Re: Less Personal :-) (was: Re: [libreoffice-website] Re: Personal Statement)

Hi Christoph!

On Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 11:25 PM, Christoph Noack
<christoph@dogmatux.com> wrote:
> [...]
> > If the information architecture is any good, the simplicity of the
> > website at this stage should eliminate the need for breadcrumbs.
>
> ++1
>
> Klaus-Jürgen already described the complex menus that might have to be
> added to the page - personally, I don't "accept" that our rather
> lightweight page requires that much menus and navigation concept.
> Especially since the menus don't help that much at the moment (jumping
> between sections, ...).
>
> > > So, I started to work on a menu concept (and iterated a lot, I fell back
> > > to very simple but powerful version...) and added some more visual
> > > design. Thus, here is an example for the welcome page - along with the
> > > menus to be used on other pages:
> > > http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/bbnG0Hny0SpccJIZsGp72A?feat=directlink
> > >
> > > My assumption is, that (having users in mind, and basic developer
> > > information as well) two menu levels should be sufficient for the page.
> > > Thus, we can avoid using the breadcrumb. The sub-menu is directly placed
> > > below the main menu (if required on that page).
> >
> > I think this could be a workable idea... but maybe we could use a
> > secondary color for the second menu (e.g. blue) otherwise it might get
> > a bit too green
>
> That was the last thing I've did before I went to bed yesterday. At
> least, it looks rather colorful ...

It sure does :). At least, it draws some attention to itself (improves
visibility) - if it's done properly, that is. I think my updated
proposal [1] will need a few iterations in that respect. The first
option is less colorful but not integrated very well; the second
option is way too colorful, but better integrated design-wise.

> > > Another nice side-effect is the search functionality (once being
> > > available) is well integrated and also provides visual feedback if used
> > > (usually, search leads to somehow "nowhere" on other pages).
> > >
> > > But, of course, there are also many open points - e.g. the proper
> > > integration of the language projects (usually offered in the upper
> > > right), ... and how to provide such "Emotional Artwork" (in the most
> > > simple case a static picture).
> >
> > IMO, a screenshot of the start center would be the thing to have on
> > the homepage... visually, it provides the greatest screenshot
> > marketing potential, and it also hints at LibO's functionality. Maybe
> > that can encourage us to develop the start center's emotional appeal
> > in the future as I don't think the LibO visual identity has any overt
> > emotional connotations - it's very neutral and professional - maybe if
> > we had a mascot, it could feature there, but even then I'd suggest
> > having a picture of the mascot standing/sitting next to the start
> > center. I'm not in favor of using photos of any sort, but if someone
> > thinks that might work, Flickr has a handy creative commons search
> > option.
>
> Oh, I did think about some LibO pictures ... but more what you can
> achieve (e.g. show nice effects provided by the new functionality of the
> release) and how great it looks in general. This is what I mean with
> "emotional" - it is about getting people interested. From a branding
> perspective, the StartCenter might be a good catch - but providing less
> boring views.

Are you thinking of something like the slideshow on the current
"LibreOffice"/Download page [2]? With some jQuery, a nice fade in/fade
out effect could be added to make it more appealing (e.g. [3]). Or
perhaps an embedded YouTube video showing 3.3's new features in action
(assuming such a video is made, of course :P)

> > > However, it would be great to know what you think ...
> >
> > Your design is quite different to what David is proposing (with the
> > blog/twitter widgets featuring prominently on the homepage) - I'd
> > prefer a mix of the two - that is, have news items and social media
> > links on the homepage, but also have big buttons as in your design for
> > other activities such as contributing.
>
> Hehe, what luck that I've included the "Fidelity Matrix" - the 50%
> information design and 20% editorial content don't cover that. Of
> course, social media stuff is fine :-)

I should get into the habit of including your fidelity matrix - I'll
make up a little template for myself next time.

> > Additionally, I think the design can be simplified a little further,
> > so I've created a (somewhat weird and not-quite-there) hybrid [2].
> > I've included some alternative ideas but my main intention is to
> > demonstrate (what I think is) improved spacing and header + footer. In
> > terms of the visual design I think it is more consistent with the
> > application branding (e.g. splash screen) and more tidy (as well as
> > minimalist). The content there is just to demonstrate styling and
> > spacing... but I think we need to have a larger conversation about the
> > home page content.
>
> Great! Now it gets interesting how to put together some ideas ;-) But,
> I'm running out of time ... so just a few snippets.
>
> I tried to design my proposal for medium sized screens. So the most
> important information (including the support button) is visible once you
> open the page. Therefore I had to accept some size constraints for logo
> etc.

I think my proposal would be able to scale down to 800x600, but it
would also be a fluid design that would expand (to a certain extent)
on wider screens. I've freed up some vertical space in the second
iteration as well.

> The main problems I ran into was the sub-menu level ... the current
> solution of having it at the left side "breaks" the pages (and it is
> visually too strong in my point-of-view). Thus, we require a more
> balanced design (e.g. wider content area, helpful additional information
> below the sub-menu, ...).

Yes, sub-menus would shift the visual balance of the page considerably
to the left. There's not much we can do short of requiring minimum
numbers of sub-pages and/or centering the menus - but then the search
box would de-center the top menu :(

> So if you have any ideas here ... you have my full trust, of course!

A few ideas, yes, but I don't know if they're any good :)

Regards,
Ivan.

[1] http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/File:LibreOfficeSilverstripeWebsiteDraft2Ivan.png
[2] http://www.documentfoundation.org/download/
[3] http://jonraasch.com/blog/a-simple-jquery-slideshow

-- 
Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to website+help@libreoffice.org
List archive: http://www.libreoffice.org/lists/website/
*** All posts to this list are publicly archived for eternity ***