Filecrop2.com, former Filecrop.com is a specialized kind of search engine that uses complex algorithms to scour the web for the appropriate content and mega files that the users can visit to download. The website contains thousands of links to different websites and forums that contain the requested or most desired content on the web. Filecrop2 has a very basic design and lacks some of the advance features that can make searching for the required files far easier.
Functionality
The unique logo and trending downloads on the homepage give a general sense of the files that are being most downloaded by the users. The homepage contains a tab for the most recent links that are updated on the site, which I thought was very handy but would have been more helpful if properly categorized. The top portion of the homepage is dominated by a search bar that can be used to search for different types of content. Navigation wise the site does not have many different links and the search results also don’t require jumping to a lot of pages in order to get to the download link. Filecrop2 does not provide the users with advanced search options like file size, category and date uploaded to make the results more meaningful. Instead the users are provided with a results query that is rather broad and often does not match the needed file. It is extremely important for the search engines to have a filtering ability that can ensure the users are not misguided by downloading links that contain wrong files. Furthermore, the search results are not properly sorted either which makes it harder for the users to find the most appropriate link. I had better success with finding books and Smartphone apps as compared to movies and TV shows.
Design and Suggestions
Design wise the website has a very basic but not boring look. A categorized most downloaded list would have been more helpful in finding content. Overall I would recommend redesigning the search results page as it is very messy and does not help in listing files in any kind of way.