A Merciless Self Design Review
Web Design • September 9th, 2006If you think that I am terribly proud of the visual design and information architecture exhibited on this web site, I need to quickly clarify that you are unfortunately wrong. Mafe Maria may be a sample in my portfolio, but only because it shows that I have taken WordPress by the horns, and also as a self-promotional cross-link from my older web site, MQStudio.
To be fair, I don’t think this is a shameful design either. I believe it’s served the purpose of organizing and presenting the incipient content of a blogging newbie, and I think it provides a comfortable frame to read my long posts and appreciate some of my creative artwork. However, I have greater goals for this web site, and now that I finally know what my content is starting to focus on, I can comfortably seat down and really do a better job at presenting it as an extension of my work as a web designer, while attempting to meet the personal goals I have for this second outlet.
As I said on my official introductory post to this personal blog, when I started writing and filling this site with content, long-term goals and web site content weren’t completely clear to me. I simply wanted to join the blogosphere (NOW! NOW!), and the top priorities were writing and self-training on the WordPress scheme. I first began with a hedious design that didn’t see the light of day, and then quickly crafted the current design within one hour. At the time, I was busy with work, and:
I thought I really shouldn’t bottleneck the process with an agonizing search for award-winning design.
So, after six months, now that I know more… What is it that I want?
What are the flaws of the current site?
First of all, the home page doesn’t do a good job at introducing what the site is about at a quick glance. I don’t think the first impression prompts casual strangers to stop for a minute and check out a few links, or more about what I have to say. Family and friends care about me, so they have some interest, but the average stranger (and even: some friends and relatives!) move on.
Why is that?
Well, assuming that the content doesn’t suck too bad, I think first, because at 1024×768, all you see is a huge watercolor image (not a great one), a small blurb about me, and about eight lines of post text. At 800×600 you see a watercolor, and a post title – tata!. If you’re not interested at all in the thrilling latest developments of my bonsai bean plant, and if the humongous graphic banner doesn’t do anything for you, you probably won’t give me a second chance – I wouldn’t… You must be curious or kind enough to scroll down, to find three playground images (maybe a little interesting), and then, a list of 10 recent post titles.
At the time, having a single post on the home page sounded like a good idea. Truth is, I don’t write more than one post a day, and I usually write no more than two posts a week. I sort of like a shorter home page, but I wonder if post titles for recent entries are enough to peek somebody’s curiosity. I’m not sure about that… I do like offering something around ten, since my content is split in several subjects that probably cater to different people. Maybe not…
In any case, I feel like the “Playground” section and the “Previous Entries” section on the home page are competing for attention, and in reality, neither is too visible right now. They should be given a better place and treatment, since these are the opportunities to show users “more”… to throw them a few bones they might find more tasty.
Although I like the centered layout, I can’t deny that a completely empty left column is sinful in this case. The waste of space bothers me deeply, and believe me: I cannot possibly put ANY content in it without making the whole thing look like a Moroccan Zoco (side note, I once was spit on, and bargained for purchase in one of these). So this clearly doesn’t work: I really need to use all the space. The Playground page begs for it.
On the side bar, categories are growing too long. I need them all, and possibly more… But I also want to show secondary links to other things. Drop-down boxes for each of the three main themes (Art, Life, and Web Design) sound like an option.
Although I only have four main navigational links (top of page), I suspect I may need a few more later on. In the current design, space for these is extremely limited, so this is something else I’d like to redesign for greater flexibility.
Lately I’ve read a lot of writing by others that I would love to link to. But I don’t want to write a full post on it. At much, I’d just like to introduce the link with a small blurb. I don’t want such post to become the big post on my home page. I need to come up with a secondary “Enjoying” section, and place it on a spot where it makes sense.
Since I can’t deny that self-promotion within my work industry is one of the evil goals for this personal site, I probably need to establish a stronger connection to MQStudio, my portfolio web site. I’m not really writing any ground-breaking material or tutorial content for web designers… I still feel I’m one of the “grasshoppers”. So, the best way to communicate some professional credibility is probably through my work. I need to think more about how to make this connection.
I know I’m leaving some other minor issues undiscussed. This is really a desperate post attempting to communicate that I am aware of a tremendous amount of design issues that could and should be improved in this web site. See, my blog will soon be reviewed by a merciless critic (I’m kidding Collin)… And I’d like to proactively say that all these design flaws are already in my mind, and I’m itching to get my hands on them. If my content sucks, then I’m totally screwed, and I guess I’ll continue blogging just for personal therapy.
The redesign process will be very exciting for me. This is the web site where I can do whatever I want. Of course it will be a side project, so it will take some time. I’m all open ears for any feedback you may have: Now, or whenever. I probably won’t post intermediate work publicly, but I may be requesting some user input along the way. Any volunteers, please let me know. If I don’t get any, be sure I’ll be cold-calling a few of you… Yes, you know who you are.
