Just a quick comment: the photo on the home page will change every time you load the page. We are looking for images that match the moods that were voted most desirable at our Web Town Meeting: diverse, academic, energetic. Also, the news, events, and features will change - not every time you load the page (wow, wouldn't that be annoying?!) but daily.

The top level page is a huge improvement over what we currently have. What I like the best is it isolates a path based what the user is coming to the page to do not what the institution wants the user to see. The graphics under "news", "events" & "sights and sounds" add lots of visual interest and really help to highlight those areas.

On the negative side, the top level page does come off as right on the cusp of being too busy. If there were any items that could be consolidated or truncated it would make the page a little less busy. One idea ... maybe make the link read "Quick Links inside Dartmouth" would reduce by one the visual headings areas. This would reflect the major user divisions more closely (want to come to Dartmouth, are at Dartmouth, have been at Dartmouth).

The look is cleaner. Where would I go to get Alumni information? That is not evident.

I recommend that you take a page from Cornell.edu's styleguide and extend your page (set background elements's width to span 100%) to fill the entire screen of the computer, as opposed to just the 800x600 screen. That eliminates all that unnecessary whitespace without compromising compatibility.

Also, the Dartmouth logo is giant. I would recommend making it smaller, and adding the Dartmouth seal to the left of the text (again, like in the Cornell site).

I also think the main white-on-green links should have a font that looks... smarter.

Last thing: Why is the photo caption white text on silver background. I understand that it should figure less prominently than all other content on the page, but should it also be very hard to read?

Otherwise, it looks great. Thanks for all the hard work!

Michael Belinsky '08

I like the quick links right where it is at the bottom corner. For one major change, I would do something at the top where it says "Dartmouth". I think that there should be more than just plain green. Perhaps a logo in the background, imprinted. The green/white is too plain, I believe. In addition, where is the tab for Admission? I have always been a fan of the Princeton website, especially how they have a variety of small pictures placed at the top and then the main picture down below.

Hmm...

Maybe I'm just not used to change, but i kinda find the old homepage layout easier to navigate, in general. I agree with the first poster - It seems a bit busy, and my eyes wander all over the page.

If there's an "About Dartmouth" link in the top green menu, is the paragraph on Dartmouth at the bottom necessary?

The News, Events, and Sights&Sounds panel, and the Quicklinks, are all really aesthetically nice and useful. Perhaps a little rearranging is needed?

I know this may not help much, but what I thought the best part of our current homepage is the fact that there is no scrolling necessary, and this mockup is a huge shift. The huge banner is what probably bugs me the most, in terms of aesthetics and layout.

But I understand the difficulty in providing a lot of information as efficiently as possible.

And, as a final note, I don't know that the white space is a bad thing - keeps the viewer centered and focused on the middle, rather than wandering from left to right. If the layout is kept, with the need to scroll, I think the whitespace should stay.

$.02

I'm going to have to agree with the poster before me, I really liked the fact that we didn't have to scroll on our current webpage, everything was there for me without that much effort. Also, I don't really see the need for putting such big news blurbs on the front page. I liked how on the current page one can see the 2 or 3 important news features and if they were more intrested could click the news link. I understand that you want the home page to be easier to navigate, and having lots of links does make that happen, but I acutally find it more cluttered than the current page.

The new layout is much more user friendly. As a parent of a Dartmouth student I found the old home page and layout difficult to navigate. The drop down and bullet style makes it easier for someone who is not familiar with Dartmouth to find what they are looking for.
Cathy, Parent '09

I agree that there is too much text and the new page is very busy, the first thing I want to know is not about Joe Blow in Neuroscience. I don't like that you have to scroll down to see the things, particularly the professional school links - this is supposed to be a protal to ALL Dartmouth, after all. By the time you scroll down, the "search" has popped off the top, put the "search" right below the picture, so it is where you would look if what you wanted wasn't at the top level.

The real problem is with the search, it usually doesn't produce useful results - key terms are not indexed on pages, so it used to be that searching for "Women's Hockey" dropped you into a page where the top was some news blurb from 2001. Now at least the top shows links into the DCAC hockey programs, #3 is Tuck hockey, #4 is an old player profile, #5 is the 2001 results.... Some housekeeping is in order.

It's an improvement over the current one, but my first reaction to the prototype homepage was that it looks like, well, a blog. Perhaps I'm behind on the cutting edge of homepages, but I think it's better to use an original font and to simplify things so there's no need for scrolling. It's WAY too busy. The picture banner at the top is too close to the "Dartmouth" header and takes up too much space; the picture fade motif on the current page looks better, but perhaps it's time just to shrink or cut the picture entirely. I like the use of icons, but there's no need to have a news blurb on the homepage. Just one person's honest feedback.

The quick links make the page look like that of a blog rather than a homepage. I can't be more specific with the problem of font and color, but they could be more natural and slim.

I like the idea that the photos will show an academic, diverse and energetic institution and I also like the feature story link which I think helps carry that off. The old page was perhaps classy, but was not crisp and made the institution seem austere and not nearly as vital a place as it is. I think the new design is also more navigable for a prospective student, and, in my opinion, that is the viewer upon who you must make the greatest intial impression. Alum, current students, relatives, employees , and others that come to the website seeking specific information would have the patience to search for what they know is there - prospective students need to be able to find what is important to them easily and I think this design accomplishes that objective.

Is it supposed to be so narrow? What resolution is it made for?

I think that the font on the homepage makes it look like the homepage for a pre-school. In addition to looking unprofessional and childlike, it appears to be very difficult to navigate.

I agree with some of the comments above about the current home page being easier to navigate. All the links fit within the screen and there is no need for scrolling. That is not the case on the new one. However, my main concern is that the new webpage is too plain. It doesn't look like that of an Ivy League school. The homepage needs more color and less text (perhaps more intense background colors/designs). I would also agree with the suggestion that the Dartmouth logo be included. And, as with many new web sites, the new page should really span the width of your entire screen.
As for the secondary pages, I really prefer the current design that CLEARLY states the title of the page at top. The current pictures of buildings also add to the character of individual department pages.

I agree with many of the above posters that the scrolling is kind of annoying - what I liked so much about the old page is that it's very concise. It tells you where to go to get all the information you need, but it doesn't all need to be on the front page for you. I also like that, on the old page, the entire screen is filled. Here, all the white looks kind of harsh. And lastly, I agree with others about the logo and admission tab along the top - both should be there.

I agree with the comments about the new site looking too much like a blog. There really is no reason not to take up the entire screen. Instead of having it be narrow and long, it should take up the full screen but not need to be scrolled- Princeton pulls this off very well. The 'about Dartmouth' link seems like it should also just be 'about'.

Incredibly reminiscent of Cornell's homepage, the only major design variation, as far as I can see, being their respective color schemes (red v. green). A great template to borrow from if original design elements that are representative of Dartmouth's identity were to be included to make distinguishable overall message of copy from original, though as such not the case. Though soon-to-be-replaced homepage was austere, and maybe a bit rarefied, it was wholly unique and not to be confused with aforementioned school's projected image of openness and of having a presence beyond an exclusively academic context –- characteristics true to Ezra Cornell's vision of his university as seen in founder's inaugural message and the motto derived from. Though not by any means a unique theme in college marketing, these are the main two Cornell seems to stress.
The two school's are very dissimilar in most every conceivable aspect of identity, especially in the sort of education one would receive at each, so having this website market the school as something it is not would only confuse those who, from experience of, say, having attended, believe it to be something else, and those enrolling students who would find it to be something much different than what they, before arrival, had been expecting in their college experience here. However, this image makeover could just as well be taken for a sign that Dartmouth is headed in a new direction, but I’ve always thought the college prided itself in retaining the culture of an LAC, with all the benefits entailed, in spite of its enormous size. Suggestions: focus on conveying the college's history and presence in it, and the established nature that comes from it, educational experience, again, unique to a school of its size and offerings, student culture -- this is something student's, like me, pay especially close attention to -- location, etc. Accessible globally and readily, a website is the true face of a college or university, and the role it, by virtue of the mass exposure it receives, plays in influencing popular perception cannot be undervalued or left to chance.

Thanks

The financial aid/admissions areas are not marked on the home page, and the overall impressions is lacking. In my opinion, both pages need more color under the banner (which should be a darker green itself), rather than just white. You should really consider using the "pinstripe" tan color used for the old backround, for the rest of the page, that part of the old page was classy.

I love the Quicklinks section - very useful, and great that it is customizable.

I would prefer a page that we do not have to scroll down to see, though. The huge picture at the top seems unnecessary, too - especially when it forces scrolling.

Also, less text and a background color would make our website better-looking, and I agree with other posters who have said that our logo should go next to our name.

Thank you for all your work on this!

The home page looks just so much more visually appealing than it does now! The last change (a couple years ago) was not a great one. I got used to the new home page but I thought it wasn't any better or worse than the previous edition.
Maybe throw a dartmouth seal on there? something that really says dartmouth? some mountains?

The second-tier page is okay--I feel the text is very columnar and that is visually awkward. I would place one column that is the width of the first two columns there, and a third column, of the current width, on the far right as it is (basically, two columns instead of 3). Those are my thoughts for now!

Oh, and how about a menu bar on the left? I'm not sure how crazy that would be.

The regular second-level pages are functional and an improvement upon the old ones. However, I'll have to agree with some of the above posters that the homepage is too cluttered and "blog-like". Although it is more modern, I think smaller blurb-teasers will suffice for the homepage. I'm also going to refer to the Princeton.edu front page style as an example.

Personally, I like all the green background in the current version of the site. I think that makes it seem more personal than the new version, which seems a little bit anonymous by comparison--except for the top, it feels like it could be any college website.

On the other hand, I think having such large "news" features gives them a much better chance of being read, and not just glossed over (I almost didn't see "Preview Dartmouth's new home page" in the current site). On the whole, I think it's an improvement, but I do miss all the green.

Two more trivial notes: I don't like the shade of green on the main page--it's too olive-y and not dark enough. And without a drop shadow like the current main page has, the large white "Dartmouth" looks kind of silly.

I'm sorry ... but I just can’t see the hype about the Princeton.edu homepage. With all due respect, it strikes me as somewhat puerile – entirely too antiseptic, and too vapid to foment user interest.

Unfortunately, sophistication is often sacrificed when simplicity is sought. That said, I do enjoy the pithy quality of our current homepage: no scrolling required, and a logically iterative navigational scheme.

All I find missing from it is a copy of the Dartmouth seal. Perhaps one can be situated at the top left corner, as a watermark beneath the Dartmouth name?

---

Now may I ask my learned colleagues, what's wrong with a bit of austerity??

The thing I like best about the old site is that it is so clean and there are so many links you can easily choose from to get where you need to go. not to go back too far in time, but i even liked the site before the current one better in that regard.

being from arizona, one of the top reasons i chose dartmouth was besed on that old website. the new proposed one is much to busy for me. i like the fact that you can customize the quick links, but i wouldnt know where to go for alumni inmofration onthe new site (something i'm already learning about having just graduated)

something that might help would be to keep the tabs that are right below the big picture using the same main organizational words as before (welcome, about dartmouth, admissions, etc.) and when you scroll over them a dropdown menu would let you choose from similar links that are currently on the homepage.

quick accessibility to important information is crucial and all the other words and snippets from articles are less important to me. its nice that things i wouldnt otherwise look into would pop up, but i want to still be able to easily find out when the last day of classes is without doing an extensive search and then putting it into my quick links... stuff like that.

I like the current home page much better. It is much simplier, you do not need to scroll down, and overall looks much nicer (layout, font, coloring). Other comments: why blue for the headings? Also, I really like the current faded picture. Really, what is wrong with the current homepage? Maybe if you do want to change something, use it as a base and only make small changes.

To answer your question, Eric: because austerity in this, and most all, contexts is more closely associated with elitism than seriousness of purpose. And because the first order of business in actual education is to [insert humanistic and/or individual benefit here] and not to act, through institutional behavior, as an agent of the status quo or something along those lines.

As for the rebrading that some seem to be picking up on (as in Parent of Current Student's comment that "the old page was perhaps classy, but was not crisp and made the institution seem austere and not nearly as vital a place as it is."), Dartmouth cannot remain -- or for that matter, be perceived as -- a secluded New England school if it wishes to thrive, which seems like an obvious desire for them to have. Instead, the school must make itself noticed beyond its normal, comfortable sphere, because education (research, really) is increasingly becoming an internationally collaborative effort, and if Dartmouth wants in, they need to make it known or else be left out. If the new site does one thing well, it, by spotlighting contributions made by the college that affect more than just affiliates, is this for sure. In reality, making over a website is vastly more about changing perception than beautifying, so it would be more purposeful to have what is being conveyed -- more than how something, or it overall, looks aesthetically -- be the main focus of discussion.

The point of a homepage is to be visually pleasing enough to hold your attention, and to make it easy for you to find the path to the information you want-- not to display the information itself. No one (or pretty close to no one) actually goes the homepage to look for Dartmouth news, so having something random about a neuroscientist front and center seems wasteful and illogical. Campus news should go at the bottom of the page, if it has to be there at all.

The most common thing a person new to the site would be looking for is probably admissions-related info, so that really should be one of the white bold links at the bottom of the banner.

I think the site in general looks too juvenile for an ivy-league institution, and I agree that the banner being so large is part of the problem. Also, the fonts. I think we should stick to serif fonts, the the sans serif look too silly. Or at least be consistent and have serif for headings and sans for descriptions.

It's already been said many times, but that's only because it's so true: the best aspect of the current site is that you do not need to scroll. On my mac screen, the amazing quicklinks aren't even visible without scrolling. They can't help you find something quickly if you can't see them.

The caption under the picture looks awkward- it's hard to read, and do we really need to devote a quarter of the space to giving credit to the photographer? I mean he does take every single picture I've ever seen on the site, but I'm not sure that's desperately relevant info to convey.

The redesign can take advantage of the history of the location. I like the clean and "web 2.0"-ish redesigned look, but sticking in some kind of motif that draws up the school's history--its buildings/architecture/some of the technology developed here would be good.

You’re right, '08; few personally benefit from reading or having made available the campus news stories, but by giving a sense of vitality and relevance, they are nonetheless important.

I think two things are largely missing. Firstly, a certain uniqueness that the old site had that separated it from other sites. Yes, the new site looks trendy but it looks like any other shiny website nowadays.
Secondly, some more Dartmouth symbols - perhaps the seal as others have recommended.
I also agree with the above poster that it looks a bit too much like a blog, perhaps not formal enough. While this makes it 'friendly', I don't think it's appropriate for the institution.

1. AJAX
2. Better search

New design looks very much like a blog, rather than a full website. Is that the intention?

On the home page, the photo caption is hard to read--maybe consider zapping it altogether.

Home page is very cluttered looking--esp having the main featured text in the middle, and list-style content like news headlines/thumbnails and links surrounding the main feature. Perhaps reconsider the thumbnail images or move main feature to left.

Anything that can be done to eliminate scrolling on the homepage?

When you click the nav items such as Academics, Research, etc, it was not immediately clear that the links on the right hand side are subnavs for the respective sections. Perhaps put the title of the section in the list should have a header/background color. The other items can be listed below it.

Similarly, in the main content areas in each section, the differences in font size for the main section title and the "feature" are not noticeable. Perhaps give the header label a background. The grey font that labels the feature section -- maybe incorporate that into the headline Academics Feature: To Honor and Preserve.

Alumni page is overwhelming with the long list of inks. Maybe need a landing page w/ sub nav style here?

It definitely needs the seal on the homepage.

What's wrong with the current site?! The site at present looks much better. If it's navigational problems that are the reason for the upgrade, why not just organize the links better?

Aesthetic-wise, I think another aspect of the current homepage that was really nice (but this may be personal preference only) was the way the picture dissolved to the left. It's simple, clean, and helps avoid the picture taking up too much room. May be harder with a banner, but if it could be done, it may help with issues of space and scrolling (for us lazy college students).

Erm, also...would it be possible to have the background color as something other than white? I think part of what makes the banner seem so huge is the great contrast between the dark green and while background.

I've read the other comments, and it makes sense that Dartmouth should put itself out there and make its presence known... but, well, first visual impressions can have a pretty lasting effect as well.

$.02