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Interface design:

I

Inquisition

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 11, 2003
Messages
353
This is a school project im doing, and its purpose it to create an emagazine for a male and female audience of 24-35 years old. And with a techy geekie feel.

http://www.inquisitionstudios.com/flash/interface.html

its a work in progress, the only thing working is the rollover for the main content area.

Id like to know the opinion of [H]ocp'ers since we here are all geekie nerds .. and im sure there are 24-35 aged ppl here.

:D
 
If you want to give it a "geeky feel," you should really try to use something other than Flash, in my opinion.

Can't give any other comment, since I haven't bothered enabling Flash. :p
 
Consider using a solid color under the main body of text. If you decide to keep the image under the text, it needs to have less contrast. Also, I think anti-aliased fonts are good for titles but for a large block of text like that I'd use a "pixel font". There are some good free ones at http://fontsforflash.com If you're going to stick with an anti-aliased font for the body text consider making it less bold and not as condensed. I'd also keep the interactive elements apart from the main block of text. Your menu system might light up and go "bing!" but I don't think that main text should, not for an e-magazine. Also, that control in the lower left makes it look like you're planning to have background music. I'm not sure this is appropriate for a magazine. But then again I may be biased because I personally hate background music on any site. :)

For the record I'm 22, so I'm a bit young for your target audience. I definately fit the geeky / techie requirement though. I'm also a web designer.

Good luck on your project and be sure to post updates as it evolves and matures.
 
I think splash screens suck. Why do I have to wait at a load screen for nothing more than a "click here"?
I think all-flash layouts are hideously inaccessible.
The scrolling menu is not intuitive and hard to use.
"Section Jump" looks like a link but isn't -- why?
Under "Arts," the pictures show the link cursor but don't link -- why?
Why do you have "No Picture Here" placeholders? Looks unprofessional.
There is no apparent correlation between the text and number links atop the design.
Due to Flash, my scroll wheel is useless.
Likewise, text cannot be copied.
Furthermore, I can't text-search.
Moreover, Google can't find squat.

Summary?
The design is nice aesthetically, however:
You have removed every user interface advantage a web browser can provide.
You have replaced it with inaccessible inflexible UI mystery meat.
Were I not intentionally reviewing the design, I'd have exited within 5 seconds of clearing the splash screen.
 
valid points..
1. cause for some reason the person who did the splash didnt do it efficiently.. the swf came to ~120 kb... thats why theres a little preloader

2. I agree completly but this was the requirments of the professor.. all flash

3. not sure what u mean by that

4.section jump WAS a button to reveal the section buttons

5. The site is incomplete .. im rushing to get things done linking will be up soon

6. Should i just leave it blank then?

7. This was a group project.. and unfrotunatly.. as you may know..some ppl are just crap at doing work or dont do anything at all.. the articles we hoped never came..so we had to scramble and get some articles..there are some correlation.. the section jump butons go to the beggining of a section..and the page menu allows u to continue on from there

8. I HATE FLASH .. yes i know

9. All the content was externally loaded from a text file =/
 
1) The preloader may be necessary, but "click to enter" shouldn't be. Just transition in when the load is done.

2) If it's possible, you're welcome to tell the prof that feedback from a member of the target audience who's held jobs in web development says he's an idiot.

3) The scroll bar doesn't pop out and say "I'm scrollable and important" -- nor does it give any indication of the scope of its contents.

4) I've checked a few times, and the options beside "Section Jump" fade in after ~3 seconds without any user intervention (no mouse click / over / move / anything).

6) I'd go blank.

7) Were it a print medium, it would make perfect sense. Arbitrary page numbers don't translate well to the web, though -- not without explanation of what they are.

9) (I presume this is the Google point) -- there's still no evidence that Google will be able to appropriately index / link the page, though. Granted this is being overridden by that "all flash" nonsense, but "a text file that Google can link to" is a far cry from "a site that Google can interpret and link in a rational fashion."

Going back to the whole Flash issue, it looks like the prof has no concept of how the medium dictates design parameters. While Flash can translate the visual feel of a print source extremely well, the usability does not follow. There are plenty of examples that can be pointed to where this physical->electronic conversion flops. Most notably, the QuickTime player (last I checked, a few years now) was designed to look and function like a handheld unit. The volume control was a thumb knob. Physically, a thumb knob makes perfect sense. Nobody knows how in the hell a mouse is supposed to work a thumb wheel, however.
This is the same problem with the "all Flash" stuff. It looks more like the real world analogue but the practicalities of user interface (distinct from the visual design, even) are lost. Magazines don't have scroll bars, for example, but computer applications do, and computer users look for them.

Anyway, like I said earlier -- if you've got a safe (non-grade-demolishing) way to pass comments to the prof, you're welcome to tell him that the very nature of his assignment is counterproductive to learning how to effectively present information on the web.
 
Good reply Iomn...

I was the co-production manager with Inquisition on this thing... and believe me, the prof KNEW how stupid everyone thought this project was. The basic idea for the whole thing was to get us to 'experience what we would in real world production' :rolleyes:

If this project were tangible outside of a computer screen, i'd shoot it.
 
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