hey, we have just released our new website please check it out and give us your thoughts
http://panteras.up.edu.mx/index.html
Hey guys. I’ve taken a look at the site and I quite like the design. It’s straightforward and does a reasonable job of explaining the goal of FIRST and the team. I can see one problem with the date being covered by the banner up the top. Otherwise, I quite like it.
Ok first off, this site looks good! I like that you didn’t do anything with the buttons at the top (I hate accidentally clicking them and then having the page poof).
So concerns:
-Your homepage is 2.5mb download. That is way to high. I’m on a wireless N connection so I can’t say it was slow, but on an older computer or a slower connection that is an issue.
-You have 2 javascript errors just an FYI
-sponsors should open in new windows
-your bottom 2 banners on the homepage violates FIRST logo rules
-terms of use page I would prefer to have a new window with the actual CC page rather than your page (but thats cool having a CC license… I might follow suite…)
-on the homepage center banner I would remove the url (not a bad thing, just me), but i think if you had a much less ‘intense’ homepage (removing news and making it it’s own page) you’d save a lot of space
-going through the site, I see a lot of copyright violations of the FIRST logo. see http://bit.ly/9D8yUa
-jQuery!! <333333
-spelling mistake on the menu “Truductions to spanish”
-hall fame page is cool! Maybe make it modal?
Last thoughts: Your site is very good! There are just little things here and there to tweak and you should have one rockin site!!
—Ryan
Overall nice design. The post above did point out all of the issues. Personally I had no issue with the loading of the page but my older laptop did. I LOVE JQUERY and I’m glad to see someone is using it :). I’m liking the mac type bar at the top. Just fix the issues listed above and you should have a nice site :). Good job.
I can tell you worked hard on it! I’m just going to say what I noticed though —$@#and that is that my eyes don’t know where to land first. Flow of eye direction is important in any visual arts whether it be film, photography, and even a website, to convey the information as easy as it could be. Perhaps tone certain things down? Like the background? I’m not sure what the best overall fix could be, but I thought that the initial viewport of the page was way too busy, if you know what I’m trying to say.
Thanks for the help, is very usefull for us. We are fixing the issues that you reported.
Regards
05k@R
Communication, Panteras UP
So i noticed you now put an overlay on your site. Here is a cool less distracting jquery plugin i would recommended:
http://plugins.jquery.com/project/Growl-for-the-net-and-jQuery
@dq
Nice plugin find. I love jquery
I just looked at the website, and it seems like you guys are trying to get across a lot of information with it, which is great. And spending some time there you really do have some good information available. However, according to old studies I read back in school, you typically have 5 seconds to really catch the attention of someone visiting your site for the first time before they move on.
When you first go to the site, what do you see? For me, the first thing I notice is the spinning gears at the top. Yeah, they’re cool… but they pull the eye away from what your trying to get across. The colorful header and left sidebar with sponsor logos is certainly attractive… but again, it draws the eye away from what your trying to convey. The text on the page (like the FAQs on the homepage) looks dull next to so much color and diversity.
Contrast your home page with ours. We have a extraordinarily simple layout, with nothing to distract the eye from point we’re trying to get across. When you visit our site, you immediately see what makes our team unique - it’s an all girls team. By getting that information across to the viewer in the first few seconds of visiting the site, it helps to draw them in.
Take the time to identify what makes your team unique, and ensure that gets conveyed to the viewer in the first 5 seconds. Focus on what catches the eye, and make sure the viewers focus is going to be where you want.
A great way to do this is to sit someone down (a stranger, family member, teacher… so long as they haven’t seen the site before), and give them 5 seconds look at the page. Then cover the monitor and ask them what they thought. Find out where they looked on the page, and what information was conveyed in those first few seconds. Rework the page as needed, and repeat this procedure until they can tell you what main selling point of your team is, and that their eye is drawn first to the main information on the page.
I agree with what the others have said about the site being rather busy, but in this instance I actually think it is ok because everything that is distracting is relevant.
The changes I would recomend would be:
shrinking or moving the sponsor logos farther to the side (if possible) because they do make the site seem rather cluttered.
On your home page have a description of your team and/or FIRST.
Other wise I think this site is awesome. Great Job.
Thank you all for the help. We’re working on the recomendations you send.
I hope you will see changes in a few days.
05k@R
Communication, Panteras UP
Nice job so far on the changes. I like this new background better.