Tag Archives: Web Design
FOXTEL facelift
Posted on 27. Oct, 2002
The new face lifted FOXTEL web site is online, I mention this only because this was one of the last remaining projects from my old Online group before they pulled the plug on us. The lucky developer left behind was responsible for all development which included significant modifications to the CMS we developed a couple of years ago for the previous version of the site. No easy task with the rest of us already out the door. The graphics and design were done by another firm. There's some nice things in there which I honestly didn't think were such a crash hot idea when they were discussed in the early stages of the project, such as the Flash video previews for each of the channels and the five sign-up tempter videos streamed on the Get FOXTEL page, that will probably turn out to be quite effective in helping the potential subscriber to click that sign me up link. It's quite a decent effort by the developer considering the total disinterest in this style of work by the company. This leaves one remaining legacy project to go live which will see the end of the Online era.
http://www.foxtel.com.au/...
yourMovies usability
Posted on 02. Jan, 2002
yourMovies is a great example of a site that has carefully considered usability (IMHO). When you visit for the first time, you're taken through a very quick and simple three step process that personalises your list of cinemas, based on state, area(s) and then cinemas.
From then on these preferences are stored in a cookie and used whenever you return to the site, no login required. The search interface is excellent. The options are flexible and well thought out, making it easy to search for specific movie(s), or any movie, at specific cinema(s), or from all your favourite cinemas with only a few clicks. For example, it only takes three clicks and one page load, to find all cinemas out of your favourites that are showing Lord of the Rings after 1pm today.
The follow on options on the results pages are logical, click on the movie title to get a review, click on the cinema find out all movies playing at that cinema based on your pevious search parameters.
They also have WAP and Avantgo versions that are just as good. Wonder who did the usability. Kudos.
http://www.yourmovies.com.au/...
DVD Menu Design: The Failures of Web Design Recreated Yet Again
Posted on 16. Dec, 2001
Yep, very true: "Designers of DVDs have failed to profit from the lessons of previous media: Computer software, Internet web pages, and even WAP phones. As a result, the DVD menu structure is getting more and more baroque, less and less usable, less pleasurable, less effective. It is time to take DVD design as seriously as we do web design. The field needs some discipline some attention to the User Experience, and some standardization of control and display formats."
http://www.useit.com/...
The Sydney.Sidewalk database is not completely lost
Posted on 07. Sep, 2001
Further to yesterdays post on how much I miss Sidewalk, the database is being used on another site under the ninemsn banner, Sydney: The Official Guide. Interesting most of the screens still carry the Sydney.Sidewalk logo. ninemsn and telstra.com are prime examples of web site branding and style requirements gone horribly wrong. You'll notice all pages at telstra.com have to carry the standardised headers, navigation and footers, however often these standardised inclusions simply don't fit with the page's actual intention, as a result the overall message the page is trying to communicate is distorted. Once again, I'm amazed at the crap these major media and communications companies are shovelling out. (Get over it Anthony)
http://sydney.sidewalk.ninemsn.com.au/...
I miss the original Sydney.Sidewalk
Posted on 06. Sep, 2001
The recently revamped CitySearch interface is only marginally better, although CitySearch seems to have forgotten how effective the use of whitespace is to the readability of a page. Maybe there's an opportunity here for someone to revive the original Sidewalk interface. Content is of course the the difficult part. I'll probably start using CitySearch more often, as it sucks just a little less than ninemsn.
What the hell is with the major web sites of Australian media and communications companies these days anyway? They all suck badly (with the exception of The Age, SMH and AFR), lead of course by telstra.com possibly the ugliest and most cluttered web site ever developed by an Australia media and communications company. When you think how much money is pumped into telstra.com, and the army of web developers they have maintaining it, it amazes me how terrible that site is. What pisses me off even more, is when I talk to people who work on telstra.com and they think they have the best web site in Australia, they simply love it, and themselves in the process.
It's a shame, you'd think these companies would have a more evolved understanding of web site design and usability by this stage of the game. Of course, the root of the problem is the talentless people they have building and maintaining these sites, and of course the bureaucracy associated with making major changes to the sites. Wow, I'm extra bitter today eh? Down boy.
http://sydney.sidewalk.com.au/...
The Webby Awards 2001 Winners
Posted on 23. Jul, 2001
Just in case you missed it, the Webby's winners for 2001 were announced last week in San Francisco. The City of Sydney web site missed out in the Government and Law category (bad luck Frank). Good selection of winners overall, although I'm more agreeable with many of the people voice winners rather than academy members' picks. Quite a few interesting people in the Webby's academey though, the list itself is worth a look.
http://www.webbyawards.com/...
Go Frank!
Posted on 15. May, 2001
The City of Sydney web site was nominated for a Webby Award in the Government & Law category.
http://www.webbyawards.com/...
The Webby Awards 2001 Nominees
Posted on 14. May, 2001
Yup, obligatory link. Don't know when they were announced. Plenty of surf fodder in there, especially if you're about to resign. Good to see Heavy.com nominated in the Broadband category. Haven't looked at many of the others, although DancingPaul.com was amusing in the Personal category.
http://www.webbyawards.com/...
The Myth of 800×600
Posted on 16. Apr, 2001
Poorly written article, stating the obvious. Good for newbies I guess.
http://webreview.com/...
Color Symbolism by Culture
Posted on 15. Apr, 2001
"This chart contains information on the cultural symbolism of various colors." [via CM]
http://www.webdesign.about.com/...
Web Techniques: From Hot Concept to Hot Site in Eight Days
Posted on 14. Apr, 2001
Very interesting article written by the creator of AmIHotOrNot discussing the first eight days of the site and how they scaled to support the massive influx of traffic. Highly recommended.
http://www.webtechniques.com/...
SXSW01 Web Awards
Posted on 14. Feb, 2001
The finalists in the 2001 SXSW Interactive Festival Website Competition are up. There's some great sites in a variety of interesting categories. Worth a look.
http://www.sxsw.com/...
So, What Size and Type of Font Should I Use on My Website?
Posted on 17. Sep, 2000
An interesting comparison of Arial and Times New Roman at 10pt, 12pt, anti-aliased and no aliasing. [via webmutant]
http://wsupsy.psy.twsu.edu/...
Best of The Web
Posted on 30. Aug, 2000
The latest Forbes.com: Best of The Web is out, save it for a link-drought. [via dack.com]
http://www.forbesbest.com/...
Blind accessibility controversy continues over Olympics site
Posted on 29. Aug, 2000
There's an interesting thread at Slashdot discussing this. In my opinion, it's a bit of a beat up, it's clear that if the specification included developing for blind accessibility then IBM would have done it, it's only partially IBM's fault for not stressing to and convincing the customer the importance of developing for blind accessiblity. The $2 million dollar price tag is probably a safe 'ball-park' estimate for an entirely blind accessible web site, it's not simply a matter of adding ALT tags. It's an interesting issue anyway and raises key questions about information architecture of high-profile sites like this.
http://slashdot.org/...
Blind man wins website battle against SOCOG
Posted on 28. Aug, 2000
ninemsn: "SOCOG was ordered to make changes to its website before the Olympics start after the Human Rights Commission upheld a complaint against the site by a blind man today."
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/...
sodaconstructor
Posted on 18. May, 2000
"sodaconstructor animates and edits two dimensional models made out of masses and springs; springs can be controlled by a wave to make pulsing muscles; models can be constructed that bounce, roll, walk etc, try some of the ready made models or try to build your own."
http://sodaplay.com/...
Kaliber10000 redesign online
Posted on 22. Feb, 2000
Impressive. While you're there, take a look at the Sublime Porn logo contest, they've shortlisted to 15 logos now. Especially useful if for some reason you happen to be looking for a little logo design inspiration ;)
http://www.k10k.net/...
Some web designers just don’t get it..
Posted on 10. Jan, 2000
clutter, clutter, clutter .. from the almighty Telstra no less.
http://192.148.138.172/...
