Research into teen websites

20/09/10

Another website which I have researched is the website for the E4 television channel. (www.E4.com)
E4 is a television channel aimed at a teenager and young adult audience. The primary content of the website seems to be video clips about, of, or previewing the programmes found on the channel.
The colours used throughout the website are white and purple, this corresponds with the colours found in the logo of the TV channel and so ensures that the website corresponds with the recognition of the brand. This may be a good idea for my own website.
Like the other websites I have researched so far, the navigation is at the top of the page, and similarly to the BBC Three website, the homepage of the E4 site displays a TV schedule. This is accompanied by a short synopsis of the episode of the programme selected. This schedule is next to a series of links to the TV shows shown on the E4 channel. At first, I didn't like this as the positioning of these links was a little misleading as I thought that they would be the shows highlighted in the schedule as they were right next to it. I do like the feature that allows the user to scroll sideways through the links however.
The E4 website, unlike the others, has links to several online games on it's homepage. These games seem to be primarily unrelated to the channel's programming, but nevertheless would probably be attractive to many teenagers using the website. Some of the games are linked to programmes on the channel. I liked some of the games, but didn't really see the point of having so many as the website isn't a gaming website.
This is a screenshot of the E4 homepage. I think that the main image stands out well, probably because of its size. I also like the way that the navigation highlights the link to the page that you are currently on as it means that you know where you are wherever you are on the site.