So, what do we want from the homepage? This is what I would like the homepage to provide:
* A space for users to find the product and support easily and with
minimal fuss
* A space for those wanting to contribute to find the resources to
do so
* A public face for what we want to show tot he world. We use the
homepage now for blurbs about people, events, projects.
I feel that Louis has outlined what needs to appear on the home page for different types of visitors, but I wonder how we assist first time visitors as opposed to making it interesting to repeat visitors.
Essentially, we want first time visitor to come back - again and again.
[snip]
* Minor points: Colors: I llike the light blue :-) I can't say the same for the green, as it has the odd quality of not holding the eye, though it be pleasing to it. Plain would be better, or, as they teach you in art and classes, something red to catch the eye, say just a title, border, etc.
I try to avoid discussing colours, except I think Louis has already admitted to liking the mix of warm (salmon) and cold colours (dark blue) on the existing page :)
Rather, what ever colour you decide should be "used" rather than "put". At the moment, I think we have too many lines and boxes on the home page, breaking up any sort of integrated picture. If colour may be used to demarcate or draw your eye to areas of interest, I think this would be more visually appealing and easy to navigate than lots of little boxes.
For example, here is the use of background colour and the inclusion of graphics if and when they relate to the text:
http://www.5000xzukunft.de/
Also, just because a home page has a lot of links, doesn't say that it is unattractive, unusable or inaccessible:
http://web.tickle.com/
And back to colour, deja vu: http://website.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=dev&msgId=939187
Also, http://mc2.vicnet.net.au/index.html is hugely successful and look how few colours are used and how many links!
Regards Jacqueline
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