website mockups, what is fedora?

[Ben Boeckel]

On Saturday 22 August 2009 02:04:19 Máirín Duffy wrote:
> On Sat, 2009-08-22 at 02:01 -0400, Ben Boeckel wrote:
> > *sigh* Using KMail now with mail delivery on and now I forget to check the receiver.
> > 
> okay ill resend my reply
> 
> Thanks for giving it a try. Here are the problems I see with the mockup:
> 
> - Are you NEW? Go over *there*. This isn't for you.  (not very
> welcoming)
I think people understand that there are people who know better than them at something. Do math geniuses get pushed off to the side just because not everyone knows as much as them?

> - Okay, now that we got rid of the n00bs in the room. Let me tell you
> information you likely already know. Here's what an Edition is... blah
> blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
> 
> - Are you going to have a single download link above the fold?
> 
> --- page fold ---
> 
> Actual download links down here
> 
> - What happens if you have more than 4 desktop environments? How does
> the design handle that?
They can be put into a vertical layout instead of a grid. This can be decided at each release since the Editions available for that release are unlikely to change over the life of that release.

> - The DVD section might as well not be there. It's down in Antarctica.
> And how do you explain what the DVD has in it in relation to the spins? 
There'd be text there, not just a download link.

> - What if I want KDE x86_64? Where do I go? These are technical people,
> they need access to all the arches.
Put two buttons next to each other with a link to each.

> - What if (quite likely) all of the desktop environment logos clash with
> each other and they don't all look professional? 
They'd clash in the spins page as well. I was thinking of the images used there, not the actual project logos. It was late, vocabulary was failing.

> - What is the sidebar going to have in it? The documentation we have in
> the sidebar in the mockups is going to be useless because it is
> GNOME-only.
The install for all of them is Anaconda, so there's no difference there. They both have links on the desktop (IIRC, I haven't run the KDE Live myself in a while). The biggest difference from the install is having to "customize packages" to get KDE (and to disable GNOME, which is a PITA).

> - What if I want the Electronics spin? What if I want the Art studio
> spin? There's no mention of the possibility of these here.
Sidebar? Panda box? There would be text for it.

> - Fedora is not a menagerie of desktop environments. This makes it seem
> as if it is. Gotta collect them all. Here is pikachu, here is.. uh,
> toad-guy, here is giraffe guy... 
Do people see all the versions of Windows as "collectable"? This argument is silly. Fedora is not just GNOME either. I see no reason to be deceptive.
 
> - If you're catering to people who know what they're doing, you better
> offer a bittorrent link per spin. And an md5 sum. And a link to the gpg
> keys to verify the packages. 
Currently there's a portal page with the "Of your download does not start in 5 seconds, click <here>." This information can go there.

> You've basically turned the design inside out. The designs I did make it
> very easy and welcoming for newbies (where newbies != grandma), and they
> require just one additional click from people who are already in the
> community and feel welcome.
It makes those looking for not-Desktop (whatever that may be, not specified anywhere, really needs a GNOME label on it, s/Desktop/GNOME/ would be best IMO) feel alienated. The "one click" is small and hard to find.

> This design basically makes it clear that new people are not very
> welcome - it provides a lot of choices right away, and tells the newbies
> to go elsewhere, forcing them through 3 clicks and 3 page loads just to
> get Fedora. They haven't bought in yet. Current community members have. 
I think people can expect a "here's what we're about, let us walk you through" to something like Linux. It's not like buying a new handsoap or something.

> I'm also curious how this design would interact with the big 'download'
> button on the front page that has been proposed.
Goes to this page if OS == Linux and where the big download goes for != Linux? If could go to this page no matter what. There are websites that have a button on the frontpage that doesn't link straight to a file. I can find some if you want, but I've hit them enough that I think you've probably seen them too.

> ~m
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 198 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part.
URL: <http://listman.redhat.com/archives/fedora-advisory-board/attachments/20090823/57745846/attachment.sig>