Can you help test my new website?

Alex Jenyon · 13 Feb 2008, 13:07

Greetings...

I've FINALLY got round to re-doing my portfolio website. It's now live (or rather, half of it is), and I was hoping I could have some help with some testing.

If anyone gets a minute, could you go to:

(www.aj-concepts.net)

...and see if it works?

Tested on a mac, using Safari and Firefox - not a very large sample.

Comments regarding presentation, usability and weak content would really be appreciated.

Many thanks

AJ

Jackson · 13 Feb 2008, 13:07

It works fine and I like the look and content, but it's too big resolution-wise and I would question the logic of having it optimised for full screen viewing. Most people view websites in a restored down window (less than full screen in PC jargon) and the first thing I saw on opening your site was a half hidden menu on the right side. It would be better to build it to be viewed at 1000px wide or less- most professional sites are. Yours seems to be 1200 or 1300 wide which is way too big. On my 1440 x 900px widescreen it's a pain to view and navigate around- the previous and next nav buttons are off the screen when it's viewed at anything less than full screen. Folks on lower res screens will not be able to nav around your site without scrolling left to right. 12" laptop screens may not even be able to view the whole of your site. The "Press escape to exit full screen mode" message is also unnecessary and irritating. Also, why is your menu on the right side as opposed to the standard left side? It feels illogical (although Arabic speakers may disagree ).

Like I said though, it looks great and navigates well.

Alex Jenyon · 13 Feb 2008, 13:08

Cheers Jackson;

Thanks for the feedback. Which browser are you using?

Unfortunately, the 'press escape to exit' message is something that's locked into the flash player - you can't disable it!

AJ

Paul Russam · 13 Feb 2008, 13:08

As soon as it went full screen I closed it without looking at the contents.
Users find it rude (to say the least) for a web site to decide how big their web browser should be, what buttons or lack of, are visible etc. My first reaction was "What's is it hiding behind that".

As per Jackson, on the first page the items on the right where off screen.

As for the looks, they seemed fine and dandy.

Win XP + Firefox 2.0.0.7

Jackson · 13 Feb 2008, 13:38

Sorry, I forgot to say IE7.

I feel bad about being so negative, but as Paul says having a big fixed resolution site is a no-no. I usually optimise them for 800px wide.

Alex Jenyon · 13 Feb 2008, 13:38

All feedback is great - negative is probably more useful than positive, to be honest.

Looks like I might have to redo it slightly. I made this one 1240 px wide, which displays nicely on my 17" laptop (1400x900). I thought that would be fine, but I must have misjudged slightly, if everyone is having problems viewing it... I always view webpages in a full screen browser window, though.

As to the flash 'fullscreen' mode - is this really unpopular? I only found out it was possible a week or so ago, and I thought it looked great - since it means the page DOES draw properly on all screen resolutions.

Paul Russam · 13 Feb 2008, 13:38

Yea sorry but Full screen is a no no, A full screen window could be hiding another window behind it doing nasty's, don't get me wrong I trust you, but years of experience have taught me to be wary or such things.

It also makes it obvious to my colleges and more importantly my boss that I'm not working

Jackson · 13 Feb 2008, 13:39

@paul russam said:

It also makes it obvious to my colleges and more importantly my boss that I'm not working

ROFLMAO No comment!

tomsdesk · 13 Feb 2008, 13:40

Alex,
Similar reaction to full screen...looks really nice but "what the hell" hit my brain right away. Also, the load times had me thinking the links were broken...started clicking around rather than waiting (glad I found my patience...beautiful work well worth the wait). Anyway, I bet you could come up with an equally beautiful "loading" gif to make people like me wait.
IE7

Bottom line, though, is: Wonderful!

Alex Jenyon · 13 Feb 2008, 13:40

Thanks for the feedback, everyone...

Sod... guess I'll have to redo it.

AJ

Masta Squidge · 13 Feb 2008, 13:43

What he should do is have the size percentage based instead of a specific amount of pixels.
Use his rather neat background image across the whole thing, then set the left side as say... 80% and the right menu at 20% width.
Then no matter what the resolution of the screen it will scale properly.

Of course there is more to it than that, and you will still have to make sure it all looks ok as you scale it back on the screen, but thats the idea.

Edson · 13 Feb 2008, 13:44

hi alex,

i symphatize with what you are going through as i am in the process of making a new web site for me.

design-wise your site is fine and uncluttered, even elegant.

what i do not like about it is the mandatory full-screen mode. i also find it somewhat difficult to navigate through it. for my money you could have a more evident way of navigating through the sections.

regards,

Jackson · 13 Feb 2008, 13:44

@masta squidge said:

What he should do is have the size percentage based instead of a specific amount of pixels.

I wouldn't say he should do that- he could do it, it's certainly an option, but many webpages are designed at a fixed resolution and for good reason. Architects, graphic designers, artists and perhaps most importantly web designers usually use fixed resolution sites (most often 800px wide) as it allows them to fix the composition of the layout. It's obviously pointless setting up a page to look just right when you know that any window resizing will completely screw up the proportions and from a matte painter's point of view I'd imagine composition would be very important.

Alex Jenyon · 13 Feb 2008, 13:45

Coen -

If I knew how to program html sites , I would probably do that.

Unfortunately, I don't have the knowlege, the software or (to be honest) the time to learn it all. Knowing flash was sort of a by-product of doing animated presentations - I learnt flash long before I knew you could also use it as a developer tool.

I guess, like everything, it's a trade off - not having to pay a web developer vs. having a flash portfolio.

I know it would be better, though, so it's on my long list of things I need to learn

Thanks for the feedback!

AJ