RFC: Home page design

[Ian Clatworthy]

Eric Siegerman wrote:

> Put all those comments together and you get something like this:
>     http://www.flickr.com/photos/86666232@N00/3879874079/

Eric,

Thanks for putting that together. There's a lot to like about your
mock-up: the top navigation bar with search, a moderately sized banner
with a clear downlink link, it's informative/useful without being too
busy, etc.

> Maybe the
> picture carousel needs to come back in order to add some visual
> interest, if nothing else...

The carousel is a nice idea but it doesn't need to be in the banner. We
also don't need to go as far as a carousel - a single image (Bazaar
Explorer on Windows say) is enough to add some visual impact.

So where should the image go? Well, *I* still wonder about the value of
having 'Current release features' taking so much space on the front
page. My feeling is that the information will require too much context
about the previous version to make much sense to new users visiting the
site for the first time. I'd prefer a link to "Release Notes" under the
download button say. That space then becomes available for an image,
though I'd prefer the image at the top of the first column with the
"Tour introduction" text below that.

>> 4. Additional praise?
> 
> As others have said, both designs are better than the status quo.

Very much so.

Ian C.