[Web4lib] U.Va. Library website design review

[Ron Peterson]

I agree with Phoebe, I think that there are a lot of links listed, and not much to differentiate them for the user.  The headings don't really set them off that well. At MPOW, we have done some focus groups for a long overdue redesign of our website and the issue of links just "blurring together" has been a frequent theme.  They are clearly looking for visual cues as to what is the good stuff.  Maybe you could move some of the less frequently used links deeper into the website or use tabs or rollovers to control how much information is displayed at any time and to create a stronger sense that those links are related.  

One other thing, the background design colors seem to be scaled to the size of the window.  So when I view your page in a window less than about 990px the background stops at the window edge and the design starts to break down.  At about 850px wide the blue Special Collections link is on a blue background.
 
Ron Peterson

----- Original Message ----
From: phoebe ayers <phoebe.wiki at gmail.com>
To: John Loy <jml4n at virginia.edu>
Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 4:49:40 PM
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] U.Va. Library website design review

It looks good! The colors are good, and it's very pretty. My main concern is
that the page is awfully busy with links that all sort of blur together (I
went looking for subject guides and didn't find them without a ctrl-f
search). Having all that info on the front page is good, but I wonder if you
can work on some more logical groups, so similar links are next to one
another -- i.e. should "interlibrary loan" be next to "borrowing policies"?
"request a research tutorial" next to "questions for a librarian", since
they are pretty similar?

I'd also work on link names a little bit to make them as easy as possible --
"location" should probably be "map"; classes should be "library classes" (to
differentiate from the other classes); "articles" should probably be in
there along "databases" in the link to the databases page.

I'd also consider condensing the blue header along with the image a bit to
buy yourself a bit more screenspace, so not quite as many of the links get
cut off.

-- phoebe

On 5/9/07, John Loy <jml4n at virginia.edu> wrote:
>
> We've just posted a draft of a new design for the U.Va. Library
> homepage at <http://lab.lib.virginia.edu>, and would really
> appreciate any suggestions and comments on it from the Web4Lib
> community.
>
> Please keep in mind that this is very much a work-in-progress, and
> several things aren't working yet, most notably the search box. Most
> of the links in this version work, but they will take you to the
> site's current live pages, not ones reflecting the new design. The
> design concept; including typography, colors, layout, and other
> visual elements; will be applied before long to templates for the
> rest of the site. Those templates will be included in the next
> posting to our online "Lab".
>
> In the rush to get the page up by our deadline, we haven't tested
> very thoroughly. So the html and CSS may not completely validate yet,
> the CSS may not render quite right in older browsers like IE5, and
> we've undoubtedly not covered every accessibility detail.
>
> We've also started a blog at <http://uvalibwebdev.wordpress.com/>
> where you can find out what's coming next in our design process,
> learn about the technology running behind the site, and get links to
> sites in which we're finding inspiration.
>
> Please send feedback to webmanager_library at virginia.edu. If you
> respond to the list, please Cc that address.
>
>
> Many thanks,
> --
> John Loy
> Web Designer
> University of Virginia Library
> phone: (434) 924-7099
> fax: (434) 924-1431
> 552 Alderman Library
> http://lib.virginia.edu
>
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