Fw: Feedback re static frontend site

[Sean DALY]

Many thanks Christian, I like this better, I think it's more impactful.

Here is a raft of more suggestions for the homepage suggestion box ;-)

I will send a separate mail for the other sections, I have some
hopefully constructive suggestions for those too including copy.

Marketing listers, speak up with suggestions!


********** homepage **********

* If we could add an edit to the homepage? -> "Available in X
languages, " like so:
"Sugar is the core component of a worldwide effort to provide every
child with equal opportunity for a quality education. Available in X
languages, Sugar is used every school day by almost one-million
children in more than forty countries."
Sugar's availability in & adaptability to local languages (including
"exotic" ones) is a key benefit and differentiator. (though I'm afraid
I don't know the actual value of X ;-)


* I do feel that a very concise "motto" would communicate more
effectively our mission for children. Some text under the logo won't
detract... *if* the logo is larger and the motto reinforces the logo.
Idea: "Learning software for children." could be colored with the
first three words in grey and "children." in the matching "sugar"
color... suggesting very clearly the association between Sugar and
children (and, at the same time, "Labs" and "learning software"). Live
text for the motto would probably be better (& surely faster) than
logo image text... although I very much like the sans serif font. What
is the font by the way, VAG Rounded Light? MGOpen is an available
close-equivalent free font but has an even lighter stroke I think.


* The footer still says "index" and links to the previous homepage...
could we match that up with the dynamic top menu?


* Header: "download" -> "downloads" plural, a first (subtle) hint that
there is not (yet) an automatic 1-click installer....


* Footer: justified left? So as to be 100% sure the homepage and
sitemap links will be visible at small screen resolutions, but also
because at high resolutions it jumps to the right and I feel disturbs
the "air" of the screenshots margin.


* Trademark: my understanding is that through the SFC we have
trademarked Sugar and Sugar Labs. Like copyright, it's best-practice
to indicate that registration. I don't think we need to go as far as
"Sugar and Sugar Labs are trademarks of....", a little superscript
"TM" in the footer e.g. "(c) 2009 Sugar Labs^TM" would do the trick.


* Although I still don't like the black background which I find
gloomy, I don't think now is the time to fiddle with that. But I have
to say I do find it extremely cool that the homepage colors change
with the logo... the suggestion of surprise, of diversity in color.
That said, each time I did find the grey text having less importance
than the colored text... like "labs" is secondary to "sugar" in the
logo. Whereas the text should be of equal importance throughout I
think... As the screenshot + Dongyun Lee illustration have lots of
white, perhaps the grey homepage text up to "try it..." could be white
instead? Unless that messes up printing (white on white) and dominates
the grey of the logo, in which case a lighter grey? Alternatively: the
colored text a little darker, which would bring out the brightness of
the logo color and make the contrast with the grey less pronounced.
These approaches would make the page more readable I believe because
the logo "labs" grey and navigation grey ("more information",
copyright notice) are stable and anyway of secondary importance to the
text... Ultimately, I believe that there's a very effective color
balance to be found between the logo (+motto) and copy text. The logo
size has everything to do with this balance, in my view.


* "Try it with a child today." the period colored as well? Nitpicking,
but the call to action *is* vital - it's the conclusion of the pitch.


* "content is available under attribution 3.0 unported" -> "content is
available under CC attribution 3.0 unported" ?


* The Dongyun Lee illustration legend: "The Sugar Experience" -> "the
sugar experience: Activities" ? As I've said, I think star marketing
-> spotlight on Activities will always put our best foot forward.
Lowercase for the legends would be in line with the logo, header,
footer, and "next->" nav; while capitalizing "Activities" will
indicate their importance. They are what kids spend most of their time
in Sugar doing, many Activities are exclusive to Sugar, and their
collaborative features make them more effective on the Sugar Learning
Platform than if they were taken out and thrown onto another GUI. [By
the way, I can imagine seeing on some... generous education portal
site a 468x60 anim-GIF ad banner showing: 1) a TamTam Jam logo 2) +
text "TamTam Jam" 3) text "one of 30 Activities of the award-winning
Sugar Learning Platform." 4) text "try it with a child today" + Sugar
Labs logo]


* In a similar vein, could we link from "Sugar Activities" in the text
body to the Activities page?


* hmmm it's true we don't have the press phone number(s) yet but we
can't have no contact link at all on the homepage... I think David
mentioned there is a pr at sugarlabs.org address? We could add a simple
mailto: to the footer, and if that account could have forwarding rules
on it we could at least be contactable instead of mysterious ;-)


* We don't have "about us"... as a quick solution, may I suggest we
link the "Sugar Labs" text in the footer to
http://sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_Labs ?


********** /homepage **********

thanks

Sean



On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 3:13 AM, Christian Marc Schmidt
<christianmarc at gmail.com> wrote:
> Comments inline below. The latest changes are on my server:
>
> http://www.christianmarcschmidt.com/projects/sugarlabs/betasite_alt/
>
>
>> I do feel however that the Activities need to be very prominently
>> displayed and talked about - they are the heart of the Sugar
>> experience and, in my view, the reason learners/parents/teachers would
>> consider trying Sugar. Perhaps even a separate menu section. Under the
>> Parents section, they are merely referred to as "the usual
>> collection", which clashes with the presentation of Sugar as specially
>> made for kids. Wouldn't it be better to say e.g.: "The heart of Sugar
>> is its Activities" (capitalized), then develop the collaboration
>> advantage, mention View Source which satisifies children's curiosity,
>> etc. Then: "In addition, more traditional Activities such as a web
>> browser, an ebook reader, ..." On the Activities page, I would stress
>> the richness of the Activities, e.g. add a leader "Sugar Activities
>> are fun, friendly, thought-provoking, and collaborative - kids can't
>> get enough of them!" (P.S. I was a little confused that the links
>> leave the site to a page they can only return from with the back
>> button - perhaps links outside the site could load in a single
>> separate window, so people don't get lost?)
>
> Sean, it would be great if you could help re-write some of this
> content where you see fit.
>
> I have changed external links globally so they open in a separate window/tab.
>
>>
>> Also: every parent and teacher knows that if kids enjoy the material,
>> it's far easier for them to learn. So we need to communicate on that
>> first page that kids love using Sugar because it's fun. A photo would
>> be ideal, but even some quotable quotes could do it e.g.: "I like the
>> games and making music with TamTam", "I can chat with my friends", "I
>> like to draw with it", "I never lose my work because the computer
>> remembers it".
>
> Testimonials are a GREAT idea. We should add these as they come in,
> maybe those "in the field" can start gathering quotes and photos.
>
>>
>>
>> * I found the floating menu disconcerting at first, since it hides
>> text - I thought it was a bug. It took me a while to figure out it is
>> a live menu. Could its function as a menu be indicated? Perhaps the
>> categories could be arranged in a bar at the top of each screen -
>> visitors will thus quickly gain an overview of the sections.
>
> I have changed the menu to remain fixed at the top of the screen.
> There is a sitemap in the footer for a more comprehensive overview.
>
> Also, to aid navigation I have suggested to Walter that we treat
> section landing pages as portals to that section, explaining and
> linking directly to the various subpages. Thus the "contributors"
> landing page would point to the subpages "teams", "deployment", and
> "getting involved". The "about" overview page would work similarly.
> The main navigation at the top will then function as a persistent but
> supplementary device for navigating the site.
>
>>
>>
>> * May we add "Press" after Contributors? Which is where the contact
>> info will go ;-) but which could link to the Marketing Team page for
>> now.
>
> We should absolutely add "press", but I'd wait until we have content to fill it!
>
>>
>>
>> * Can we get screenshots on the Features page, like the Parents page?
>> Show & tell better than just tell ;-)
>
> I've added a few images in the latest build.
>
>>
>>
>> * As the site is very textual, is there a search function?
>>
>
> Not sure search is really necessary as the site is so small, but let's
> keep this in the back of our minds. It would be easy to add a Google
> search later down the road.
>
>>
>> * There is a bug with the floating menu, if I click on Teachers, then
>> rollover the menu, then click Back on the browser, the hompage appears
>> with the menu opened but nothing selected. (Firefox v3.0.5 on OSX
>> v10.4)
>
> Fixed.
>
>>
>>
>> * Although there is a license footer, there should first be a
>> copyright notice, e.g. "Copyright (c) 2009 Sugar Labs". Reminder, CC
>> licenses are based on copyright law and it's best-practice to assert
>> that right.
>>
>
> Changed.
>
>>
>> * Under features, I'd be tempted to add a downside section; e.g. "Is
>> Sugar right for my child's classroom?" which could be an opportunity
>> to knock down arguments that it's not Windows, it's too different,
>> etc.
>>
>
> Again, great idea. We can also add this section later, but I agree
> that it's an opportunity.
>
>>
>> * This has been under discussion & I've been meditating on it, but
>> there really should be a very short slogan under the logo which should
>> sum up Sugar Labs. Which could be changed later... but anything decent
>> will be better than nothing I feel. I'm afraid I don't like "the
>> learning engine for every child"... sounds technical, like they have
>> to spend too much time learning how to use it. Keeping in mind our
>> desire for teacher buy-in, how about "School software for children" or
>> "Learning software for children" ?
>>
>
> I'm not convinced that we need a slogan. I fear it would "cheapen" the
> strength of the brand. Actually, I think the latest homepage text is
> very descriptive. If the slogan still seems desirable, I would suggest
> using it in the browser title and (sparingly) within body copy.
>
>>
>> * The download link... to the directories... will appear to be a site
>> error to a nontechnical user. May I suggest
>> http://sugarlabs.org/go/Supported_systems instead, until we can
>> provide 1-click installers?
>>
>
> I decided to link it to the Try Sugar page instead:
>
> http://sugarlabs.org/go/DocumentationTeam/Try_Sugar
>
> That page still needs work (discussed on Friday), but Supported
> Systems feels a bit too techy...
>
>>
>> * In the floating menu I think "homepage" or even "table of contents"
>> would be better than "index"... an index is traditionally at the end
>> of a book ;-)
>>
>
> Changed to "home".
>
>>
>> * Activities page: instead of alpha sort, I would mix them up and
>> start with the Journal
>
> That's a possibility, but alpha sort is perhaps best if we are
> thinking of future scalability. But let me know if you'd like to try a
> specific order.
>
>>
>>
>> ..more to come....
>>
>> thanks
>>
>> Sean
>> Marketing Coordinator
>
>
> Thanks so much, Sean--great feedback, please let me know if you have
> any other suggestions of content edits!
>
>
> Christian
>
>
> --
> anything at christianmarcschmidt.com
>
> http://www.christianmarcschmidt.com
>
> 917/ 575 0013
>