Topic: Yesterday I Really Liked It...

...today I'm not so sure. Take a look and tell me what you think.

http://www.wab.org/workshops/2003_winter/index.shtml

Yesterday when I was working on this client's winter course catalog, I said to myself, "Self, this really needs a page listing all the courses so people don't have to scroll through every damned page to find a course they like." So that's what I did.

Today, while I still think the decision is a good one, I'm wondering about the execution. Specifically, now that there are a dozen more section headings on the page, is the styling a little busy or heavy-handed?

I'm back and forth so I need a little reassurance that it's fine, or suggestions on how to lighten up the headings in the page's main body.

Perhaps I just need a little more treatment for schizophrenia or I should stop listening to the voices...

TIA!



edit: typos

[This message has been edited by brucew (edited 12-13-2002).]

It?s just that I?m not sure where to look first, it?s a lot. Theirs nothing that really grabs you and says, ?Look here?; so I just find myself trying to look at everything at once. ?? It could just be my healthy lack/deprivation of sleep? I suggest maybe a single column in lieu of the three that are there, with perhaps a navigation that has internal jumps to the headings that would be further down the page. That?s all I can really think of right now.


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~Existence is a mere pattern.~
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I completely agree Rooster. It is completely full of the same thing. Lots of text, no seperation.

Okay. Something like this? http://www.wab.org/workshops/2003_winter/index_alt(1).shtml

I'm not so sure on the intrapage navigation to get to the genres at the bottom of the page. I'm concerned it would be confused with the interpage navigation on the right.

<edit>
I've also done this http://www.wab.org/workshops/2003_winter/index_alt(2).shtml which is the same layout as the first, different colors for the section headings in the main body.
</edit>



[This message has been edited by brucew (edited 12-13-2002).]

Still has a ton of links and nothing that really draws me in, yet it does have a better appeal than the first as my eyes now know where to go.

I think artistically you should work on cleaning up the graphics a bit. The book in particular looks a bit pixelated and the building looks a little washed out.

If you're looking for content or excitement, this surely isn't the page. Yeah, it *is* nothing but links. That's exactly what causes the difficulty in presentation.

The original was a few self-agrandizing paragraphs followed by the stuff that I moved to the registration info page. The problem I'm trying to solve with this page is largely one of taxonomy. Without a page listing every course available, the visitor has to guess what kind of courses might be in the Write It! Workshops or whatever, and click through 11 pages of course descriptions.

Put another way, given the task of finding something like Creative Writing 101, where would you start if all you had was a menu of 11 categories? Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of being able to restructure the taxonomy, (and even if I did, I'm not sure I could improve it.) It's not an option anyway. It must use the same categories and listings as the paper catalog.

This is my first stab at solving the problem of how do you make 59 courses accessible given a taxonomy of 11 categories that are not all crystal clear? When I originally posted this I was thinking only along the lines of color. Now I'm wondering if there's a better solution to the problem. I'm open to all suggestions in that regard.

As for the graphics, yeah, you're right. They blow dead bunnies. It's the best I could do given what the client could give me to work with and my skills.

I've never claimed to be an artist. If you put a pencil in my hand, all I can make are words. Put me at a computer and guess what? All I can make are words. Putting Photoshop in my hand (so to speak) does not change my natural talents or abilities (or more to the point, the absence thereof.)

This is a pro bono job. There's no budget at all, let alone budget for a graphic artist. I'd be grateful (and I'm sure the client would be too) for anyone who could spruce them up.

Meanwhile, is there a way to make this page work better?

If a multi-column layout requires a lot of scrolling up and down, I'm against it from a usability standpoint. Therefore, I'm going to have to say I prefer your single-column vertical versions.

In order to cut down on the "giant linkfest" aspect, I'd make the list collapsible by category. This would require a little PHP or Javascript, but it would help greatly, decreasing the "text-flood" effect while increasing user control. You'd start with a display of only the main categories, then clicking one of the headings would pop the sub-links out. Whether server-side or JavaScript, the required code would be pretty simple.