New website feedback

[Lewis Nerone]

Hi all!

Team 4269 (The CardinalBots) recently created a new website.

http://www.stcharlesrobotics.com

Feel free to provide some feedback. All is appreciated.

Thanks! - Jedi™

[cadandcookies]

Great start! I'm partial to minimalist designs, so I quite like the overall design of your site. There are a couple small tweaks you could make in order to improve usability/ visual appearance:

You really don't need a "lander" page-- it just creates another loop for people to jump through. Landers are nice if the majority of the site is flash or java-based, but for a primarily text-based site, it's unnecessary.

The primary graphic looks like it's stretched or compressed-- I'm fairly sure this is just a product of the 3D effect you have on it. This is mostly a matter of preference, but 2D media typically calls for 2D graphics. It also creates a bit of confusion when the logo isn't consistent (such as on the lander page, where the main logo appears to be different than the banner).

Speaking of graphics, your photos page is a bit unorganized-- you might want to divide it up a bit more. I would look at Team 1816's site, which has a simple but more organized method of presentation.

The header in general could use a bit of work-- the aesthetic that the logo gives is a silver and red look, so the white background looks a little bit off. This I think is mostly a product of that previously mentioned 3D effect-- it's a very strong design statement that should guide the rest of your elements. Personally I would just have it in 2D-- a lot easier to make the site agree. Also those social media buttons look orphaned on my main screen-- maybe try aligning them vertically along the header image?

I hope I'm not coming across as too negative-- you have all the elements there, but it could use a bit of polish. With a little bit of work, you might have quite the excellent site! I particularly like the transitions on the home-page photos, which are much more active than some I've seen.

[nathan_hui]

Your site is okay on first glance. However, things seem to be loading somewhat slowly on my machine, particularly the Home page slider and the Photos page. For the Photos page, it's also a bit long. Perhaps set it up in clickable albums that load on demand, to reduce the actual download size of the page and let people see what's available?

Other than, it's a great start. I'm no graphics designer, so I can't say much to the visual aspects of the website. In terms of functionality, you're off to a great start. Take a moment to remember the audience for your website: members, parents, sponsors, community, and judges. Once you cater more to a wider audience and make more about your team known on the website, I think you'll have a great website. Keep it going!

[rl1806]

The visual design looks good and the content is visually balanced. The font size on the home page is a little inconsistent in the different sections; the more important the headings are usually in a larger font size.

Because the Fundraising link takes the user to a new domain having it open in a new tab will help keep people wandering away from your site.

To organize and share your team pictures you might look into using Picasa Web Albums; they provide both a flash slide show and an HTML thumbnail for the albums you can embed in your site. You might want to include a description of what the USTREAM video is for when the video is off air.

Overall great start to your website.