Hi all,
Graham wrote:
...
They will read large text first before small. They will read anything
in or around the colour Orange before anything else. All of the above are on
the level of instinctive.
Indeed, *Orange* seems to have some magic power on humans. Luckily, I
choose it right. ;-)
[see
http://www.openoffice.org/nonav/issues/showattachment.cgi/49835/OOo%20WebSite.jpg
]
Indeed, the orange 'DOWNLOAD' in the middle of the screen captures
immediately the attention, so it was a wise decision.
Kay Schenk wrote:
OK, and here is where our confusion begins. Is the homepage about
"marketing" or simply resources? We are, in some ways, like a commercial
entity trying to sell a product, and in many ways, not. The dichotomy
of marketing vs technical was brought up about a week ago by someone
else (can't remember who now), /* it was me */
and I guess we should have discussed this
aspect in more detail.
I was unsure, IF my previous message
(http://website.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=dev&msgNo=8871) was
too harsh. I now believe it was absolutely necessary. It may be harsh,
but without a firm idea of where we're going and an iron hand to do it
right, this new redesign action would have likely ended into the mayhem
of nowhere.
Ultimately, it was the right question I asked.
I strongly favour a marketing approach. Whatever the ultimate design
would look like, it should be market-oriented, and strongly so.
Should we worry about leftist community groups?
NO, I am more left than most here ("das Herz schlagt links"), and I
recognise that this is utterly necessary. What is more leftist than
knowing that the free OOo is gaining widespread adoption.
Would you personally use that page?
NO, as I am not a new user (I really used OOo back to 2004 - StarOffice
back then), so I probably won't use that page. Rather, I would link to a
more developer-oriented page, but then again, I surf to the current
page, because there is no really alternative page for developers.
Therefore, the new approach will be both beneficial to new users and
more advanced people.
So, what are the next steps?
Graham wrote:
The three tenets of Marketing
*Create a need
*Create a desire
*Fill a present need
This is absolutely correct, and because the no. 1 office suite is still
MS Office, we need to aggressively pursue all 3 directions. I'll leave
the details to someone more familiar with marketing. But I know this is
possible.
However, whoever wishes to design a marketing-oriented page, there are
some common concepts:
1.) use bright pictures, usually with *happy people*
2.) don't overcrowd
3.) do NOT use much text (a simple question may be OK)
4.) more product information must be easily accessible
- a 'WHY OOo?' is essential
- this Why-page could contain also a product tour
A number of interesting proposals have surfaced and I am sure there
will be even more good ones to come.
[ about:
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/mwiki/images/5/52/Siteconcept2.png
What about a bigger *ORANGE* Download-button?
On an average desk with average monitor, the 'Download'-button
is far too low and to the left.
]
[
http://overkill.hyperphp.com/images/ooosite/siteprop02b.png
This is also an interesting suggestion.
I like the What/How/Who-tags.
'My Pages' should be discarded, it has no use on a general user page.
The news-footer should be enhanced. It is overcrowded.
]
Now, there is a need for further changes, but acknowledging even these
basic requirements is a good start. I suppose that the whole OOo site
needs to be redesigned and restructured. Indeed, the site structure
needs a major rework, focusing on specific needs for every user group.
In this respect, maybe it is also a good idea, to keep a better
structure on the wiki. I have moved various Website-related pages under
the "Website/"-directory. I hope that future pages are created under the
appropriate Top-Level directory, rather than as orphaned pages.
Sincerely,
Leonard
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