chapter3

Chapter Three Response
Chapter 3 - Starting Well: Home Pages

Team 2: Kris Costello and Rob Spielman


 * Kris's Post:** In this chapter, Redish talks about the importance of a web site's home page. On the Internet, people first off have to find what they're looking for, then they have to be able to understand what they find so that ultimately they can act on the content they wanted.

Redish also discusses the major functions of a home page, which are: 1) site and brand identification; 2) tone and personality of the site; 3) helping users understand the essence of your site; 4) easy functionality of the site by users; and 5) effectively sending users on the right pathway pages.

With these key points in mind, check out Dell's web site at [|www.adamobydell.com]. If the incessant music loop doesn't drive you crazy (thank goodness for mute!), trying to read the tiny, light-gray text will. And what of the "artsy" titled links: Encounter, Discover, Admire, Commit. What do these mean exactly? The only way to find out is to waste time and click on each one. Furthermore, I thought "Pearl" and "Onyx" were two different machines, but after some deducing on my own, realized it's only one laptop that comes in two different colors. There are no descriptive links on the home page to help you find more technical information. The only way to do so is to click on the horizontal scrolling photos and try your luck. If they're trying to sell art, Dell has done a good job, but if they're trying to sell Adamo laptops, I think they really fell flat with this home page.

In contrast, an example of a good home page is [|www.cnn.com]. Right away you know it's a news site, even if you've never seen this site before. The CNN logo is highly recognized, making it unnecessary to spell out "Cable News Network" (when was the last time they even used that?). Breaking news, news headlines, and news feature ticklers use short descriptions to let me know the essence of the story. There is a plethora of links and subheads on the home page, yet the page has a layout that is easy to navigate (one reason: subheads organize the news and break it into manageable pieces for the reader). Finding the information and/or article of interest requires just one click on the link, and I'm sent to the full story. Task completed.

Another user-friendly site with a well done home page is [|www.rei.com] (and its sister site [|www.rei-outlet.com] ). REI sells outdoor equipment for camping, hiking, biking, paddling, and the like (note the logo). With its tremendous amount of gear and accessories they offer, REI organizes its home page into clearly defined categories, which are then broken down into easy-to-find subcategories along the pathway pages. They also have brick-and-mortar stores, and the link "Store locator" makes quick work, as does the "Search" feature also at the top of the page. A Help section with shipping info and a Company Info section that even includes Jobs at REI are quickly spotted at the bottom of the page. I've shopped this site several times (and many, many times just "browsed" J) and can find items easily. I think REI's use of colors and white space, as well as their consistent photo and text sizes make this a calming, easy-on-the-eyes home page/web site.


 * Rob's Post:** In my experience with the home page, I remember the difference between what formally was considered good practice and what is considered good practice today.

Back before the advent of online commerce and banking, home pages were primarily used for displaying a big picture, and a few navigation buttons to other parts of your site without any real descriptions. At that time, the home page served as a landing site where you needed to grab the viewer's attention with a picture and guide them to the three of four other pages on your site, regardless of the viewer's question. An example: http://web.archive.org/web/19990418003742/http://www.stcloudstate.edu/index.html.

In today's world of Google searches and site competition, the home page has become more of a starter page for getting a visitor's question answered in a time-friendly and easily understandable way.

A good example of a modern site that follows many of the style and construction practices explained above by Kris is [|https://www.fidelity.com]. The site provides easy access to information that answers the visitor's questions about personal finance. Also, in contrast to the older site, the page attempts to give the viewer a clear path to answer their question.

My Response:

In Kris’s post, I completely understand the annoyance of a poorly constructed website. The other day I was looking for some information for my brother and had to go to the Nintendo website. The whole page was covered in large pictures and what each link actually lead to was buried within the images in small text. Needless to say it took me quite some time to find what I was looking for, and I left the page feeling very annoyed at the company. Why did it feel the need to hide the important links amongst distracting images was beyond me.

Rob’s post reminded me a lot of the early days of the internet. I didn’t go to a lot of banking or online commerce sites, but I have noticed changes over the years. One thing that was prevalent when I first got into searching the web was a sort of doorway page that came before the actual home page, which consisted of nothing more than the name of the site and a link to the main site. I didn’t understand why they had included those back then, and was more than glad to see them go.

Over time people have begun to learn what works, and what doesn’t work, and it is always important to learn just what things will make your website stand out in the ever growing web. You want to have your site visited by as many visitors as you can, and only having the right knowledge will get you there.