Forum Moderators: phranque
I have several sites that need to be redesigned from the ground up. The general subject area will stay the same. The content will be updated. And the designs ... the current designs need to be nuked and I need to start fresh. So really, I’m talking:
I think I’m experiencing a severe case of Usability and SEO Information Overload, though, and I don’t know where to start!
So far, here are the steps I’ve taken:
And I have nothing to show for my efforts!
I see so many poorly designed, hard-to-use sites in my space that it’s easy for me to say, "See that? That is what I don't want." But when it comes down to it, I don't have any inspiration for what I do want.
So where do you start, when you’re ready to design a new site? How do you keep things fresh and exciting, without reinventing the wheel? How do you design a new site to make it both (a) familiar and usable to your audience, and (b) more than just a rehash of something that was inadequate to begin with?
Give me a site already built and I'll tell you what's wrong with it and how to fix it. But building a site from the ground-up, incorporating all of the best practices? I need inspiration!
LisaB
with a client, with a mission, you have something at least to play from
They're for a client ... but I've been managing these same schlocky sites for almost four years now, and they're old and tired.
And I'm tired of this particular client, I'm tired of the subject area, and I'm just plain tired! :)
You guys have given me so many great suggestions. I think the thing I'm going to try next, which so many people suggested, is sit down and just start doing.
I had been sitting in front of a blank screen but not really monkeying around with it at all. I think my next step is to get out my virtual crayons and start drawing on the wall to see what emerges from my brain.
I usually break through by just starting with something, anything. Try not to think so much. It can molded it later. You already know what you need to know, it'll come through in your work no matter what you do. But for starters don't worry about perfection. Experiment a little. Each revision fuels more creativity.
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Another idea that can stir the dust a bit is changing your approach. If you usually start with a Photoshop mockup then start with pure HTML instead. Maybe build the whole site with no images, no colors, no layout and then just start tweaking little by little. Or go the opposite extreme and Greek the whole site and just start with layout ideas - fonts, line spacing, margins, borders, background colors, etc.
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Also I second john316's idea of creating limitations. That really focuses your efforts and gets you into more of a problem solving mode.
And I'm tired of this particular client, I'm tired of the subject area, and I'm just plain tired! :)
well why do you have to do it yourself? truly, why not find another designer for some fresh ideas, subcontract it out, make a profit or not, doesn't matter, make your client happy, refresh the whole situation - and save your own artistry for something you can throw some love at?
give the work to someone who loves it, watch everyone be happier :)
Try the following for inspiration:
Automotives [conceptcarz.com]
Nature [edenproject.com]
Furniture [marc-newson.com]
Alternatively wait until you get a cold, sit close to the monitor of your choice and await the impending natural progression :0
Rich
I found one last time that I really liked, bought it and build a site around it - I think it's one of the best site - design wise - I've done (I wouldn't say it's a great site cause I stinks at design but I really like the desigen of this one ;) )
Leo
Imagining the big picture and cranking out something accomplishable works for me anyway.
What does the customer want!
Harkgirl - I don't think you have designer's block but something more simpler.
You didn't quote one resource that is associated with the end user.
Market research is not:
Looking at competitors’ sites
Looked at the top ranking sites in my subject area
Looked at the top ranking sites for the style of site (content vs. online store)
1. check if a forum in the content area (these are usually the people you are targeting}
2. listservs for the same thing
3. paid-for market research "there's a ton out there" that surveys nearly all markets.
4. free market research - "there's a ton out there" if you look for the right things.
Notwithstanding - read, post, talk with these people - you will likely get a far superior response from an end user than a ton of other designs/SEO who have no clue what you are designing for.
In the end - it's has nothing to do with what the company wants or needs and everything to do with the wants and/or needs of the markets.
And I'm going to make heavy use of technologies I don't really understand. So I need the layout to be relatively simple.
HOWEVER. I still want it to be *pretty*! I do not relish the thought of the graphic designer-in-law (sort of)'s sarcasm.
So I'm going to kind of pour myself into that little box of limitations and see what the wackiest, coolest thing I can come up with is.
I guess the moral of the story is that I relish a challenge... Now let's just see if that lasts through the whole site design.
I hope so.
I'm going to make heavy use of technologies I don't really understand
Very brave of you to admit that, Dragonlady. The rest of us just hang out here and ask questions... ;)
Ironically it is almost Luddite - nothing to do with technology - but it has definitely inspired me to rethink designs, to look in new places, and to look in old places in a new way.
:)
Here's the process that I went through:
1. Wrote down a list of all the "stuff" I wanted in the site. I included the parts of the site that I still liked. The parts that I intended to add shortly, and the stuff that I'd like to make room for. These requirements were all over the map, from design issues (bigger pictures) to content stuff (better integration of advertising).
2. Then I got out my pen and paper and started sketching out structures that could accommodate all the content I was looking for. I tried EVERYTHING. Menu at the top, menu at the right, left, etc. I could whip off a design in about 10 minutes, and then analyzed it to see what I liked and didn't like.
Eventually I ended up drawing roughly the same design over an over again, so I figured I'd homed in on what I was looking for.
3. Then I defined the CSS attributes. I created a quick HTML version of the page for the table layouts, printed off and then wrote out all the unique CSS attributes I could find. Story title, footer bar, menu on, menu off, etc.
4. I then integrated these CSS attributes back into the HTML and then just started experimenting with different looks. I knew I wanted a text-based menu that turned different colours as you moused over it, but it took a lot of mucking around to get exactly the look I wanted.
5. I initially went with a grey palette of colours, but I created a few alternate CSS stylesheets that I could swap around to see how my site would look blue, green, brown, etc. I went back to grey. :-)
6. Finally I finetuned all the specific stuff, like the design of text-based ads, etc.
All in all it took me one weekend to go through this entire process, and then another couple of days to import my old content into the new design with all kinds of search-and-replaces.
The new design was well received from my audience, so I guess it was worth the work.
VISUALIZE.... in your mind... what you imagine the best site would look like... What you want YOUR site to look like...
Imagine colors, placement of links, logo's, everything...
Then put it on paper...
I never VISUALIZED for a long time, it was impossible, and the sites always turned out bad.
Then once I visualized and thought "Well, what do I WANT my site to look like?", "How do I want my visitors to see it?"
The ideas started flowing!
Might sound off, or you've tried it before... But seriously, just try to imagine the perfect site in your head first, then working from that image.
Some Magazines that I keep a copy of handy are: Graphika & WallPaper. These magazines
will also give you good ideas regarding combos.
What is your site trying to accomplish?
What are the elements you want to appear highest on Google/Inktomi/Fast (Each of the majors have very different returns and coding for one may not get you the others)?
Where do you want your customers to go?
What do you want them to do? (to steal from marketing bots, what are their calls to action?)
Once you've identified what the "hard-points" of the website are, it might be easier filling in the twiddly bits and adding the style points. Heck it might even make sense to put them on bits of paper and move them around on a whiteboard.
But for starters don't worry about perfection. Experiment a little. Each revision fuels more creativity.
Would perfection be the equipment drawn in outline with each panel opening a door to a bit of content?
So, you can't do what you really want to do, cool impressionistic design. Just content is dull. The challenge is how are you going to work into the design your talent? (By starting, hint, hint, kick, kick.) Try working on a couple of cool ideas and see if you can find one that is cool, is acceptable and jazzes up the site. A little punch.
Good Luck,
Shane
Hawkgirl, if I could bill out the hours I spend trying to find inspiration, I'd be a rich, rich man.
Some ideas that have worked for me:
- Walk through a furniture store, like Ikea. Take some time to notice the colours and textures they use in their display rooms.
- Get away from the computer. Read a magazine, newspaper, book..whatever. Take a walk or go for a drive in the country. Bring a digital camera and take pictures of things that you see along the way. Often an entire website can be built around one picture.
- Go to the bookstore and buy a magazine on gardens, concept automobiles, fashion or - my personal favouite - Architectural digest. I have found that, sometimes, inspiration off the Internet helps with inspiration on the Internet.
Hope this Helps.
- Chad
I will also use old fashioned brain-storming word association. I use brain-storming (or stream of consciousness) to write the words down and then use them in combinations to search for new websites in the SERPs.
I'm also a bit of a pack-rat and whenever I come across a website that trips my trigger I bookmark it so I can go back to it to study it in more detail.
If the topic I need to prepare for is tangible then I'll make arrangements to visit the location so I can soak up the sites and sounds. Take along a camera and tape-recorder instead of your laptop as I've found my ideas flow faster than my fingers can type.
what I do is to do nothing at all. after burning your brain out thinking of a design or even solving a problem ... do something different like cleaning the room, visiting the country side. Before you know it ... the answers or your ideal design is at hand.
not all famous discoveries and inventions are cook inside the laboratory
... they may pop-up anywhere.
Eureka! - archimedes (taking a bath on a tub, golden crown, water, water displaced = "density")
Junkyards can be very inspirational.
It may be your muse calling. How fortunate for you if she calls and you answer. Do you know the alternative? You do, don't you.
Courage and dying again, and again, and again is all that creation requires of us.
Inspiration - pick up a good graphics book with the best selling ads! All kinds of cool stuff, then your head will be spinning about what NOT to write and use!
Good luck, WFN:)
I have a read a few books that are all about artists who feel a lack of motivation and need some inspiration:
The blank canvas
No more second hand art
Things that they suggest are just go ahead and start somewhere. I would start with some paper and just do quick sketches of the design. I would say do 20 or so, no more than a minute each. Choose the top 5 and do 2-3 minutes each. Maybe 10-15 minutes on your favorite 2. If you are still stuck I would not touch it or look at it for a day or so. Then come back at what you started and see what you think of it.
Usually while I work on something I come to the point where I just want to throw it out and start over. A few days later it does not seem as bad.
Some other suggestions are to look at it in ways you normally wouldn’t, from a distance, upside down, backwards...
The inspiration for my site came from a can of Japanese soda.
>>Where do you go
I go to towns I've never been to, talk to people I've never talked to and walk down streets I've never walked down. I ask questions of perfect strangers that I have no business asking and I listen to their answers.
Then I sit down with my back against a tree and write and draw until my head is clear. When I've drawn and written about everything new that I've learned, I go home and go back to work.
Practical? Hell no. Worthwhile? Yes.
I ended up checking out the Webby awards site and found a baby products store that was very nice. I also looked at Amazon (can't think of anywhere that has had more success).
From there I was sure to include lots of white space for seperation to keep ideas seperate. I also paid a guy to do a logo for me that looks better than anything I could ever do.
It took me about a month of working on the new site on a test server before I put it up on the web site. So far, since the overhaul my monthly sales have about quadroopled (spelling?) what I was doing during Christmas season.
By all means I don't think I have it figured out. But, thanks to this forum I have been able to stay afloat longer than anybody thought I would. The most gratifying part of the site overhaul is that I get comments every week that my site is the best looking, easiest to use, cleanest, fastest, etc. site out there that is selling what I am selling. They might be wrong, but it makes me feel good.
Something that has not been mentioned yet is where all the big offline advertising companies get inspiration.
Why they raid Fine Art!
Google images is an amazing online gallery, search for artist like : Cy Twombly, Anton Tapies, Agnes Martin, Robert Rauschenberg, Rothko, Motherwell, Kurt Schwitters, Andre Derain, Mattise, Miro, Marcel Duchamp, Giacometti, Man Ray, Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat,
To name but a few.
they raid Fine Art
Where's Piet Mondrian?
His compositions in oil on canvas are the first i personally would think of when it comes to contemporary webdesign ... all kinds of clean structured surfaces (squares ~ table cells / divs / spans) in a variety of colors and sizes. You can almost feel the websites developing through looking at his works.
amznVibe:
Nice link to that Banana site :) reading through the thread i actually thought of making a design-changing design (can you really say that?) myself - great idea!
Hawkgirl:
So much have been said, i have little to add apart from the obvious. The site is there for a purpose, right? It does some kind of function (or set of functions) for your customer, right?
Well, concentrate on that. The functional parts. What should it do? Forget about design. Completely. Layout perhaps, but forget design. Make a point of it. When a design issue comes to your mind, just say "later" and ignore it. Write it down if you think it's a good idea, but don't, don't, think about it.
Make that list a "parking space". Don't even look at it, just write on it. Don't even draw. Make the site do what it's there for. Don't mock up, don't develop, don't think - implement, implement, implement.
When you feel like your'e almost there, look at the list. You probably won't be needing it, but it will give you some ideas for another site.
/claus
