[thelist] re: Mo. River Reg. Library Critique

[Ben Henick]

On Fri, 20 Apr 2001, Robin Hastings wrote:

> I'm biting the bullet and presenting our new site for critiques! At the
> library I work for, I have teamed up with a graphic designer (print mostly)

It shows.

> to completely redesign our web site. The target launch date is Monday -
> AGGGH!!  The old site is 3 years old (it predates me!) and is horrible, so

Yep.

> anything will be an improvement, but I'd still like to get opinions about
> how this new site looks, navigates, functions and works in various browsers.
> Our target audience probably uses from 56K modems to cable modems (very

On my 56K connection I didn't find myself waiting...

> popular in this area) and has reasonably recent computers. We've tried to
> design for 800 x 600 and up, with at least a nod to web-safe colors. Any
> comments you can make would be greatly appreciated. I've tested in IE 5.5
> and Netscape 6.0 (PC), and the graphic designer has tested on her Mac (no
> idea what browser she uses!). I'd love to hear how this site looks in the
> 4.0 browsers! Thanks for everything in advance!!
> 
> http://207.160.148.219/  (Missouri River Regional Library)

In Netscape 4.7 I didn't notice any boogers.  Considering the approach
that's been taken, I'd doubt that anything looks different in IE4, as
opposed to IE5.x...

There are a few things that stand out:

The information architecture presented when the user loads the home page
is overwhelming.  It's great that the "Catalog" link - probably the most
popular on that page - is top-center, but if you're expecting the rest of
the sections to get attention you might want to think about consolidating
the architecture over time... the headings ARE reasonably clear, and
there's potential value in all of the links on the homepage... but there
are so many of them.

The type on the buttons is too small, and quite nearly illegible in its
mouseover state.  Even the larger type has been hammered down to 12px
height (if not 11px) but should be at least 14px with a total "line
height" of at least 17px.

The "Welcome!" banner on the home page is a horrible waste of space.

The presentation of the card catalog is not at all consistent with the
rest of the site.  Can this be fixed?

So goes my brief examination.  In all it *is* an improvement on its
predecessor, and it passed my main test - I was able to get to the site
and make catalog searches in a short period of time (seconds).

...And while I don't often answer critiques because of the circumstances
under which they're often submitted, and because I hate to load emails all
full of criticism, I couldn't turn this one down - not when one considers
that I lived in Columbia for eight years.  Best of luck on Monday!


HTH
-- 
Ben Henick
Web Author At-Large
http://www.io.com/persist1/
persist1 at io.com

"Are you pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky?"
"I think so, Brain, but... (snort) no, no, it's too stupid."
"We will disguise ourselves as a cow."
"Oh!" (giggles) "That was it exactly!"