Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Site-Seeing: Chapter 7

> The homepage of your web site is an important feature that needs to take on a lot of responsibility to intrigue your audience. You want your home page to reflect you and be an overall welcoming site that is organized and distinct.

> With a unique home page you can’t forget to keep it easy and efficient. You want your audience to be focused when they arrive at your site. Three responsibilities your home page needs to acquire are an introduction, entrance and announcement. Your introduction describes what your site is about and has a personality, an entrance consists of your navigational system and allows doorways to the rest of your site and an announcement contains what you are informing your audience and any new content you have.

> You want to be selective with the type of images and information you use on your homepage; too much and your site will look cluttered and unorganized. With the new Connecticut Campus Compact site there will be about six images that I’ll incorporate. Three images will be along the header to give a strong, welcoming visual appeal and will also be on the side near navigation.

> It’s also a good idea not to go overboard with the interactive elements, such as blinkings or fast moving images or shapes. Your audience can misinterpret these features and not want to take time to figure out where they need to go. For the CT Campus Compact site I’m not including too many interactive elements; only a calendar, scrolling images and a search box.

> It’s important to remember to just include the right things for your audience so that they feel welcome at your home page. Include a visual weight, balance and hierarchy that will suit your audience’s needs and allow them to feel comfortable navigating through your site. I hope to fulfill all those responsibilities with the redesign of the Connecticut Campus Compact site I will be creating.

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