[Opinions] My profile page

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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JayBird
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[Opinions] My profile page

Post by JayBird »

Just wanted to get your opinions of my profile page that I have knocked up today.

I have called it a profile because it isn't something I would use as a CV. It's more just for general interest.

The content isn't 100% finalised yet, as i have just bashed in some text for as a basis, but if you do spot any spelling mistakes let me know.

So, what do you think to the overall design and everything?

Also, if you look at the right hand menu in Firefox (how it should look) then IE, you will notice the spacing is quite a lot different, cant figure that out yet, so if you have any ideas, i am all ears.

Critique away!! Image

http://mark-beech.co.uk/
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jayshields
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Post by jayshields »

I have nothing to say except good job. Nice design.
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RobertGonzalez
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Post by RobertGonzalez »

Very clean. I love Orange and Gray together (almost as much as Orange and Blue).

The inconsistent spacing in IE might be fixed with a padding element applied to "footer". I don't think IE under 7 understands the height property (without a border of some sort, or so I've heard). But it looks very nice.
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Post by Charles256 »

http://mark-beech.co.uk/proffessional_experience.html

One gripe. The links on the right are orange. The list items are orange. I clicked the list items expecting to be linked somewhere and I wasn't. :-D My humble opinion you might want to use a non-orange color for non-link text if your links are going to be orange. Otherwise, looks pretty. :)
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Post by pickle »

The ONLY thing I could thing of to mention would be that it's fixed width. There's nothing technically wrong with that - I just see it as a waste of space.

That aside - a real bang-up job!

Edit: Also, professional only has 1 'f'
Real programmers don't comment their code. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand.
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RobertGonzalez
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Post by RobertGonzalez »

/Mind untweaks itself...

I actually had to look up professional so I could prove to myself that it only had one 'f'. Wow...
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s.dot
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Post by s.dot »

My comment has absolutely nothing to do with design. It might help on this page: http://mark-beech.co.uk/proffessional_experience.html , if "professional" were spelled correctly in the actual page name. :lol: It would definately make your professional experience seem more... erm.. professional. ;)

The site looks really good. I love the upbeat feel.
Set Search Time - A google chrome extension. When you search only results from the past year (or set time period) are displayed. Helps tremendously when using new technologies to avoid outdated results.
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s.dot
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Post by s.dot »

Well disregard my post. Seems i was beat by two others. =[
I swear i should read the whole topic before adding my $0.02.
Set Search Time - A google chrome extension. When you search only results from the past year (or set time period) are displayed. Helps tremendously when using new technologies to avoid outdated results.
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JayBird
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Post by JayBird »

@jayshields: That's what we like! Thanks.

@Everah: Corrected the spelling mistake. I was actually unsure, but couldn't be bothered to look it up, so took a gamble.

@Charles256: Yeah, i wondered that, but i thought the fact that the list items didn't highlight on hover that it would be more obvious. I will try out some other colours.

@pickle: Regards fixed width, yeah, i considered a liquid layout, but a fixed width suited my need. I really hate really long lines of text. Think that comes from my design days.

@scottayy: Thanks anyway :)
matthijs
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Post by matthijs »

Very nice design. One but (there's always one, isn't it? :) )

The colors. I do like orange but it's too bright for me. When reading the text it feels very weird, kind of like I'm in a tunnel. Moving through one. Not sure if I can explain it well.

It's the combination of the big area's orange and the big diagonal stripes. And I'm sure it's not my monitor as I have in fact toned my monitor a bit down from the default, to prevent premature fatique of my eyes.

When focusing on the content the eye gets drawn to the outside by the bright orange. Maybe just desaturating the colors somewhat, or replacing some parts with less bright variants might do it. If I'm the only one, well have to go see the eye doctor then :)
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JayBird
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Post by JayBird »

@matthijs: what if i just made the main text darker!? you think that may solve it?
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Oren
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Post by Oren »

I really like the colors, but I don't like the fixed width. Not for the same reason pickle mentioned, but because I don't like to see such a big part of the background image - for some reason it doesn't look good, and not just on your site, but on most fixed-width sites I've seen. It looks like some strange empty space.
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Post by matthijs »

Pimptastic, yes that might improve it. #646464 is quite a light color (I normally use something between #333 and #555). #666 can work but then one has to pay attention to the contrast with the rest of the page. In your sitiation, I would definately try a darker color and see what effect that has.

What maybe plays a role too is one that others have commented on as well: the fixed width and relatively small width of the page. With 640px that leaves a lot of room on both sides on many monitor resolutions (1024-1280 or higher). Whit a pattern like you have, that adds to the visual distraction.

I wouldn't go for a fluid width immediately, because as you say that would make line lengths too wide and text hard to read. But you could see what effect it has if you decrease the contrast of the background (image). By making the color difference in the stripes more subtle, maybe also darker.
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Oren
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Post by Oren »

Here is a great link that you may find useful http://gmazzocato.altervista.org/colorwheel/wheel.php

P.S When I said "you" I wasn't talking just to Pimptastic, but anyone of the members. It's a really good tool :wink:
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JayBird
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Post by JayBird »

I guess the fixed width issue is down to personal preference. i really like it lhe way it is. Fluid would be way too much, maybe i could have gone a little wider. Maybe i'll try it. I haven't got a whole lot to say though to fill the space :)
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