I have received an assignment to redesign my college’s website according to the smarts of this guy here:
There is nothing in the basic website design I believe he would find offensive that I can really show with a quick mockup. The Southern Maine Community College site’s main problem is in its functionality; links lead to dead ends, the search engine doesn’t work properly, etc. The only usability tip Mr. Nielson gives that SMCC could benefit from, aside fixing basic things like that, would be to use the “breadcrumb” method of organizing subpages instead of using cluttered sidebars on both sides of the page.
Because those issues would be difficult to solve with a simple “Photoshop sketch” I have opted to simply redesign the home page, take out anything I find unnecessary or obtrusive and replace with my own ideas.
It’s difficult to do this properly without content for the example, but the main changes were in simplifying everything. I found the left sidebar to be unattractive and poorly organized, the “quick links” not relevant enough to most browsers that I would keep them. The slideshow is gone, along with its silly comments, and would do well replaced by a simple banner or tasteful image portraying students enjoying their education. I kept the three news boxes at the bottom because I found they could be put to good use, for example announcing open houses, upcoming events and student activities.
My boyfriend had his own suggestions, too.
He has some valid points, I think.
I’ll let the college know about your boyfriend’s design/marketing skills. They might need him!