Posts filed under 'web design'
I spent a good two or three days searching for a good piece of project management software, a few months back. I finally settled with unfuddle. One week after signing up, I was reminded of why I had picked them.
I had been working with on a project and suddenly remembered that I wanted to gripe to them about their user limits, so I went searching for a contact us link … my eyes immediately fell on the link that said “send feedback” … [click on image to see bigger copy]
as soon as I clicked on it, a contact form flew out that allowed me get on with my rant
why is this nifty?
- It was quick and easy: I just typed in what I wanted and went back to what I was doing … not a single page load
- It was easy: notice how they didn’t ask for my name or email? … they have that information already
- It gives you an out: If you click “cancel” the form goes away immediately and you can get back to what you were doing
any complaints?
- Just one the placement of the”send feedback” link might cause it to be overlooked. An understated graphic might help draw more attention to it
what happened afterward?
- I sent the email before I went to bed at 11pm, and before I had woken up, I had a response. Not a brush off by the way … a good detailed email that addressed all the issues raised. While I didn’t agree with their positions on certain things, I felt like they had listened to me, and now I’m writing this blog. CUSTOMER SERVICE IS MARKETING!
So if you want a great web application for project management … give unfuddle a look.
January 31st, 2008
I used to be a big fan of CNN, and I still read their news via RSS. I was on there today when I came across this item …
See the big button that invites you to click on it? What do you think it does?
Go ahead … try it.
Yep, it doesn’t instantly start playing. It takes you to another screen, where you have to sit through a commercial to watch your video.
What do you think users are going to do in an era of a million and one embedded video options like … um .. youtube. If they were only kinda-sorta interested in the video … they’ll close out of it immediately and go to something more interesting.
How should CNN fix this?
- Offer embeddable video players: I understand CNN wants to keep their content on their servers. However, flash players are easy to build and I am sure there are tons of sites that offer free ones. However if you’re hell bent on building one from scratch, I know an awesome Austin web developer that can build one to match your budget :]
- Remove the play button from the picture: If the embedded video is not an option go with something that tells the user that they’ll lose their place and be diverted to another page. I understand that the play button invites you to click on the image, but since sites like youtube and dailymotion have changed the significance of a play button over an image, users might be displeased when the video doesn’t immediately start playing. Something like a simple “Watch this video” link under the article might be a better option. In this era of Ajax and fewer pageloads per click a new user to cnn.com might not be so pleased to sit through a heavy page load, that doesn’t even open in a new tab!
Remember, you want to adhere to the “Don’t make me think” principle whenever possible, and because interface behavior (especially on the web) can change quickly, you have to stay ahead of the curve. Two or three years ago, this would probably have been excellent interface design, because it invited the user to click on the image … not any more.
January 31st, 2008
Just happened to stumble across National Public Radio (NPR) music early this morning and initially thought it was a redesign of npr’s webite.
It really is visually stunning … a truly great looking site. [Click on images to enlarge]
However there are a few problems that I’ve noticed with the homepage design
- Busy navigation: there too many navigational elements at the top of the page … (almost four different blocks of navigation) which could easily confuse users,
- Flow: After the main flash box, it is not immediately apparent what next to click on. Each of the elements after that (even in the right column and below it) compete equally for attention
- Busy: My worry with the design is that they seemed to have crammed almost EVERYTHING about the site in on the home page. This is either a sign of design-by-committee or a designer who didn’t make the tough decisions necessary to make a lovely site into a FANTASTIC site. Remember “good is the enemy of great”
Lest you get the impression that we hate the site, that is not correct, their use of color is amazing. Blocks of information are separated out and highlighted so that there is no doubt what each block is about.
We just wish they wouldn’t have left all the decision making to the user.
[Go to npr music]
January 14th, 2008
