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  • #33417
    Ian G
    Participant

    I’ve got a problem and I need some good advice. I run an environmental website whose mechanics are built for user generated content. The idea is to give small and large environmental organizations a place to not only establish an centralized online presence, but also to contribute timely and useful information to the public, showcasing their skills, knowledge and activism (translated: shamelessly self-promote themselves).

    Here’s the problem; while i have a good amount of beginning traffic coming to the site, my visitors don’t appear to understand that it is a user generated content site. They show up, say “COOL SITE!!!” and leave without using the tools I provide. Right now I am seeding the site with content, but the goal is to have others use the site to promote their own work. I realize the user generated market only has less than 5% of visitors actually contribute, but I am trying to market around that- targeting highly motivated users who would be more likely to contribute. From feedback and observation of the way my site is being used, I am being led to believe that my foremost problem is that visitors simply don’t understand they can create the content shown on the site. We have pretty well established layouts for many types of sites; blogs, news magazines, art/photography, etc but I wonder if I need something different, a different genre.

    My Question is this: How can I use design elements (layout, structure, components) to convey the “user-generated” message? My current approach was to use a content area- with a sidebar structure on every page to try and tie the reader into personalizing their experience, not just read the content.

    My main page is here: http://ecoevolution.org/
    My Three content types are here:
    http://ecoevolution.org/econews
    http://ecoevolution.org/forum
    http://ecoevolution.org/library

    and the user profiles which I want to pull elements from to tie everything together looks like this:
    http://ecoevolution.org/users/ian_gunsolley

    I know I need a revamp so I’ve sought designer feedback, but most of the feedback directs me to create an “X” type site. “You should make a blog-style site, You should make a magazine-style site” which, while I appreciate, misses the point that I have a usability/User interface problem more than a formatting problem. Do any of the wise souls here at CSS-tricks have any advice on to set up the overall UI to focus the user on content creation?

    #83123
    stevendeeds
    Member

    Hey Ian! Sorry no one on here has responded to your post yet. I do have some suggestions. From looking at your site, it isn’t immediately evident that this is intended to be user driven! And before we go any further, it appears as though you’ve got some problems with your code. Viewing it in FF5, and getting some strange things happening.

    Moving on, I think you should ‘rethink’ your navigation area. You are taking up PRIME RETAIL SPACE with those giant buttons at the top. Maybe think about making your navigation much smaller, and leaving head room to plug phrases that will better portray your intention! Something Like EcoEvolution is run by YOU! Contribute your content and let us help you spread the word about YOUR organization!

    Something like that! You know?

    Hope this helps Ian!

    -All Good Things-

    #83129
    Ian G
    Participant

    Yup, code and browser compatibility are things I need clean up, but I thought I would just tweak/redesign to simplify first. I had a much nicer header navigation that would not only highlight but also alter the background image, but it was such a nightmare to get it pixel perfect across the major browsers I just scrapped it. I hear you on the top nav buttons, it was my (sad) attempt to convey the message to the user that the site isn’t really a blog, there are discrete sections that they may find compelling and want to participate in. My thoughts were the user would think “Oooo big buttons! Must press!”

    I am scratching my head a bit trying to figure out how to both display content cleanly and squeeze in a user interface for contribution. Most social media, user-gen sites are single content type sites, keeping a consistent understandable interface throughout is straightforward. Do any examples clean, minimalistic interfaces that you like come mind?

    #83136
    DboG
    Member

    I agree with @stevendeeds. Rather than waste 1/3 to 1/2 of your screen real estate on three navigation elements over a globe/field background, why not shrink those to a small, functional nav and swap the generic eco-imagery with an area describing the purpose of the site.

    Also, I’d dial the cloud background way back. It’s distracting, frankly. Apart from on-message content, I think the best thing you can do to encourage participation is provide a clean, professional design that conveys that the site is something organizations want to be associated with.

    #83403
    Ian G
    Participant

    @Dbog “why not shrink those to a small, functional nav and swap the generic eco-imagery with an area describing the purpose of the site.”

    That seems to be the advice I’m leaning toward, but I am not sure that without a clear indicator and deviation in standard design that the user will drop their first impressions/preconceptions and key in to the user-gen functionality. I have found that people aren’t reading the “helper” text (I usually don’t when on other sites) so my feeling was to lean more towards iconography and management of space for this re-design. Simple, clean typography-based design for the content, and some sort of icon or graphic-based solution for the user generated messaging. Obviously the opposite of what I have now…

    My current design screams outdated “WEB TWO POINT OH!!!” but I would like to stay away from convention this time around as well. Chris’ design here at CSS-Tricks is a clean interface for navigation/usability, are there others out there that you draw inspiration from?

    #83447
    Ian G
    Participant

    Small update, and some info to keep this an educational/help thread. Decided to go with a redesign based on the feedback here. My biggest challenge is going to be creating a consistent feel across the site since I have multiple content types; blog, forum, news, profiles, etc. I hit the inspiration sites and I found this information useful for UI design from our friends at Smashing Magazine. I’ll update this thread when I get a wireframe put together and some other layout tweaks.

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