[thelist] RE: Site Crit / Online Magazines

[Kevin D. White]

"I believe that they were/are of the opinion that it has a "Corporate"
audience, that would have faster connections, and hence didn't worry about
the heavy graphics load."

This is a very bad assumption to make.  Business users tend to be less
tolerant of graphics heavy loads that home users.  This is for two main
reasons:

1) Time is money.  They are busy busy people.
2) Trends toward mobile connectivity: laptops & pda's.

The movie metaphor is cutesy and damages your credibility.  Ask yourself,
would you sit for a meeting that used this theme?  Not likely.

The navigation requires too much thought to understand and assumes a lot
about the tastes of the user population.  Very self-referential.

Your subscription links are almost impossible to see yet they are incredibly
important.

Your home page should answer the five W's
Who you are
What you do
When can I get it
How can I get it
Why do I want it

And then quickly move people beyond the home page.

I strongly suggest you undertake a design competitive study.  Rank and
analyze your competitor's sites and solicit feedback on what these sites are
doing right and wrong.  You should also throw in some sites that are used by
your target audience but not in the same market.

You should also include a quick user study.  Say, five people from your
target demographic.  Observe each separately and in their preferred
environment.  This is not a focus group.  It's a user study about the site
interaction.

As for Search Engine ranking, this should be the least of your worries right
now.  You certainly do not want a high rank for the current site.  You will
just annoy potential users therefore increasing your acquisition and
retention costs.


Good luck.