Archive for Design

Don’t Miss/Don’t Bother | The New Intel.com

By Kenna Dian · Comments (3)
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

2011 Intel.com Website Redesign Home PageThis week, we took the new Intel.com site for a spin. Let’s just say there’s more (and less) to this site than meets the eye.

Kenna Dian: Don’t Bother

Intel.com’s latest redesign is like buying an exotic car. It is visually striking, can be fun to drive, and has more bells and whistles than other cars on the road. But going exotic has tradeoffs. Choosing to pass on getting the full options package can leave the driving experience far less exciting than advertised. In fact, it may even break down–always in inconvenient locations. And the unique controls and design that seems edgy and innovative in the beginning quickly become confusing and irritating.

Read More→

Comments (3)
Categories : Design, Marketing, Navigation, POV (point of view), Search, Strategy, Usability, Website Launches
Tags : , , , , , ,

Visions of IBM.com’s grand redesign emerge

By Kenna Dian · Comments (0)
Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

IBM.com Solutions Page 2011With some best practices and innovations in store.

Recently Marty Gruhn and I put IBM.com’s new mega-menu under the microscope and the results were…well…less than stellar. But a couple accidental slips of my cursor exposed some other new designs and approaches that are well worth taking a spin around the IBM.com site.

Navigation first, content second. If you click on one of the artfully hidden “all” links in IBM.com’s mega-menu (i.e. “all solutions” or “all services”) you will land on a page that is so simply designed and elegant that you will think you landed on a different site. You didn’t. This is the highest of the high levels of the new IBM.com. Sophisticated design aside, what is most notable is how the page is focused solely on navigating to the rest of the site. Broad, big-bucket links take visitors to more specific information, while the content only sets the context. Read More→

Comments (0)
Categories : Design, Navigation, Usability, Website Launches
Tags : , , , , , , , ,

Don’t Miss/Don’t Bother | IBM.com’s Mega-menu Launch

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (1)
Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

IBM.com's Home Page Mega-menu 2011In this Don’t Miss/Don’t Bother we take IBM.com’s new mega-menu for a spin (or two).

Fair warning, this post is long!

IBM.com has launched revised home and solutions pages that feature the next major piece in its evolution: a new take on mega-menus. Not surprisingly, IBM.com has put its own spin on what is fast becoming an industry norm. In this Don’t Miss/Don’t Bother we weigh in on the pros and cons of IBM.com’s latest design. Read More→

Comments (1)
Categories : Design, Navigation, POV (point of view), Usability, Website Launches
Tags : , , , , , , ,

Launches | The Age of the Home Page

By Kenna Dian · Comments (0)
Monday, June 6th, 2011

Who is updating their home page, how are they doing it—and why it might not matter.

2011 is turning out to be the age of the home page. We’re seeing updates in record numbers– and some designs are actually breaking new ground. On the other hand, few of these designs are actually making it down to lower levels of the site—which is a big no-no in our book.

I’ll leave that point for a future rant. Meanwhile, let’s take a look at who’s producing these new home pages, the important design points and strategies they bring to the party—and explore the age-old question: why only the home page?

I’ll start with the “who” and “how” and leave my humble opinions for the end. Read More→

Comments (0)
Categories : Design, POV (point of view), Usability, Website Launches
Tags : , , , , , , , , , , ,

Don’t Miss/Don’t Bother | HP.com’s Home Page Launch

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

In this Don’t Miss/Don’t Bother we tackle HP.com’s new home page launch—and the waterfall effects on this mega site.

Kenna Dian | Don’t Bother

I have been watching the latest HP.com home page launch for the last three weeks with great interest—waiting to see how the new home page design would shake out. But after all this time, I am left wondering what on earth HP.com thinks it’s doing.

A short history. The cycle started about three weeks ago with a new home page, which suddenly disappeared the next day. Next, it appeared again in a rotation with the old home page. Within a week, there were 3 versions of the home page—then 4—and now we’re up to at least 5. Add two animated versions that show the visitor how to use the home page’s feature panels and navigation—and you have the whole picture.

I don’t know if HP.com will eventually settle on something—or will continue playing Russian roulette with its home page. But I do know that I’ve learned four things watching this…um…unique launch. Read More→

Comments (0)
Categories : Design, POV (point of view), Website Launches
Tags : , , ,

SAP.com’s home page re-design re-defines Website architecture

By Kenna Dian · Comments (2)
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

SAP.com Home Page 2011Think you know how to design the perfect home page? Engineer the most efficient Website architecture? Think again. Because SAP.com has changed all the rules of the game.

What would you think if someone told you they could eliminate the first 3 layers of your site? The blizzard of landing pages. Semi-redundant content. Pesky page load times. All of it.

Sounds impossible?  It’s not. Read More→

Comments (2)
Categories : Design, Navigation, POV (point of view), Usability, Website Launches
Tags : , , , , , , , , , ,

Apple.com | startpage? Whaddya thinkin’?

By Kenna Dian · Comments (4)
Monday, May 2nd, 2011

Apple.com "startpage"

Apple.com tests out a new startpage that leaves us going “Huh?”

Today apple.com startled some visitors with a “startpage” (it’s from the URL—it didn’t really have that name per se) chock full of the latest and greatest goings on at Apple.com. News, Tutorials, Movie trailers iTunes, and of course, the latest shopping deals. Apple…whaddya thinking?

Apple.com is the poster child of the latest minimalist design craze. Website teams everywhere are examining its site design to crack the code on presenting the most information in the simplest way. And the fact is, this startpage is overload for most companies today. That means it is a downright avalanche for Apple.com.

So please Apple.com. Continue to emulate the beautiful stark minimalism of the Apple products on your Website. Keep us guessing how you present your information so simply, but effortlessly. Please don’t change. We like you just the way you are.

This startpage was probably not seen by everyone. It seems it was on a random rotation, possibly for testing purposes. Apple.com, by this blog, I think you know my vote.
Comments (4)
Categories : Design, POV (point of view), Usability, Website Launches
Tags : , , ,

IBM.com Smarter Planet | Best Practices & Moments of Brilliance

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Monday, April 25th, 2011

IBM.com's Smarter Planet Home PageKenna posted four new case studies last week – all around IBM.com’s Smarter Planet zone and the new “cult of personality” we see on this site. If you haven’t spent some quality time on this piece of IBM.com real estate, it’s time to dust your dancing shoes off and go for a spin.

Each of the case studies focuses on a different design or content best practice—but for my money, the “cult of personality” discussion is a compelling moment of brilliance. It looks like the IBM Smarter Planet team has actually cracked the code on how to marry social media behaviors with the company’s core business propositions. Here’s a thirty second summary of Kenna’s POV.

Read More→

Comments (0)
Categories : Branding, Strategy, Website Launches
Tags : , , ,

siteIQ Case Study | Tips & Traps | The risk of implied navigation

By Kenna Dian · Comments (1)
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Intel.com Business Home PageWebsite teams are doing everything they can to simplify their navigation to align to the new “less is more” design trend. More white space, less content, fewer navigational options. But in the pursuit of the ultimate minimalist design, many sites are resorting to implied navigation—a risky proposition.

So what is implied navigation? If you have used a Website you have encountered it. Links that use vague phrases or single words that, within the context of the current page, promises one thing, only to deliver something else. These links often deliver “general Intel.com Products Pagepurpose” pages that change topics, audiences, or make the visitor start over at the beginning. Let’s see it in action. Read More→

Comments (1)
Categories : Design, Navigation
Tags : , ,

Apple.com & Intel.com | Turning negative design into positive usability

By Kenna Dian · Comments (9)
Monday, October 4th, 2010

Social Media, DesignIn a world where content has been king, white space design is the new tail that wags the dog.

I’ve had space on my mind. Not the kind that Stephen Hawking talks about. The kind that’s finally getting the attention of enterprise-class Web design teams.

It is the power of white space—negative space—empty space–the void.

The importance of using white space in Website design isn’t a brand new concept. One can find plenty of blogs and examples on the subject. A couple of IT sites have also tinkered with it over the past few years. Apple.com has mastered it. Intel.com isn’t far behind.

But now the results are in regarding how negative space designs directly enhance usability. This has turned designing with white space from an avant garde concept into a usability requirement.

So what’s so great about negative space? If you aren’t into design or have been too busy with your day job to pay attention, here are the main benefits:

Read More→

Comments (9)
Categories : Branding, Design, Usability
Tags : , , , , ,
Next Page »
 Subscribe

Receive Best Practice Alerts


Get the latest best practices, blogs, and news delivered in your email.

Sign up for the siteIQ Digest:

Marty Gruhn on Twitter

Follow Kenna Dian on Twitter

siteIQ, Inc  •   Copyright © 2012 All Rights Reserved