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Aaron Shi wrote: |
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>First of all, kudos to Curtis and team. This is definitely a step up from |
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>last time I checked. While I don't always agree with what's done, I do very |
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>much appreciate and respect all the effort that's put in. |
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> |
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> |
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I'd also like to say that this is VERY much appreciated and while I'm |
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void of tact I really don't want to come across as critical. |
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Thanks in advance for the nice work. |
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|
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>Here goes the comments... I'm just going to add to the discussion rather |
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>than starting from the beginning. |
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> |
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> |
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> |
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>>Usability and navigation needs work. Think in terms of end user.. |
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>>Someone may not land on the home page.. At which point he |
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>>will have to navigate to where he/she needs to get as quickly |
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>>as possible. With click-through patterns (If you can get the |
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>>data) see where people are going and make that most |
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>>accessible.. Navigation should be fairly site standard and |
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>>potentially even show a hierarchy of where they are in the |
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>>site. (ie Home > Solutions > etc) Do we have this data? Is |
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>>now the time to do a structure change to allow for faster digging? |
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>> |
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>> |
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> |
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>I've been stressing these points since day one, finally someone gets it! If |
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>we don't enhance the underlying design of the site (i.e. the "substance") in |
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>order to remedy some of the problems with the old design, the redesign would |
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>more appropriately be called a "face lift." I don't know what actually goes |
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>under the hood with all the xml etc., but to me, as it appears, it's simply |
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>a face lift. The functionality hasn't changed one bit. Navigation is still |
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>a nightmare. On a site as complex as Gentoo's, users -- especially those |
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>new to Gentoo (who also happens to be those who are critical to the growth |
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>of Gentoo) -- will be easily lost. They will have a hard time finding the |
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>information which they seek to make their decision to use Gentoo or to make |
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>their Gentoo experience successful. |
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> |
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>In hindsight, I realized that the project didn't have (I couldn't find) a |
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>clearly defined strategy (What is it trying to do? To achieve? And why? |
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>What's the ultimate goal?) and corresponding sets of concrete and achievable |
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>objectives that feeds into the strategy to make it work. |
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> |
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>When I started the project, I aimed for 3 things |
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> |
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|
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>1) to make a solid |
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>impression on visitors of the site in order to convey the values and |
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>benefits of Gentoo, i.e. in order to gain new users, |
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> |
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This could be accomplished by a multitude of things which add up.. |
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(Inside a trademark yet to be established, user experience quotes, and |
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mission statement page which has direct top level links. |
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|
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>2) to make the site a |
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>pleasure to browse (for existing and new users), and |
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> |
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We'd have to get feedback about how it's not currently pleasant in order |
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to "fix" this. |
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|
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>3) to make information |
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>easy to access. |
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> |
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This is critical... |
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>Graphics and eye-candy (if you will) along with |
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>strategically placed (and clearly/easily identified) critical "Gentoo |
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>elements" helps to achieve 1). 2) and 3) relates to usability (how |
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>efficiently and effectively a user can do what they want to do), navigation |
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>(how easily can a user move through the structure of the site, not simply |
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>linearly as non-linear navigation is what makes moving quick), and "flow" |
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>(how intuitive and logical is the structure of the site and the information |
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>presented). |
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> |
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>Now it seems that these goals were too ambitious given our limited |
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>resources. However, we seem to be taking baby steps toward them, which is a |
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>good thing. |
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> |
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> |
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> |
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>>I've looked at the preview images for the winning contest.. |
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>>Is it too late to consider moving the three navigation boxes |
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>>to the left hand side and or keeping some of the left hand |
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>>navigation there.. |
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>> |
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>> |
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> |
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>Christopher, we've gone a ways since the preview images. A newer proof of |
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>concept / early prototype is here: http://www.aaronshi.com/gentoo/ |
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> |
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> |
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> |
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I'll stand corrected on one thing.. Seems I should be asking for the |
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navigation on the right.. Not the entire menu, but some? Maybe above the |
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ads section? This also wouldn't take up more horizontal space. |
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|
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http://usability.gov/guidelines/ |
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>>While we are an open source project there are still two very |
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>>desirable actions we want users to do.. |
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>> |
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>>1) Download and try the software (Rename mirrors and get |
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>>gentoo to Download and make it very clear where users can |
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>>download from.) |
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>>2) Make a donation (this should also be something more than a |
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>>standard PayPal button, but still discrete and site blended.) |
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>> |
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>> |
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> |
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>Agree with both objectives in the general sense. The donation objective |
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>never occurred to me, but it's a very neat idea since Gentoo is an NPO and |
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>suffice to say it doesn't sit on a mountain of cash so any extra funding is |
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>probably a positive thing. |
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> |
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> |
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I should see if I can find my contact for the Mozilla project.. The guys |
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over there are doing a really nice job of having users do their desired |
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actions... (Think front page of NY times..)(Save some typing |
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http://www.mozilla.org/) While I'm not saying to oversell.. I'm saying |
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it is possible to do thing which will help drive click patterns and |
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actions to what we want. |
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>Quirks: |
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>- The front page news area seems really out of character (the lines, the |
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>styles, the indentation, etc. seems "off") |
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> |
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> |
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I think the feel for the home page would entirely change if we could |
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trade those four boxes with one big stylish and clear/concise box saying |
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something along the lines of (Download Gentoo now) |
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>- General spacing is messed up, i.e. lots of white space where there |
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>shouldn't be |
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>- Table borders don't quite fit into the theme |
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>- I thought the 3 jump pads are only supposed to appear on the front page? |
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> |
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>I don't think the bolding or whiter shade is necessary for my credits at the |
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>bottom. Thanks for thought though, but such credits should be as |
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>unobtrusive as possible so that users can better focus their attention |
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>elsewhere on what's important. It's probably better left as before -- |
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>unbold, dark shade of purple (see bottom of |
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>http://www.aaronshi.com/gentoo/guidepage.html). |
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> |
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> |
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<http://www.aaronshi.com/gentoo/guidepageprint.html> |
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Please leave the background of the search box white and a try for higher |
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contrast of font colors. |
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You also may be surprised with how many people override default site |
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font sizes. It's safer to not use pixels when defining font sizes.. |
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http://usability.gov/guidelines/fonts.html#one (It specifically mentions |
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those over 65, but in general has been a thing I've heard more than once |
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from even younger people.) |
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<http://www.aaronshi.com/gentoo/guidepageprint.html> |
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I've only been using one reference source for credibility, but if anyone |
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wants a lot of reading material I'd be happy to send over what I have. |
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(Lastly and certainly outside the scope of one email.. Do we care about |
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SEO? With such a busy project has their ever been any thought about |
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marketing? I'm not talking about selling Gentoo, but something similar |
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to Moz project.) Just send me a private email for anything off topic. |
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I hope this information is helpful/valuable in some way... |
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Thanks again |
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|
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C. |
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-- |
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