Design For Web Scamp Crit 6/11/12

Questions I wanted answers to:

1. Is the visual style consistent with my summer research graphic product which is the mixed martial arts book
2. Are the scamps visually engaging?
3. How do you feel about the floating elements such as the MMA logo header which remain even as you scroll down?
4. Which navigation do you think is most suitable and effective?
5. Target audience is casual MMA fans and newcomers to the sport to get a taste of the past and present. Does the content suit the audience?
6. With the huge amount of fighter profiles. Would you prefer a slideshow approach or a scrolled approach?
7. Do you think using the borders as a sort of pin-up timeline of quotes and photos as seen in scamp 4 works effectively or is it distracting?

Feedback

Strengths:

• Scamp 1 and 2 tie will to together with the style of the book
• Again 1 and 2 are most visually engaging
• Floating links as well as the header (Scamp 1) would work well and make navigation fast
• Consistent style, all strong visually

Areas for improvement:

• Content suitable for familiar fans, maybe more action shots to instantly grab newcomers and communicate mma quickly.
• Could embed video in first page you come to.
• Scamp 4 is too busy and makes it quite distracting.

Considerations:

• 3 and 4 have a bit too much text in big blocks which feels overwhelming
• Answert to Q6, We'd say scrolled so user can control what they're seeing comfortably
• Answer to Q7, Pin=up style might look too crowded and doesn't tie in as well to the content in the book
• 1 and 4 navigations are the easiest, don't spread it out as it makes it feel a bit confused
• Lots of content - definitely will educate the audience
• Slideshow format for fighters would be better

I think the point made about having huge blocks of text is definitely a very good point. As is the point about having a homepage with an embedded video to break it up a little, it gave me the idea of having a sort of newsfeed or blog like homepage where there's a steady stream of latest videos, training videos, documentaries etc along with posts from me on the development of my summer research, which this website is obviously based on.

Overall the first and 2nd scamp seemed to have gone down well. With 1 and 4's navigation being called easy to navigate with. 

I'll create a more refined scamp with combined and new elements in time for tomorrows design for web session.