Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Redesigning our website - looking for ideas- a little long

[Elizabeth Stevenson (tamgoddess]

I have looked at many of them and designed our website. Being in the graphic
design field, although designing websites is not my forte, I can tell you
what to look for in a good design.

The most important thing is to decide what the purpose of your site is. This
is not as obvious as it sounds. For instance, it could exist mainly to keep
your group informed as to current events, or it could be mainly to attract
buyers. These would have very different designs.

Who is your audience? Generally speaking, most cohousers are net-savvy and
have computers. Assume, however, that they don't have 21-inch monitors.
Design text and graphics with a 15-17 inch monitor that is the norm these
days. It's very annoying to try to read tiny text because the web designer
has a huge monitor!

Have a coherent theme running through your site. Every page should look as
if it belongs to the site. People will probably be looking at several coho
sites, and you want them to remember where they are, and bookmark it.

Make navigation intuitive and easy. You don't want the latest fad, because
people won't want to stay and explore your site. People don't want to have
to figure anything out, unless they are looking at a site that is *supposed*
to be on the cutting edge, like for an artist or a design firm. Have a link
to the home page on every or nearly every page.

Lots and lots of pictures. And it's best to be able to go through the
pictures without having to go back to the page where you have your thumbnail
size previews. Make sure there are pictures of the site, and drawings of
what it will look like, if you have them. If you don't, make sure you get
some appealing pictures of other cohousings to give people the idea.

I like to know what the units will cost, even if it's a rough
estimate(they're ALL rough estimates!). If I'm fantasizing about moving, I
want to know if it's feasible.

Remember it's a visual medium, and avoid the temptation to put too much text
on any page. You can, however, use more text than the average web site,
because people who are looking at your site are likely to be willing to
spend more time than the usual surfer.

I just went to a site that I was really put off by. I won't tell you whose,
but the link was from this list! They had bios of every member of the group,
and they all read like CVs! "Joe went to Harvard for his undergraduate
degree and Oxford for his Ph.D.. He now works at Upper Crust Software, where
he met his wife, Jojo, who was graduated from Vassar with honors."
ZZZZZzzzzzzz...horrible. I wanted to run away. I left the site immediately.
If you are going to have bios, for heaven's sake, keep the resumes out of
it. Nobody cares. They want to know what kind of person you are: "Joe and
Jojo are software engineers, but they like to make lots of time to be with
their two kids, Joe Jr. and Josephine. They also volunteer at the local
homeless shelter and do quilting and ride motorcycles in their spare time.
Jojo loves gardening and looks forward to sharing that with her new coho
neighbors." Now there's someone I want to know.

Jeez, I can think of tons more, but this is getting too long. Perhaps others
can chime in with their own favorites.


-- 
Liz Stevenson
Southside Park Cohousing
Sacramento California

http://members.home.net/southsideparkcohousing/
tamgoddess [at] home.com

> From: Lrpdesigns <Lrpdesigns [at] TheRiver.com>
> Reply-To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
> Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 10:45:25 -0700
> To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
> Subject: [C-L]_Redesigning our website - looking for ideas
> 
> We're about to redesign the Stone Curves website. Speaking as the Hardcore
> Member in Charge of this Project, I have the following favor to ask of the
> group:
> 
> Please tell us which is considered to be the best cohousing website around.
> I'm talking about the cohousing website against which all others are
> measured. 
> 
> Thank you in advance for your assistance.
> 
> Martha Retallick
> 
> Stone Curves Cohousing - now forming in Tucson, Arizona
> on a sweet piece of desert land with mountain views!
> Our online home: http://www.StoneCurves.com/
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