Peppermint Tea

Shaun Inman - The Heap

Posted 17 October 2006 in by Sam Brown - 4 Comments

If you have not already, you should check out the new shauninman.com!


Brajeshwar Says:

690 days ago #

I don’t know, I’ve mixed feelings. So, let me keep my mouth shut!

 
bv Says:

690 days ago #

i love the concept. i don’t really think it works though, at least at first glance. it seems a bit hard to navigate but maybe it’s just too new of a UI(?) time will tell.
i respect the visionary aspect of it though.
cheers.
bv.

 
Jeff Whitfield Says:

684 days ago #

The concept is very interesting…but I’m not so sure that it’s the best approach. There’s certainly nothing wrong with being different. After all, there have been plenty of designers who have created alternative interfaces to websites through Flash. Many of them are successful…but many of them aren’t. The problem is that many of them simply lack familiarity and are almost too different.

One of the aspects of making a site more useable is to add elements of familiarity to a site. If the average visitor has to spend some time trying to “figure it out” then you run the risk of losing that visitor pretty quickly. Another important aspect of useability lies in how a site is organized. Shaun has taken a different approach to how his site is structured and, although the concept is damn cool at face value, I don’t think the implementation of that concept is quite there yet. It’s just a little too confusing. If a visitor’s first reaction to the site is, “Huh? Uhh…what exactly is this again?”, you know you’re in trouble. In redoing the concept, I would restructure everything into a more familiar layout. Nothing wrong with keeping it simple…I just think the way all the information could be structured a bit better.

 
Zak Says:

684 days ago #

I would have to say I was blown away by Shaun’s latest redesign. Not blown away as in “Oh my God, this is incredible!”, but more of blown away in the sense of, “Oh God what the hell happened to Shaun’s site?”. I used to visit his site regularly for inspiration on layout and design ideas, as well as just to get lost in the beauty of a really (IMHO) beautifully designed site that was both simple and elegant. While I am lightyears behind Shaun in learning web design, I would have to say his latest redesign has left me not really wanting to go back and poke around… once was enough. However, I admire the trailblazer atitiude of his latest redesign and wish him the best.

 

Commenting closed for this article.