Hi Christoph, all!
Christoph Noack schrieb:
Hi Bernhard, hi all!
Am Montag, den 14.02.2011, 02:03 +0100 schrieb Bernhard Dippold:
[...]
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 :-)
You're right, we don't disagree often - but reading this mail, I don't think
they are contrary, just taking into account different needs...
my new proposal:
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/cgi_img_auth.php/c/c8/Website_banner_468x60.png
(clear browser cache, if necessary)
[...]
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.
Only on our website.
A similar banner could be offered for external pages, but in this case your
points about the uninformed users are even more valid as for our site - this
would need more explanatory text on the banner.
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.
You're right - I've been too deeply involved in that topic to have a look at
uninformed users / supporters.
Consequently, I'm hesitant to just say "The Challenge: 50 Thousand Euro
needed!", or "Funding our Foundation - Only 35 Days left!"
But these are the main points in my personal opinion (following Florian's
description). We have a very short timeframe to get quite an amount of
money.
I don't want to hide this information on the donation page, because even if
people understand that we ask for monetary donations for the foundation,
they are not attracted to help *now* by your proposal.
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?
I thought about "Our Challenge", but this would change anything for the
user. I don't insist on the word "challenge" at all - I just liked it, when
Florian first thought of it.
"Challenge" attracts people in my eyes. They become curious.
And this is the most important point here IMHO.
2. What does this to the end-user / community member mean? More
precisely, why should he click on the banner?
I see three different use-cases for my banner:
a) People thinking of a donation for LibO. They read about a sum and a
timeframe. They understand that they should contribute rather sooner than
later. They click on the banner to get more information.
b) People looking at our website for any other reason (probably download).
They read about sum and timeframe and perhaps they get curious. Perhaps they
come back to our site looking for our progress.
... and finally they want to know more about the background and click on the
banner...
c) People informed by a press release about our challenge: Either they tend
to a) or b) - but they definitively want to know about our progress.
Does the banner tell the user what to do?
Not directly, but I didn't see a way to add this information to the banner
without losing it's main purpose.
I think of a tooltip on mouseover telling them to click on the banner for
more information on the documentfoundation site.
[...]
3. Is the banner clickable at all?
Yes - the entire banner should be clickable (perhaps with inverting the
borders, so it looks like a button pressed...)
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).
I understood the green area as button ;-)
But a banner clickable at it's entire area (if you didn't plan this despite
the button) might be more attractive.
I agree that this information should be visible, but unless I make the
button higher there is no room for another line telling the user to click
for more information.
Do you think that mouseover would not work? If people get curious, they
probably will move the mouse over the interesting area...
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 :-)
Right - It will be the website Florian is setting up now. With the mouseover
they will be informed where they are led.
I tried to incorporate these things (amongst others, like repeating
keywords like "Donate") into my proposal.
We could replace
"The Challenge: 50 Thousand Euro needed!" by
"Donation needed: 50 Thousand Euro!"
... but I still like "Challenge" ;-)
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)
The integrative form of the banner should show them that this is not just an
external advertisement.
* 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)
See above - quite the same idea, but different solution.
With your approach there is no banner at all - it's a colored background
area with a (small) button.
I can happily live with it, but it should contain some more information
about the urgency of our request.
* Maximize the space being used on the page
The visual space used for the banner is the same, as my smaller one is
placed on an empty background that becomes part of the visual impression.
Your version provides more place for text - but text only is not really
attractive IMHO.
[...]
Sorry, but I don't really like it :-(
That's possible, of course ;-) But is it more about the visual style, or
the structure?
Mostly the color (much better now), but the structure too (as mentioned
above).
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.
It can be just my eyes - so no problem.
By the way, is there any color we might "reserve" for the fundraising to
have a consistent communication?
We should reserve a color for important information - in banners or other
areas.
If fundraising is worth to "waste" one of our colors? I don't know.
I'd rather go with one color for "contribution", another for "user support",
a third for "resources".
But that's just a short brainstorming - nothing really thought of in-depth.
And with the word cloud in the background it's quite turbulent too.
Can be removed with click + Del ...
Thanks!
[...]
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.
It's just my perception: The colored area at the side of the logo is just a
colored background, not a clickable banner.
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.
Did they do this for a single time campaign?
If you go for a long-term goal, I'm fully on your side - motivation and
information is the key. For a campaign lasting less than five weeks,
curiosity should be addressed too.
The barometer and countdown might indeed be very helpful, if we need to
go for the "final spurt".
We are in the spurt - even if we didn't start by now. Five weeks are a very
short timeframe.
[...]
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.
Same with me: If you already considered the points I mentioned, I don't have
any problem to follow your advise.
You have much more experience in UX than I have. You have been considered by
the SC to have the final say in UX questions.
As this banner has to be up and running very soon, please decide and go
ahead!
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
I like it much better :)
Best regards
Bernhard
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