On Tue, 2007-12-04 at 15:02 +1300, Graham wrote: > On Tuesday 04 December 2007 12:37:37 William Case wrote: > > Hi; >
> Hi Bill, > > > > > Taking that liberty. > > No liberty taken, much welcomed in fact. > > > > > [snip] > > > > > >> 4. http://www.apple.com/iwork/ > > > > > > > > Nobody at apple has dialup, that is obvious. > > > > > > > :) > > > > I think that the > > http://www.molcan.cz/download/ooo3.jpg is still the best so far: > > There is lots to be said for Filip's design but it would load like a slug on > prozac on dialup just like the i-works one. I don't know what it's like in > the rest o f the world, but in Australia, dialup connection accounts for > about 40% of all connections, in NZ it's over 50% and both countries are > first world. Where does that leave the rest > > Graphics take an age to load. So on that measure it is not very good User > Experience > Well, I haven't had to use dial-up for years, so I'll take your word for it. I agree, the greatest marketing potential is with people around the world who are or are going to be new to computers; that is, the vast majority of the world. Those are the very people who NEED a free office suite. I can't help you figure out how to best create for dial-up, but I do have some knowledge about what might work best as far as content is concerned. > > > > I laid it out, using tabs in my browser, next to other attractive sites, > > particularly to the iWork site. Try it. I think you will find it draws > > your attention more than any other except iWork. > > The only thing that kept me from killing the i-work page other than feeling > that I had a duty to look at it, was two games of free cell! :) > > > > > Other suggestions presented are prettier and more sophisticated, but to > > me, the main factor is drawing the viewer in, to encourage him to > > explore the possibilities. > > > > [....] > I tried to outline some of those principles in the snipped parts: 1) draw people in with smiling faces or human actions. 2) divide up the various target audiences. I have called them; Explorers, First Time Downloaders, scratch the term upgraders and call the next group Extenders and Extras, Participants and Developers. Reach them all through single home page -- called a 'splash' page elsewhere. 3) Use button links to direct them to their respective sub-home pages. The main purpose of each page I see as follows: 1) Main Home Page - capture peoples interest and attention and make it easy for them to choose which area they want to be in. 2) The 'What is OpenOffice' sub-page and links -- marketing for Explorers. 3) The 'DOWNLOAD' page -- reassurance and explanation of how to download and install successfully-- with a 'DOWNLOAD NOW' button for First Time Downloaders. With perhaps an 'ADVANCED DOWNLOAD' for more experienced users who want down load CVS, unstable, older versions, or different O/Ss for whatever reason. 4) The 'GET SUPPORT' page for all users that should be divided into two sections; on line support such as forum, irc and mailing list. And, a documentation section. These two sections can fork from the support page. 5) The 'PARTICIPATE' sub-home page which includes contributions. In my view, pages 1), 2) & 3) should be graphically related to keep new users comfortable about being in the right place. From 4) onward as the subject matter gets more technical the basic lay can vary to suite the needs of the subject at hand. New users would not be surprised by that and, in fact, see the changing layout as a visual cue that they are getting in too deep for just an Explorer. 6) A new suggestion. Call the next button and home page 'EXTENSIONS & EXTRAS'. That is clear. People would expect to find extensions, plug-ins, templates, clip art and the like presented here and would not be surprised if the layout was straight forward and simple involving lots of text descriptions. 7) The 'FOR DEVELOPERS' button and page should be what it says it is -- a site (page) that developers want to go to and which new users don't. This page and its links is all business; all meat and potatoes as it were. [snip] > > Maybe 'EXTENSIONS ETC.' on the home page then a choice and a toolbar in > > the 'EXTENSIONS' sub-home page. > > Fair enough, however the experienced ones would most likely go straight to > their favourite project. Remember we have to deal with the lowest common > denominator in terms of internet sophistication > Precisely. We want and expect experienced users to go directly to their favourite project. In fact we should ease them on their way by making sure that the appropriate URLs are easy to use, remember and store. But you also have to remember, that every experienced user has to come to OOo the first time. They maybe programmers etc. but the first time they come to OOo's site they need directions to the 'FOR DEVELOPERS' page at least once. > > > > > >> - do you think it is still appropriate to include some lines > > > >> explaining in very global terms, e.g. "OpenOffice.org is a > > > >> multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source > > > >> project. Compatible with all other major office suites, the product is > > > >> free to download, use, and distribute. " > > > > > > > > Yes and No. It's about prominence on launch and so long as it is > > > > readable but not the most prominent thing when the page launches. > > > > However the above statement is clear and concise and relevant and gives > > > > our casual "Foot traffiic" client one more nudge to hit the "I want to > > > > learn more...." button / icon / link. I'm more in favour than not > > > > KISS. Put definitions in sub-domains. In this case, the 'What is > > OpenOffice?' sub-home page. > > I'm not sure what you mean here. This is not a definition, rather a couple of > sentences explaining what people are looking at on this webpage, I'll admit > I'm not hugely committed one or another but if I was told to get off the > fence I would probably go for leaving it. > Well, for what it is worth, I would hide it. Just use a prominent loud 'FREE' on the home page instead. [snip] > We need to make decisions by the 15th, if we are going to do those as well > we > need design and sitemaps now > Tried to give what I thought would be a text sitemap above. > > > > Regarding one-click downloads; I don't think a download would be used or > > expected off of the home page. In fact, some new users might get annoyed > > at having an office suite dumped on their machine when all they wanted > > to do was to take a look at what a download and installation involves. > > > > Give them a download page; give them reassurances and explanations on > > that page; then, let them have the one-click download > > Agreed > -- Regards Bill --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
