Re: [libreoffice-website] Banner for website

Hi Bernhard, hi all!

Am Montag, den 14.02.2011, 02:03 +0100 schrieb Bernhard Dippold:
> Hi Christoph, all,
>
> short version:

Okay, let me add my short version - I'm happy with everything that gets
us closer to the goal. And even if we are "online" there might be time
for refinement.

However, I'd like to throw in a few thoughts ... I currently miss a few
things that I consider as important. And funnily, it seems that most of
our assumptions are quite contrary - for the very first time :-)

> my new proposal:
> http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/cgi_img_auth.php/c/c8/Website_banner_468x60.png
> (clear browser cache, if necessary)
>
> longer version:

:-)

> Christoph Noack schrieb:
> > Am Sonntag, den 13.02.2011, 12:07 +0100 schrieb Florian Effenberger:
> > > Bernhard Dippold wrote on 2011-02-13 03.20:
[...]
> I want it to look like an element of the page - that's what I think is 
> important, if we want to keep an eye on all our target groups.

Mmh, maybe I don't understand that ... could you please tell a bit more?
If you refer to target groups, I think about the content and its
presentation, but here I get the impression you are referring to the
whole banner that may be re-used on different pages.

But since you refer to the target groups - I also miss some
consideration of the users of our website. Personally, I hope that we
might attract those people who are not even aware why a foundation is
needed. And to be honest, I also think that many people in our community
don't know how important this is.

Consequently, I'm hesitant to just say "The Challenge: 50 Thousand Euro
needed!", or "Funding our Foundation - Only 35 Days left!"

So please bear with me when I add some UX thoughts to the banner:
     1. The Challenge: The challenge for whom? Is it ours, or the
        challenge of our users?
     2. What does this to the end-user / community member mean? More
        precisely, why should he click on the banner? Does the banner
        tell the user what to do? The proposal by Matt (sorry for this
        side-note missing to properly to reply to Matt) shows a kind of
        progress bar - which usually tells the user to wait ...
     3. Is the banner clickable at all? Is there anything that tells the
        user that this element leads to somewhere else? (David mentioned
        that this isn't obvious for him concerning my proposal as well,
        although I tried - maybe failed - to add a button).
     4. If the user clicks to the banner, what location will be opened?
        People feel more safe if we tell them what will happen ...
        especially if we want something from them :-)

I tried to incorporate these things (amongst others, like repeating
keywords like "Donate") into my proposal.

> A banner just painted over an area of the page doesn't look professional 
> IMHO - as we not only want to involve individuals, but business people, 
> decision makers in companies and others able to donate larger sums, I'd 
> like to address them too.

Well, my take was the following:
      * Avoid the format of a conventional banner (people may think of
        "normal" advertisement and thus don't pay attention)
      * Provide a visual connection between the "page" and our request:
              * LibreOffice belongs to the Foundation and vice versa
              * The item is not hosted by an external entity, but
                belongs to our page (again: avoid the impression of
                conventional advertisement)
      * Maximize the space being used on the page

> > Summary:
> >        * Maximizing the space for the banner without touching the current
> >          LibreOffice logo on the website
> >        * Using "intensive" colors based on "Libre Yellow", and used a
> >          rather "noisy" design that drives away attention from the rest
> >          of the page :-)
> >        * Instead of a slogan, I decided to re-use our TDF team mission
> >          statement
> >
> > Direct link:
> > http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/cgi_img_auth.php/d/d1/2011-02-13_Christoph_Idea_Foundation_Donation_Banner_Website.png
> >
> > Working space incl. source file (SVG):
> > http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/User:ChristophNoack/Temporary_Work_Space#The_Document_Foundation_Fundraising
> >
> > I don't know whether this might work, but at least it is another
> > proposal ... any thoughts on that?
>
> Sorry, but I don't really like it :-(

That's possible, of course ;-) But is it more about the visual style, or
the structure?

> It's not only noisy, it contains a kind of negative, displeasing color 
> tone for me. It doesn't attract the interest, but distracts it from the 
> rest of the page.

Well, color wise it looks okay on my monitor (and viewed by my eyes, of
course *g*), but color can be changed.

By the way, is there any color we might "reserve" for the fundraising to
have a consistent communication?

> And with the word cloud in the background it's quite turbulent too.

Can be removed with click + Del ...

> As you didn't include a border to the banner, it becomes part of the 
> background, while the impression of a more prominent banner might draw 
> more attention...

I think my assumption is different - the more prominent banner is the
one, who tries to be different from standard formats.

> But this is only my personal perception, if I'm the only one, please go 
> ahead!
>
> I want to share another idea:
>
> A banner that includes the barometer and the countdown.

Mmh, just to share a thought - is it more important to show the
barometer/countdown, or to explain why people should donate? Thinking
about the experience of how Wikipedia styled the requests for donations,
they tried to align to the user's motivations (freedom, doing something
good, knowledge, ...) first.

The barometer and countdown might indeed be very helpful, if we need to
go for the "final spurt".

[...]

> Updating my banner proposal at
> http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/cgi_img_auth.php/c/c8/Website_banner_468x60.png 

> Should we go this way or rather follow another approach (Matt, Christoph...)

Well, as I said, I'm fine with what brings us forward ... especially
since I stated my concerns. If anybody needs help, I may have some time
tomorrow (late) evening for that ...

In the meantime, here is a slightly changed proposal that tries to
address your feedback (yours, David's):
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/bCEzLXM_y8U5YCJI90oeQA?feat=directlink

Cheers and good night,
Christoph


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