Great article, Derek. As for the earlier comments about how to convince the boss… I think it’s usually better to let someone else do the convincing.
Try running some cheap and dirty usability tests, and get them on videotape. Bosses can easily dismiss “expert opinions”, but when they’re presented with evidence of real users, stumped by an interface, it’s hard for them to argue.
Great article. I would also mention that home page content is also important. Include only the most relevant, new and persuasive items, and update often.
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Weixi Yen
Designing the site backwards from the inner pages and finishing with the homepage is a great idea. The best part of the article was actually the comment on user traffic. It’s pretty much true across the board in any large web site.
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John Dunagan
In passing, Derek, you implied that Google had ‘gotten away with’ a bad home page, because it wasn’t apparent from the page design itself what Google was about.
Is that accurate? And if so, do you still think so? And if you still think so, what elements of it seem counter-intuitive?
i just followed one of the author’s links to see a great page in action and came across his http://jpgmag.com/ page that instantly confused me as to what it is and how to use it. after 10 long seconds of scanning the page, i left it forever.
Good article, Derek. Just picked it up from creativepro.com. I have a question. Here is our URL: www.faithefc.com. Note what I call the non-Home Page Home Page. This was originally our home page: www.faithefc.com/index2.html. I know the site is not pretty, but there are political reasons for that ;>). But it’s not a bad site. However, in an attempt to show that our church is “with the times,” another staff member created the Flash site and the opening page to give visitors a choice. I don’t like the opening page, and I think the Flash site is less informative, and the flashing clouds, which have nothing to do with our church, are distracting. I think the original home page is more in keeping with your four goals. Honest opinion? Yes, I am the web master, but there are politics and conflicting philosophies involved.
Thanks to all who help, Alan.
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Ron Whitman
So I read this article about a year or so ago and lived by it. Then I got a massive web application project and learned that the “design backwards” approach is probably one of the worst pieces of advice I’ve ever followed. Basically, this logic completely screwed me on a project..
What happens is the team started designing page pieces instead of concentrating on the user experience and general look and feel, so when we returned to the home page we were making it out of boring little component parts designed for forms and copy blocks. We got designed into a corner and the client could tell.
This ended up making the home page ugly and dull, so we wound up designing it differently from the rest of the site, causing a horrible ripple effect of design inconsistency across the board. We had to go back and change so much of the design to account for this.
Use this technique with caution. My advice, design the home page first, but with the intention of coming back to it with a final sweep after the core of the site is completed.
I came across this article after completing a redesign of our site, and agree with so much of what is written. The previous design (and copy) had dated, and upon reflection, the copy was very fluffy, and it was difficult to discern exactly what it was we were offering. The decision looks to be stating very obviously our main product, and mentioning the others, with a link through to an ‘about us’ page.
I find the biggest issue is targeting to potential customers, instead of to people like ourselves. Once the page has received some much needed attention, we’ll be running it past people in our target market to see what they think.
I think the best homepage is simple, informative and with just a few links, nothign messy and then having a structured heirarchy to the rest of the site to guide the user to the desired information, like this haha http://www.bigmediadesign.com
I stumbled across this article, and found it to be a pretty neat way of approaching web design. It’s always interesting to hear how others approach design projects, – in my opinion, there’s no right or wrong, but it’s enjoyable to try other methods out and see how they work for you.
45 Reader Comments
Back to the ArticleMichael Straker
Great article, Derek. As for the earlier comments about how to convince the boss… I think it’s usually better to let someone else do the convincing.
Try running some cheap and dirty usability tests, and get them on videotape. Bosses can easily dismiss “expert opinions”, but when they’re presented with evidence of real users, stumped by an interface, it’s hard for them to argue.
Stuart Matthews
Great article. I would also mention that home page content is also important. Include only the most relevant, new and persuasive items, and update often.
Weixi Yen
Designing the site backwards from the inner pages and finishing with the homepage is a great idea. The best part of the article was actually the comment on user traffic. It’s pretty much true across the board in any large web site.
John Dunagan
In passing, Derek, you implied that Google had ‘gotten away with’ a bad home page, because it wasn’t apparent from the page design itself what Google was about.
Is that accurate? And if so, do you still think so? And if you still think so, what elements of it seem counter-intuitive?
Ken L
i just followed one of the author’s links to see a great page in action and came across his http://jpgmag.com/ page that instantly confused me as to what it is and how to use it. after 10 long seconds of scanning the page, i left it forever.
krishnamoorthy manickam
Thanks… this is great experience for me. Already we know the importance of user experience. But your article give more importance to the home page.
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Mugunthan ramasamy
Highlight the important things and make to read easy…
More highlight for homepage.
ismail kirbas
I think it’s really useful article, many thanx
Alan Allegra
Good article, Derek. Just picked it up from creativepro.com. I have a question. Here is our URL: www.faithefc.com. Note what I call the non-Home Page Home Page. This was originally our home page: www.faithefc.com/index2.html. I know the site is not pretty, but there are political reasons for that ;>). But it’s not a bad site. However, in an attempt to show that our church is “with the times,” another staff member created the Flash site and the opening page to give visitors a choice. I don’t like the opening page, and I think the Flash site is less informative, and the flashing clouds, which have nothing to do with our church, are distracting. I think the original home page is more in keeping with your four goals. Honest opinion? Yes, I am the web master, but there are politics and conflicting philosophies involved.
Thanks to all who help, Alan.
Ron Whitman
So I read this article about a year or so ago and lived by it. Then I got a massive web application project and learned that the “design backwards” approach is probably one of the worst pieces of advice I’ve ever followed. Basically, this logic completely screwed me on a project..
What happens is the team started designing page pieces instead of concentrating on the user experience and general look and feel, so when we returned to the home page we were making it out of boring little component parts designed for forms and copy blocks. We got designed into a corner and the client could tell.
This ended up making the home page ugly and dull, so we wound up designing it differently from the rest of the site, causing a horrible ripple effect of design inconsistency across the board. We had to go back and change so much of the design to account for this.
Use this technique with caution. My advice, design the home page first, but with the intention of coming back to it with a final sweep after the core of the site is completed.
Karl Hardisty
I came across this article after completing a redesign of our site, and agree with so much of what is written. The previous design (and copy) had dated, and upon reflection, the copy was very fluffy, and it was difficult to discern exactly what it was we were offering. The decision looks to be stating very obviously our main product, and mentioning the others, with a link through to an ‘about us’ page.
I find the biggest issue is targeting to potential customers, instead of to people like ourselves. Once the page has received some much needed attention, we’ll be running it past people in our target market to see what they think.
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Matt Martin
I think the best homepage is simple, informative and with just a few links, nothign messy and then having a structured heirarchy to the rest of the site to guide the user to the desired information, like this haha http://www.bigmediadesign.com
Graphic Design by Zulu
I stumbled across this article, and found it to be a pretty neat way of approaching web design. It’s always interesting to hear how others approach design projects, – in my opinion, there’s no right or wrong, but it’s enjoyable to try other methods out and see how they work for you.