revamped speedtv.com

[High Sided]

let me know what you think, i get a sneak peek just before it boots me off line :(

[cameraman]

Absolute crap.

The page designer has advanced ADD
What is with the 8 point fonts?
The CCWS site has few ads:rolleyes:

[Don Quixote]

That's brutal. Where do they find these people? :thumdown:

[dando]

:yuck: :thumdown:

I'd show that to some of our design staff, but they'd run me off the third floor with pitchforks. Brutal is right. Reminds me of that horrid Crash.net that took over 7G. :saywhat:

EDIT: I can't even vote in the poll about the new site in the lower right. It just shows results and I never voted on it. 43% love it? WTF?

And the tab 'menus' are useless. They should allow users to select from sub menu selections w/o forcing them to go to the section pages.

-Kevin

[TravelGal]

:yuck: :thumdown:

Reminds me of that horrid Crash.net that took over 7G. :saywhat:

-Kevin

Ugh, there's a memory to ruin someone's day. :thumdown: That site was murder. Or someone should have been murdered before they put it up.

[Insomniac]

Everyone is so obsessed with media (photos, video, flash) now. All these sites are so slow and a pain to navigate.

[KLang]

Miller's mug is on the front page. That's reason enough to never return. :yuck:

[dando]

Everyone is so obsessed with media (photos, video, flash) now. All these sites are so slow and a pain to navigate.

As well as the latest sexy technologies. I had a team working on a project to prototype a new search product, and despite the fact that we found standard solutions to meet the requirements, the execs wanted AJAX used. Just becuz.... :saywhat:

-Kevin

[Andrew Longman]

Just curious... What do folks think of this? http://www.kepner-tregoe.com/index.cfm

I'll tell you why later

[Cam]

What an abortion. :rolleyes:

[cameraman]

Just curious... What do folks think of this? http://www.kepner-tregoe.com/index.cfm

I'll tell you why later

A company that is touting "rapid results" has a web page that takes quite a while to finish with the fancy graphics:saywhat:

If I dealt with that firm very often I'd be bookmarking some internal page:shakehead

[nrc]

Just curious... What do folks think of this? http://www.kepner-tregoe.com/index.cfm

I'll tell you why later

Hate it. A bidness site - heck, any site - should never have that much stuff moving around on the base page.

[Cam]

Just curious... What do folks think of this? http://www.kepner-tregoe.com/index.cfm

I'll tell you why later

Way to busy. Left me looking like this ----> :saywhat:

[Wheel-Nut]

EDIT: I can't even vote in the poll about the new site in the lower right.

You probably have to be logged in. SpeedTV.com sucks.

[dando]

Just curious... What do folks think of this? http://www.kepner-tregoe.com/index.cfm

I'll tell you why later

Meh. Too busy. What's the objective here? :saywhat: Plus, those image sizes are insane....and I'd love to check on how it meets accessibility standards. :thumdown:

-Kevin

[RichK]

Andrew: I liked the page before the main "squares" started moving, and then disappeared!

Re: speedTV, I really miss the old racer.com - it was simple!

[dando]

Way to busy. Left me looking like this ----> :saywhat:

Yeah, but that's normal for you. ;)

-Kevin

[dando]

You probably have to be logged in. SpeedTV.com sucks.

But it should ask me to log in to vote. I've never registered for anything on that POS (current and former) site. :irked:

-Kevin

[Methanolandbrats]

SPEED airs pretty much nothing but white trash, hillbilly racin', the website must appeal to them for some reason.

[Cam]

Yeah, but that's normal for you. ;)

-Kevin

Yep. Where's my BillCat????



ACK!

[Sean Malone]

Just curious... What do folks think of this? http://www.kepner-tregoe.com/index.cfm

I'll tell you why later

The high level concept isn't bad but the execution is where it failed.

Two main things;

First the scale is too big.

Second, the navigation is all over the place. The concept of a Flash demo (which by the way, bulky Flash designs have quickly faded as the tech de jour in corporate web design. Integrated Flash elements is much more user friendly and scalable.) that highlights the basic areas of their site while maintaining navigation should have housed the sub-areas also. This site has scope creep written all over it.
It also probably didn't have any user acceptance testing. Or if it did, it grew after Go-Live.

My 2 cents from an ex-web designer.

[dando]

Yep. Where's my BillCat????



ACK!

http://www.premier.net/~cspedale/opus/images/bill2.jpg

:D

-Kevin

[Cam]

First the scale is too big.


Any web site that forces me to go full screen with the browser pisses me off. Make it scalable. I NEVER have anything full screen, and it irritates the hell outta me if someone for some reason asks to use my machine and the first thing they do is maximize whatever app they are using. Web sites that invoke the horizontal scroll bar suck! :irked:

[Cam]

w00t!!!! :thumbup:

[RichK]

I've always thought that honda.com (http://www.honda.com) was a great website. Easy to look at, simple text lines for links to content. Considering the multitude of their products in various industries, it's great that a simple design captures it all.

[Sean Malone]

I've always thought that honda.com (http://www.honda.com) was a great website. Easy to look at, simple text lines for links to content. Considering the multitude of their products in various industries, it's great that a simple design captures it all.

Posted in wrong thread. DOH!

[RichK]

They don't have 'folders' per se but you can use the 'labels' function to sort by. Works very similar to folders and you can color code things. Blue is for...nevermind. :D

Hey man! You're lost from the Microsoft Yahoo thread!!!!!!!11111111111

(but thanks, I'll fire up my gmail account and play around with labels.)

[Insomniac]

Meh. Too busy. What's the objective here? :saywhat: Plus, those image sizes are insane....and I'd love to check on how it meets accessibility standards. :thumdown:

-Kevin

I've noticed most sites would completely fail the Section 508 guidelines in the ADA.

[dando]

I've noticed most sites would completely fail the Section 508 guidelines in the ADA.

Yeah, I know. It's always a 'requirement' and then quickly dropped once the project estimate or schedule have been completed. *sigh*

-Kevin

[Andrew Longman]

... Section 508 guidelines in the ADA.

Explain? :confused: Thanks, total dumb ass here :)

[Sean Malone]

Explain? :confused: Thanks, total dumb ass here :)

http://www.accessible.org/bobby-approved.html


Bobby is provided by CAST (Centre for Applied Special Technology) and is a free piece of software available online or to download. It assists web page authors to identify obstacles to access by individuals with disabilities. Bobby's analysis of accessibility is based on the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines. To become "Bobby Approved" and display the Bobby Approved icon, a web site must successfully address all of the Priority 1 WAI issues that Bobby identifies.

http://www.evolt.org/article/Why_Bobby_Approved_is_not_Enough/4090/9278/index.html

Most websites believe alt text on pictures is enough. It's something they talk about in webdeisigner skool.

[nrc]

Short version: accessible by people with visual or other impairments with tools like screen readers and such.

[dando]

Just curious... What do folks think of this? http://www.kepner-tregoe.com/index.cfm

I'll tell you why later

Is OC a cheap focus group, yo? :gomer:

-Kevin

[Indy]

The SPEED site looks like a bad point-of-sale display at WalMart. Someone must have some research that shows that sort of thing appealing to lower primates.

[TravelGal]

This reminds me of why I fired 4 web designers before I got to one who believed when I said, NOTHING MOVES on my website. No planes zipping across the sky; no suns rising or setting. No boats bobbing in the water. You're supposed to relax when you think of a vacation. Of course, now the poor thing languishes in limbo because I removed all the photos and thought I'd get new ones up. Good intentions..... :shakehead

[grungex]

Absolute rubbish.

[Insomniac]

Explain? :confused: Thanks, total dumb ass here :)

http://www.section508.gov/

It's a requirement for all federal IT stuff.

A good site devoted to just the web accessibility part is: http://web508.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html

[Insomniac]

Yeah, I know. It's always a 'requirement' and then quickly dropped once the project estimate or schedule have been completed. *sigh*

-Kevin

It isn't even that much work if you design a clean/simple site instead of one that is media enriched.

[JLMannin]

speedtv.com --> YUCK! It's like Walmart and mySpace combined. Busy, busy, busy, about 90% ads and I can't find the other 10% beyond the fluff

KT website - If I had a 46" monitor, I may be able to read it. Seiously, the fonts are rather small and the grey font color is hard on the eyes. The animation on the homepage is just too much. I bowsed some of the pages and I still do not know what they really do.

[TKGAngel]

My IT guy came over this morning while I was on the Speed site, reading the RM article. He said our firewall showed there were over 40 internet connections opened from my computer just from the one site. It was hogging the bandwith for the entire network.

And, the layout makes my head hurt. Why do F1 and NASCAR get their own tabs, but CCWSIRL, their feeders and the sportscar series all get lumped under autoracing?

[Insomniac]

Why do F1 and NASCAR get their own tabs, but CCWSIRL, their feeders and the sportscar series all get lumped under autoracing?

Because they air F1 and NASCAR.

[Sean Malone]

My IT guy came over this morning while I was on the Speed site, reading the RM article. He said our firewall showed there were over 40 internet connections opened from my computer just from the one site. It was hogging the bandwith for the entire network.

And, the layout makes my head hurt. Why do F1 and NASCAR get their own tabs, but CCWSIRL, their feeders and the sportscar series all get lumped under autoracing?


Tell your IT guy to get you some more bandwidth and bring you some coffee...NOW!:)

[Andrew Longman]

Thanks for your candid and insightful comments on the KT site. I said I would say why I asked so I figure I should follow up.

I was VP marketing for KT up until about 3 years ago. I led an initiative to move the perception of KT in the market from a training company to distinctly different and compelling professional services business consulting firm. Short story; old, plodding, yet solid company needing to kick its own ass.

The site was only a small part of that, but I formulated the objectives and designed the wire frame for the site. The intent was for the site to use the community of literally millions of KT advocates to create, share and discuss how the critical thinking transfered to them and their organization produced rapid results and lasting value through better desision making, problem solving, project management and strategy formulation/implementation. This "Circle of Influence" was and is KT biggest source of business and I wanted to manage it much more deliberately.

The rest of the story is that I decided not to force an internal argument about the home page design (my critique was the same as yours, but I was not CEO ;) ) since ultimately it had much less to do with the success of the site than how the remaining content was developed and used.

Then it became clear that the organization, from the very top, while still doing really good work in isolated pockets, wasn't willing to do what it takes to deliver on the promise Rapid Results, Lasting Value on a daily 100% basis. Proof of that is there is almost no new content on the site since I left.

Sadly though, after 22 years there it did not end as I hoped.

But they did and do do some great work. This is a project I was very proud of: http://www.kepner-tregoe.com/video/videoplayer.cfm?video=http://www.ktcircle.com/ktvideo/CementAustralia.wmv

Thanks again.

[Cam]

I still don't have the foggiest what they do Andrew. All I hear is a lot of "sustainability" and jargon words. :saywhat:

[nrc]

The intent was for the site to use the community of literally millions of KT advocates to create, share and discuss how the critical thinking transfered to them and their organization produced rapid results and lasting value through better desision making, problem solving, project management and strategy formulation/implementation.

I think that the comments here are a perfect example of the danger of that kind of home page. If you immediately turn new visitors off with the front page design then they're much less likely to actually read and understand your message and even more unlikely to drill down and find what they're looking for.

Of course a motivated prospect will tolerate it and start digging, but in a crowded marketplace who wants to count on that? When I'm searching for professional services or business products a web site that seems driven by sex appeal rather than information and content is an immediate turn off for me. What are you selling, the bacon or the sizzle?

Often times I'll pass up a site like that and only return if I don't find a better prospect elsewhere.

[Andrew Longman]

I still don't have the foggiest what they do Andrew. All I hear is a lot of "sustainability" and jargon words. :saywhat:


Ha Ha Ha :D

That was always their greatest challenge because what they do was so essoteric, yet ultimately very practical.

I sold millions of business by simply first asking to tell me about your business and challenges and then showing how KT could be relevant. Telling what KT did was rarely helpful.

Case in point, the Cement Oz gig. They do a shutdown every year for maintenance. Usually it runs long and has many safety hazards.

We gave them a common process and language, based in unvarnished logic, to collaborate to talk about and plan the shut and attack every problem/decision they faced in a depersonalized and productive way.

Sounds simple but most folks need a common way for the smart people to not squash the others and for the other to contribute such that the smart people don't trip on their own arrogance

[Andrew Longman]

I think that the comments here are a perfect example of the danger of that kind of home page.


Yup. And that was my argument. In the end though our strategy was to leverage people who were already pretty committed to the KT concepts and I chose not to fight with the CEO about the homepage