clean and simple

It doesn't matter if you do all the error checking in the world, or if you have the most beautiful graphics, if your site or application design isn't usable, it's not going to do well. Get input and advice on usability and user interface issues here.

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Charles256
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clean and simple

Post by Charles256 »

anyone have any major gripes against something that is just plain and simple?talking about good ole fades and that's it with a big good white area for text, any major gripes against that?think i might just chagne my site layout to that.
Ree
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Post by Ree »

I dislike white background for text, especially if there's a lot to read, it's too bright for me. I prefer light grey background instead, or some other light (but not bright) colour (depends on the overall design).

So the default phpbb skin suits me very well. :D
foobar
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Post by foobar »

Actually, plain gray backgrounds usually look awful (Especially if it's in the 50%-black range). If you need it to be grayish, make it a tone of R/G/B with low saturation. Try black as a background and a light gray for text.
Ree
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Post by Ree »

foobar wrote:Actually, plain gray backgrounds usually look awful.
Completely disagree. Light grey is a 'neutral' colour, and can be often used very nicely.
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feyd
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Post by feyd »

FYI: plain gray is generally in the 35-55% black range.. Light gray is not apart of that range.
Charles256
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Post by Charles256 »

here's some screen shots...what ya think? one in I.E. and one in firefox obviously:)
http://www.esitemaintenance.com/layout.JPG
http://www.esitemaintenance.com/layout2.JPG


feyd | made very large images into links :roll:
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Chris Corbyn
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Post by Chris Corbyn »

If you really want to go plain that blue is too bright ;)

Try something like #F8F8F8 for the background.... pretty close to white but not bright.

In the panels try a 30-50% darker shade of grey with a gradient tucked into the edge to empahsise the boundary (and/or perhaps some diagonal crosshatched border).

To add a splash of color try places brightly colored bullet markers alongside your hyperlinks in the navigation panel or simply make the links themselves a brighter color.... Should be a toned-down, more attractive (to me at least) layout.
foobar
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Post by foobar »

Get rid of that horrible gradient. Agh! It hurts mine eyes...

I'll have to refer you to a great website on (un)usability:

Web Pages That Suck. (Yes, that's what it's called)
Charles256
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Post by Charles256 »

erm..the site design is very usable....even if you don't like the color doesn't make it unusable.......
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Post by Roja »

Charles256 wrote:erm..the site design is very usable....even if you don't like the color doesn't make it unusable.......
Usable means it has usability for a large portion of the population.

Black text on deep blue is not usable for a large portion of the population.
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pickle
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Post by pickle »

I'd suggest making the grey much closer to white. That grey looks like the old Netscape default grey - blech. I don't mind the fact that you've got a gradient too bad - could look good. Make the blue much lighter though. Black on that blue is hard to read.
Real programmers don't comment their code. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand.
Charles256
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Post by Charles256 »

i surrender.the blue gets lightenied after i finish my other project.i'll post the updates and maybe avoid my stoning:-D
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Ambush Commander
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Post by Ambush Commander »

A lot of people complain that black on white hurts their eyes, but the truth is, that sort of formate connotes professionality and is what all of the big-name websites out there do. Stick with black on white.
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Post by foobar »

Charles256 wrote:erm..the site design is very usable....even if you don't like the color doesn't make it unusable.......
If you want something more polite and less in-your-face, check out http://www.useit.com . Great resource by the ultimate usability guru Jakob Nielsen.
Charles256
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Post by Charles256 »

http://www.esitemaintenance.com bring on the hate...
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