sort of database of recipes. I like the way each recipe is displayed, they are easy to follow and understand.
    CONTESTS:
    I had a look at the contest page and was impressed with the prize up for grabs for the muffin recipe. I think this is a good idea to entice users and create a community type atmosphere. Although I would feel intimidated entering as a novice baker because there is only one big prize, I would rather see ten smaller prizes than just one big one.  I think this would encourage more people to enter your competitions having smaller prizes but more of them.  I think this is a very smart way to spread the word of your website as users that enter will tell family and friends to vote therefor they will come and also check out the site.
     

    What do you think of the sign up process?

    Well first of all I had to look for the sign up button as it didn’t jump out at me. Once I found it the sign up process was pretty straight forward. I just thought that there were a few too many questions asked in the sign up process like food preferences etc. You should make the sign up as simple as possible with very little fields to have to fill out, maybe just name, email, password and username. Then the extra information can be filled out in a profile page once signed up.
     

    How do you think the site compares to other similar sites/competitors like cooks.com and grouprecipes.com?

    Compared to cooks.com I think your site is a lot more modern looking. Cooks.com home page has too much information on it and I was overwhelmed and didn’t know where to start. I like the layout of your site a lot better. I think one advantage grouprecipes.com has over your site is it’s name. Immediately you know what their site is about just by the name whereas when I first heard your sites name I thought it was about sweet fried food.  I think your site could be competitive and better than these other sites in time. At the moment they have an advantage over your site because they have more users and a community of users which means more recipes, feedback etc.
     

    Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.

    I think your site will only get better in time. Spread the word about your $1000 best muffin contest as this will attract new users. A good way to start promoting your site is through facebook. Make a facebook page and promote your contests through that. Also in the future once the site becomes popular you could look at creating an iPad or iPhone application with the top recipes from each category.

13. Visit https://sweetfry.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?
    The site appears to be a recipe site, likely aimed at women.
    Now go back to the site and comment on various elements of the site.
    I like the clean, simple layout of the site, although as I think the blue, violet and green accent colors give it a very feminine feel, which might potentially alienate some users.
    I find the logo strange: what are the boxes above the name? They resemble television sets, which seems odd. And the logo is too small to see what’s inside the boxes. I’m also perplexed by the white airbrushed line through the word “Sweet”. It makes the word less readable.
    I like the clear, simple navigation bar on the top of the page, although the links on the dropdown menu beneath “Recipes” are somewhat small. The main image on the left side of the page is very appealing, although it might be more interesting if the image changed every few seconds.
    I like that the search box is large and prominent on the home page, but the border around the box is very light, and it took me several seconds to understand that it was in fact a search box. All I could see at first glance was the “Search” button. Users who don’t have perfect eyesight may have an issue there.
    The area featuring “Newest Recipes”, “Most Viewed” and “Just Searched” recipes is very nicely designed, although the 5th result I’m seeing, for “Death by Chocolate Cake”, has a placeholder image saying “Awaiting Photo”, with the same strange “television” boxes from the logo. Is there a way to only display recipes that have an actual photo? It would be better for the overall presentation. I’m also not sure how useful the categories of “Newest Recipes”, “Most Viewed” and “Just Searched” would be, given that most people going to a recipe site either know exactly what they want to find, or are searching in a particular food category.
    The “Top Rated Recipes” section on the bottom is attractive, but I dislike the fact that I have to click on the lightly colored arrows on each site to see more results. Is there a way to change the script so that more results are shown simply by hovering on the arrows? I’ve seen examples of that elsewhere.
    Also on the home page, when I hover on the images a dark box appears beneath them that gives the recipe title. It seems redundant since the titles of the recipes are already clearly displayed as links beneath each image.
    I like the helpful links on the bottom of each page, but it seems like the margin on the bottom could be expanded to give the content more breathing room. It currently looks cramped. Also, I think having a different version of the site logo on the bottom of the page is redundant, and is the word “Copyrights” really necessary?
    I appreciate the placement of the ads on each page. They are easy to spot but not intrusive, and they don’t overpower the main content.
    On the main Recipes pages, I like the organization of the Categories, although the hollow bullets used for the lists don’t look right somewhow. Solid bullets and larger text for the links in the Categories lists might be more helpful. Also regarding links, I’ve noticed most of the linkable text on the site isn’t underlined to show that it’s more than just plain text, and so I tend to click on the recipe images instead.
    The design of the individual recipe pages is very nice, although I’m not too sure about placing the instructions to the right of the ingredients. I’m used to recipe instructions being below the ingredients listing, so the placement throws me off a little bit. Also, the comment box on the individual recipe pages is very small and looks out of place on the page. It would make more sense to expand the comment boxes.
    What do you think of the sign up process?
    First, I like the placement of the Login/Sign up page on the top right page — it’s a very logical place to put it. On the sign up page itself, the boxes are cutely designed, but hard to see because of the light border around them. The “Reset” button on the bottom of the page is unnecessary. Why would I need to reset the form I just filled out?
    Also, there is a clear misspelling on the registration page: “enteries” should be “entries”.
    And the “Email ID” is unclear: does that refer to the user’s email address or user ID? After entering a username, a stern-sounding pop-up message says “Please enter proper email id”. That’s off-putting. Also, after I registered for the site, the link I followed in the email to activate my account led me to a page that provided an “Activate” button, which I had to click to finally activate. Why can’t following the link from my email activate my account automatically?
    How do you think the site compares to other similar sites/competitors like cooks.com and grouprecipes.com?
    cooks.com and grouprecipes.com both look much more established, like they would appear to a more mature audience. This site comes across as more youthful and “fun”, and the design of this site is overall much cleaner and in many ways more easy to navigate than some other similar sites.
    Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.
    The name of the site seems slightly confusing. To me it suggests that the site is about desserts and fried foods.
    On the “Contact Us” page, I’d feel a little better if there was a name, phone number, mailing or email address — anything besides just a generic contact form with a Captcha. It just feels like something a low quality site.
    Also, on the “Newest Users” page, the majority of the users listed have the generic placeholder image saying “Awaiting Photo”. Is there a way to place users with actual images toward the top? Or is there even a need to show the user images? It’s a bleak, unfriendly looking page as it is.
    Overall, it’s a very nice, clean, well-designed site and I think it has the potential for success. Best of luck to you!

14. Visit https://sweetfry.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?

    The site seems to me like a community of cooks sharing recipes and rating them.

    Now go back to the site and comment on various elements of the site.
    First thing i noticed is that for a  website that features food the homepage is a  little too bland. I am a big fan of websites such as these, and they could have at least used a little background color which would have helped accentuate the pictures. There is  nothing too exciting about the page except for the featured photographs of food, the website is too simple for my taste. I also noticed that most recipes are from one chef Linda. If they want to invite other chef to share their recipes i think they should think about reinventing their website. And also add a personal touch like share a little secret about baking or cooking ideas, a more interactive way of reaching out to the public.

    What do you think of the sign up process?

    You need to scroll down to look for the sign up button? It should be where it can be noticed at once when you open the homepage, like they want to welcome everybody to sign up right there and then.
    How do you think the site compares to other similar sites/competitors like cooks.com and grouprecipes.com?

    I think that they need to make their website more welcoming, because right now it does not stand a chance. Unless they add more features and  make the browsers want to stay a little longer and participate, and to attract more members.

15. zeke2100 has been awarded.

16. tthau2010 has been awarded.

17. Latasha has been awarded.

18. FourTowers has been awarded.

19. dakotalee has been awarded.

20. The colors on the site are vibrant.  I like how each recipe has pictures before you click on the link.  The extra ads on the page I could do without though.  The category list should be condensed some as well so you don’t have to scroll down so much.

21. Visit https://sweetfry.com. Spend no more than 5-10 seconds on the home page. What do you think the site is about?
    This site appears to have number of recipes. At the top I noted it may be a place where one will be able to store favorite recipes or browse for new ones.
    Now go back to the site and comment on various elements of the site.
    The site was easy to navigate. Most of the recipes appear to be by Linda. The actual recipes appeared to be well written. I like the estimated times to prepare were also listed. The format of placing the ingredients on the left and then directions on the right felt natural. The option of printing the recipe was listed at the top of each recipe. This is a necessary feature for those of us with short term memory problems. I like the pictures of recipes. I also the idea of the muffin contest as well.
    What do you think of the sign up process?
    The process was simply and easy to complete.
    How do you think the site compares to other similar sites/competitors like cooks.com and grouprecipes.com?
    I used the search engine to find a recipe for grilled tilapia and came up with nothing. However, the food categories were well put together. I also like to idea of being able to add your own recipes.
    Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.
    I would like to see more authors for the recipes selection.

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