RFC: Bazaar Web site Home Page Redesign

[Emma Jane]

On Wednesday 05 August 2009 5:00:49 pm Martin Albisetti wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 12:14 PM, Emma Jane<emmajane at ubuntu.com> wrote:
> > Proposed wireframe
> > http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmajane/3791477132/
>
> > 1. Does this wireframe have spaces to accommodate all front-page-worthy
> > material?
>
> I don't fully understand this question, although I feel it will most
> likely be answered by design rather than wireframes. I think the first
> two rows should fit above the fold.

Basically: did I miss anything that you think needs to be on the front page?

I've fleshed out this wire frame into a site map and created a Wiki page on the 
Bazaar site if people want to throw ideas into a single place. The site map is 
available at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmajane/3792648081/
but it's incredible difficult to read. I've uploaded the source file for FreeMind 
to the wiki page. You can get it from:
http://bazaar-vcs.org/BazaarHomePageRedesign
(I don't really expect to get wireframes and sitemaps uploaded, but hope 
springs eternal!)

> > 2. Can anything be omitted from this wireframe because it is not
> > front-page- worthy?
>
> - With the plan to have 6 month release cycles, release notes and
> release features become less interesting, I think

*nod* I see this as being a "newsy" area. Maybe that doesn't need to be on the 
front page though?


> > 3. If you were to shuffle the components, what would your wireframe look
> > like?
>
> A few comments that popped into my head:
>
> - I feel that "About Bazaar" should be on the top-left (jumbled with
> features), and download+install on the top right, with help beneath it

Many "Web 2.0-y" sites now use a big font description at the top with smaller 
text propaganda lower in the page. I personally love this style as it lets me 
get really focused on the big shiny print at the top of the page. By the time 
I scroll to the finer print, I'm more interested in reading and don't gloss 
over the text. For example:

- http://basecamphq.com/ (big text + screenshot)
- http://treehouseagency.com/ (big text leading into smaller text)
- http://openatrium.com/ (all pictures, virtually no front page text)

Without being too prescriptive in the wireframe, I saw the strip near the top 
as giving space for that < 40 word description of Bazaar with the block at the 
bottom being the SEO-friendly text.


> Awesome work Emma, looking forward to seeing this grow  ;)

Thanks!


regards,
emma