redesigning lclark.edu

The outside world

Another site worth a look

Take a look at Bard’s site: http://www.bard.edu/  I enjoy the concept much more than the execution, but it is worth a look.  The pulldown menus at the top too easily get lost and one is left feeling that the only way to navigate (other than the search box) is the Flash people photos.  Having a top banner built in Flash with moving photos is all the rage these days.  I’m not much of a fan, as I think they can be hard to navigate.  Bard’s no exception in my mind.  Why click on this guy or that?  (Why not?)  The concept of emphasizing the “human element” of a college is a good one though.

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4 people have already made the whale happy; but who couldn’t be happier?(Go ahead, make a comment…)

Web Metrics article

I saw this article this morning referenced in the uwebd listserv and thought it worth sharing. It is called, “The Top 10 Most Overused Metrics of 2007,” and it briefly covers some limitations about ways in which people judge websites.

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Make the whale happy; post a comment.

Navigational Aids vs. Labels

There was an interesting discussion in another forum about whether to use terms such as Bursar’s Office to direct web visitors to … the Bursar’s Office. The problem is that someone, especially a non-student, who’s searching for information about payment policies might not know to click this.

And so look at this screenshot from the Army’s recruiting web site:

goarmy-screenshot

They solve this problem nicely.  As another writer had pointed out, they use common language that their audience would expect to find “careers & jobs”, which leads to detailed text that begins using the Army’s own terms -  “MOS”.

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One person has made the whale happy; will you?(Go ahead, make a comment…)

Interesting Navigation

Occasionally we may link to sites that have elements that we find interesting, or address a common design concern in a way that seems particularly new or notable. This is not an endorsement of the particular design, and it’s not an indication of how our own design will turn out. Just a little, “huh, you seen this?”

I ran across the recently redesigned homepage for Haverford College and they have some interesting ways of handling front page navigation and search:

Federated search [top right corner]: returns results in different categories like we have, but changes the orientation to use columns of various sizes and colors. Also adds student groups and profiles. Also they have their primary results be web pages, which for us is an additional click away.

Quick access [link on the right side]: as opposed to using flyout nav I guess, this puts a bunch of common or high priorty links all on the same high profile page page right off the front page.

Helpful hints: little boxes that pop up to highlight links/features/etc., is something I haven’t seen on a college site before. Too see them try refreshing the page a few times and they will pop up and go away in what seems to be a semi-random fashion.

I initially stumbled upon this site when browsing the higher education focused web design gallery over at eduStyle which is a neat site chock-full of the latest college and university web designs.

One last thing: If you ever run across an element on a web site that you either love or don’t love, we’d be interested in hearing from you. Post a comment on this blog or shoot us an email!

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5 people have already made the whale happy; but who couldn’t be happier?(Go ahead, make a comment…)