Building websites together

So, here goes my feedback on the websites:

Chris: Although several of our classmates have commented on this class before, I would still like to congratulate you on the design of the homepage. It is a really creative way of bringing your professional and personal life together in a single photograph. I also enjoyed the quotations. However, I would have preferred to see some more content on the “About me” page, just a small paragraph describing who you are in more concrete terms.

Jessica: The idea of building a webpage around your “struggle with weight control” was simply fascinating. It’s a great way of sharing your personal story with others and encouraging them to share their narratives with you. What I like best about your website is the navigation bar. The design is really neat. I like the way a link gets underscored when I move my mouse over it. You have also done a great job on reinforcing/supporting your narrative with pictures and graphs. However, although I enjoyed reading through your narratives, I was slightly uncomfortable with the length of the text. I personally don’t like reading though huge chunks of text on the screen. So, maybe you could consider offering your readers a choice between reading the full story and an abridged version. The abridged version is what a reader could see on first visiting a page. The fuller version can come under a “Click for the full story” kind of link.

(PS: the “Publications” link didn’t work for me.)

Dominic: On your homepage you have written “I’ll start by saying that I know the name of the site is cheesy and self indulgent...but so am I.”— I think it’s a great idea to let your website be a reflection of your personality. And, the way you have gone about implementing this concept on a design level is simply wonderful. I am not sure if I could have pulled it off so elegantly. That said, I did have some initial difficulty navigating through the site. I think that this is mainly because the links on the homepage don’t match up always with the header labels on the other pages. So, for example on clicking “let’s sit and chat” I am transported to the “inside my head” page. I found this somewhat confusing. Is there a way this could be made more intuitive?

Shawna: Your site looks wonderful! I loved the blend of primary colors. They make a website so much more engaging and attractive. I also like the way in which the layout changes across the pages. You have also succeeded in introducing motion into your design without making the viewing experience chaotic for your readers. That said, I have two suggestions for you. First, I want to draw your attention to the “Resources” link— the white fonts don’t stand out clearly against the yellow background. Second, on the “Training Manuals” page the enlarged view of the thumbnails are not very clear. They are somewhat pixilated and, therefore, difficult to interpret. Is there a way you could improve those?

Adrian: I mentioned this once before but I can’t help repeating myself— I really like the bold contrast that you have established on your webpage. And, the best part is that you have achieved this contrast by limiting yourself to only three colors. Orange looks great on black. So, does black on white. I also like the way in which you have repeated certain aspects of the visual design throughout you site. It not only helps to highlight the underlying the unity but also indicates thoughtful design. The one change that I would like to suggest to you is increasing the size of the font. Also, as a reader, I found the experience of having to navigate through two menu bars on the Homepage slightly confusing.

Carie: What stands out most to me in your webpage is the neatness of your design. In that way, your site is very professional. A visitor to your site can glean whatever information he/she is looking for without being distracted. The narrative on your Homepage- where you tell your readers what they can expect from the website- is also a good idea. However, I would have preferred to see information about the instructor on the Homepage. As another minor improvement, you could consider linking your page to the website of the program under which you are teaching so that your students can easily navigate to that site, if they wish so.

Ashley: I liked the idea of having a “quick facts” widget on the website. It’s a good way of drawing the attention of your readers to some of your significant work in the field. You have also done a good job of mixing multiple colors without making your site too distracting. The one change that I would like to see in your site is a deeper shade of gray (or any other color) for your fonts. It would help to add some more contrast to your page.

Melody: I think that you have done a wonderful job of aligning your homepage with the TTU template even while conveying the uniqueness of your design. The idea of using the photograph as a link was wonderful. But every time I visit your page, I invariably click on your name. I simply don’t seem to remember that it is not a link. This may be due to the fact that the text is the most prominent visual element on the page. So, perhaps you could consider converting it into a link?

Rebecca: I love the alphabets on your page! They are very nicely done and capture the essence of your profession— playing around with words. However, I was not very comfortable viewing white text against a gray background on the “Personal” page. This also applies to the “Tech Doc links” page. I personally think that these links could benefit from a bolder contrast. Otherwise, everything else looks great to me!

Brett: As Chris as already mentioned in his post, your website really stands out in terms of creativity. It’s interactive in all possible senses of the word. And, initially, I enjoyed the “laugh.” However, later on, while I was skimming through the other pages, the laugh was still reverberating in the background. Is there a way shutting out the laughter once a reader navigates away from the “laugh page”? I hope so.

Monica: One of the great aspects of your website is the way you have seamlessly integrated background illustrations without compromising the legibility/visibility of the other design elements. However, on the Portfolio page, you seemed to have used a smaller font size for the “illustration” link. Although I fully understand your reason for making this adjustment, the inconsistency somewhat hurts the look of your webpage. It would be simply great if you could resolve this issue in some other way.