Overall I have the same criticism for all of the designs. None of them really pass the first glance test.
Designs: (1) http://www.browsing.co.uk/cat The contrast is overwhelming. Everything has a similar level of contrast and thus importance, and there is no real indication of where the user should go. My eyes just wander around this page searching desperately for something to land on, and I always land on the cupcake. While I like cupcakes, I always wind up wanting to leave the computer and forage for cupcakes in the cupboard. Which is not what we want people doing when they visit the site to learn about catalyst. (2) http://agaton.scsys.co.uk/~matthewt/catsite/cat_mock_web_001.png A bit better, though I'm not fond of the color scheme. My eyes land on the crop circle, which at least gives me an imprint of the cat logo. That said, the navigational links don't call attention to themselves, so I wind up relying on web navigation habit - rolling around the page with my eyes to find something that looks like a list. Also - there is too much text on the main page, which makes me want to find another page that is friendlier and doesn't present me with text overload right away. (3) http://ion0.com/hx/cat/new-version-2-26.jpg I like the header and navigational links here - because the contrast calls attention to them - but the dark area at the top of the content box is a bit too deep imho and makes the page feel weird / top heavy to me. Without text content it's hard to judge this layout the same way as the others. (4) http://ion0.com/hx/cat/catalystSiteDesign3.jpg Of the two from Scott, I prefer 3. (5) http://agaton.scsys.co.uk/~matthewt/catsite/catsite-Penfold.pdf This design pops more, there is no trouble finding the nav links. The font and color scheme, though, make it somewhat hard to look at for an extended period of time. A slightly more subdued header color I think would make me like this one more. The text is bigger, that's good, there is still too much of it for a landing page. I like the layout for a content page, though. 6) http://www.funkreich.de/catalystorg.png Overall, my current favorite. Definitely in terms of spacing. I'm not fond of the orange, and I don't know that the 'download' link really makes sense. (Maybe replace with a 'learn more?') What I like about this design, though, is that it's absolutely clear what you are here for. The nav links are separated from the rest of the site design enough to make them prominent. The fonts are good and the text is not overwhelming. My only real criticism aside from the orange is that it'd be nice to have some clear 'getting started' / 'more about catalyst' type links in a prominent position. The links at the bottom are too hidden. In my browsers default size, they are just barely above the fold and I registered them in the same way as I do the copyright notice on most sites... in other words not at all. Definitely want to get the three main links - 'Get Started', 'Get Help', 'Get Involved' up into the white area and made more prominent. So there's my two cents. Hope it helps, Jay On Jun 11, 2008, at 1:54 PM, Matt S Trout wrote:
(1) http://www.browsing.co.uk/cat Mark Keating: (2) http://agaton.scsys.co.uk/~matthewt/catsite/cat_mock_web_001.png Scott Ladzinski: (3) http://ion0.com/hx/cat/new-version-2-26.jpg (4) http://ion0.com/hx/cat/catalystSiteDesign3.jpg Mike Whitaker: (5) http://agaton.scsys.co.uk/~matthewt/catsite/catsite-Penfold.pdf Gentlement, start your feedback engines. -- Matt S Trout Need help with your Catalyst or DBIx::Class project? Technical Director http://www.shadowcat.co.uk/catalyst/ Shadowcat Systems Ltd. Want a managed development or deployment platform? http://chainsawblues.vox.com/ http://www.shadowcat.co.uk/servers/ _______________________________________________ List: [email protected] Listinfo: http://lists.scsys.co.uk/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/catalyst Searchable archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Dev site: http://dev.catalyst.perl.org/
--- "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." --Voltaire _______________________________________________ List: [email protected] Listinfo: http://lists.scsys.co.uk/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/catalyst Searchable archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Dev site: http://dev.catalyst.perl.org/
