[Web4lib] Library Web site redesign

[Araby Y Greene]

You've got a very nice start on a solid design for your users. That's evident with a cursory look. It's clear that you're still working on the top section, and I'm assuming that validation to standards will be addressed before rollout, but overall, it's light years ahead of the city design. 
 
Your redesign is easier to "understand" at first glance than the city's. Blocks of subtle color help the visitor make sense of the the page. You've avoided "too much information" by making task information easy to find and have carried it consistently throughout the site. 
 
Information for your audience is or oganized at the top, where KIDS, TEENS, RESEARCHERS, etc., can find it immediately. Obviously, you know more about how your audience uses the site than the city's IT dept (do any of them actually use the library?). It's easy to navigate to detailed information. Unfortunately, the city has design has carried "everything looking the same" to a point where everything on the page itself looks the same, has equal emphasis, and takes a lot of scanning to figure out what's important.
 
Your design puts interesting stories in the top center of the page. The city design does not. People looking for jobs are motivated and will find it. The other 99.9% of visitors will be more interested in specifics about what's happening at the Library, not a vague "Hey, we have kids' programs." I think people love "Staff Picks" and book jackets, a keeper.
 
I do have one pet peeve, and that's fonts smaller than "small" for body text and links. "Fine print" is for contracts, not for public libraries that server many people of all ages. I would also suggest that you might more use of "Ask Now" if you move it closer to the top of the page.
 
I'm not sure if this message will appear properly in the list because I'm using a Web version of MS Exchange, which does not offer plain text as a message option.
 
Good luck,
-araby

________________________________

From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org on behalf of Diana Myers Hyatt
Sent: Sun 9/10/2006 1:36 PM
To: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Web4lib] Library Web site redesign



I value the expertise and opinions of this group, and
would like your comments about the redesign I'm
working on for the Riverside Public Library Web site,
as well as one done by the city's IT department (the
library wasn't consulted or notified on this one).

Here's the current site, which is really showing its
age: http://www.riversideca.gov/library/

Here's my redesign so far:
http://www.riversideca.gov/library/library4/
I've incorporated the city's banner design since
"everything looking the same" seems to be the ultimate
goal of their redesign.

And here's the one the city wants us to use:
http://www.riversideca.gov/library3/


Since I'm working on this redesign myself and there's
no one else at our library with a background in web
design, especially such issues as standards and
accessibility, I would greatly appreciate the honest
opinions and suggestions of this group. Take a look at
the style sheets and source code if you can.

If you wish you can email me at
dhyatt at riversideca.gov.

Thanks for your two cents in advance,

Diana Myers Hyatt
Library Associate
City of Riverside Public Library




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