RFC: Home page design

[Ian Clatworthy]

Emma Jane Hogbin wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> Thank you once again for your feedback on the Bazaar Web site to date.
> The latest round of suggestions have been incorporated and there is
> now an HTML mockup of the site ready for review. This design
> incorporates many new elements:
> 
> 1. utility navigation from previous designs combined into a single bar.
> 2. extended navigation added to the "carousel" design.
> 3. clear, unique buttons for "action" areas of the site.
> 4. more yellow.
> 5. revised "action" panes in the (now yellow) area of the site.
> 6. nicer screenshot in the carousel area (thanks Gary!)
> 
> 960 width navigation: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmajane/3903764440/
> Full width navigation: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmajane/3902988367/
> 
> Things that are not yet completed (i.e. don't bother providing
> feedback on this yet):
> 1. carousel navigation
> 2. search "prettification"
> 
> For this round of feedback could you please address the following points:
> 1. Do you prefer the extended navigation (bottom of the page) in "960
> width" or "full width" design?

I prefer the same width as the rest of the page.

> 2. The yellow "action" panes are based on the initial wireframes. They
> are: Download, Extend, Get Help. Are they the right "actions" for the
> front page of the site?

Download and Get Help certainly are.

OTOH, it sounds awkward to me that "Extend" is the next action someone
would take after "Download". It suggests that the core product isn't
powerful and/or that the packaging is poor.

I'd like to see "Extend" replaced with "Get Productive". The text could
say something like ...

"Bazaar has plenty of documentation, project hosting options and plugins
to help make you productive. With a rich Python API, it's easy to
integrate into existing environments."

I'd also replace 'Extend your toolkit' with 'Learn Bazaar' and link to
the official documentation site.

> 3. The new icons are based on the logo. Staying with the road
> sign/construction theme, are there images you would prefer to see for
> each of the action buttons?

They're great. Well done!

> 4. Additional constructive comments?

The links to "Take a tour of Bazaar" and "More about Bazaar x.y" need to
stand out much more. Perhaps buttons for these?

I can't say I'm sold on the yellow in the middle. :-) I'd be curious how
it looks with white there instead. If we want more yellow, perhaps the
footer could be yellow (with black or blue text, not grey).

Ian C.