Topic: photo gallery site - need usability feedback

I have just re-launched my personal website as a photo gallery of my work. I am looking for any feedback others may have (good or bad), and specifically I would like feedback on site usability.

http://www.jasonstahl.net/

Thanks in advance.

-- easygimik
http://www.jasonstahl.net/

Overall, I like it. I do have a few comments, though.

• Is this a personal site or a professional site? You say in your post that it is your personal site, but the impression I get is that it is a professional site for your photography. I think you need to decide which it is going to be, because right now your approach is a mix of personal/professional. For example, I don't believe the "Get Firefox" button would really belong on a professional site (and that issue aside, does it really need to be there? It seems rather out of place). Also, your links page will look a lot different if you are going for a professional site (no "Friends & Family," for example). On the other hand, if you want to keep this personal, then you should probably rethink the About page and advertising yourself as a studio.
  
  
• The title text looks a bit choppy, especially the "S"s and "O"s. One thing you might want to try is to set the type at a really large size and then shrink it down (after rasterizing it) to the size you need, rather than trying to set it at the final size. This often makes for smoother anti-aliasing.
  
  
• I happen to surf with FF, and I use the NoScript extension (which automatically blocks JavaScript). I have gotten used to making exceptions for sites that I visit, but sometimes it does take me a second or two to realize that the lack of JS is preventing the site from functioning. Your gallery, for example, requires JS. It might be nice to have a little note appear for those users who have JS turned off, especially since it is a functional and not a cosmetic use of JS.
  
  
• While we're on the subject of the gallery, I wouldn't mind seeing larger photos. You don't really need much space for the other pages, but I think the gallery really suffers from space limitations, especially when you figure in the thumbnails on the left. One solution would be to have clicking on
  
  
• The sudden departure from the site when clicking on the Shop item is a bit jarring. Not that serious an issue, though. I think maybe a "tooltip" pop-up on rollover indicating an off-site link would be nice.
  
  
• A few text-based suggestions: "Minnesota based" should be "Minnesota-based," and "land scape" is one word.
  
  
• The "target" attribute is invalid in strict doctypes, by the way--I'd prefer to see JS used if opening in a new window is absolutely necessary. Not to mention that, in most cases, opening links in new windows should be the user's choice, not the designers. Most of us are fairly adept at right-clicking and selected "Open in New Tab/Window." And there is always the back button as well. This is my only gripe with the code, which otherwise seems very clean (although I'm not a big fan of <br> and avoid it whenever possible).

___________________________
Suho: www.liminality.org | Cell 270 | Sig Rotator | the Fellowship of Sup

Wow! That was the most thorough response I have received so far. Thank you.


All of your points make a lot of sense. I will definitely have to take them into account as I evolve the site over the next couple weeks. The first one in particular is probably my insecurity with my photography showing through. I do this just as a hobby, and feel like a poser putting on the face of a professional. Though you are right, I should pick one or the other for the site.

You are not alone in wanting larger photos (myself included). I have been kicking around a somewhat substantial modification to the design that would allow for larger photos and remove the need for JS to drive the gallery (or be used in the site anywhere for that matter).

Also, thanks for the tip on anti-aliasing text, did not know that before (though it makes sense).

-- easygimik
http://www.jasonstahl.net/

Glad I could be of service.

Hey - everything he said. Plus...
it's "amateur".
And (regardless of whether this site's intent is personal or commercial) it feels a little bizarre to be advertising for models on your "about" page. (And I personally would be really careful about seeking models using the line "no experience necessary" because you WILL get them, and their agendas may not exactly match yours....)

Roger Johansson has a good discussion about opening new windows with javascript.

I'm not a fan personally of sites with white type on black but I have to say you have a nice clean fast design and I LOVE those qualities. I really don't object to the images the size they are. You have done a really nice job of optimizing them. They load fast and look great so... might want to reconsider the effort and bandwidth involved in redoing the gallery.

If anyone is interested, I am continuing to tweak the site at the following url (so I don't break the live site):

http://beta.jasonstahl.net/

-- easygimik
http://www.jasonstahl.net/