Second Life: Testing a new home page this week

Like I said. It's just a sample. The boxes are NOT in fixed positions. One is able to drag them about and add or subtract modules to desire the individual user. If you want no whitespace, you would be free to fill up the space with as many modules as you could or arrange the modules so that you have no whitespace. Ergo, there is no intention because the intention of the page is left up to the individual, composition and colour and content are your choices to make (as with in-world, which is the point). These samples are really just visualizations of what kind of an idea I'm getting at, not a final design at all.

So to summarize. The 'ticker' at the top would continually change with information about how much was online, how much lindens had been spent, latest news, imperative grid issues.

*Modules can be dragged about your screen. An X will appear in the corner on mouseover.
*New modules can be added or taken away in the customize page.
*The overall colour of the web page can be changed from grey to a colour of your choice.
*The page would be as long as you needed it to be based on the amount of modules you added, the more modules you add, the more the page compensates by making itself a bit longer (leaving some empty space at the bottom for the inclusion of new modules and as 'drag space' for you to move modules about.

Trouble is the front page is there for new people who've never used SL before. Anyone who is going to spend the time reorganising boxes and changing colours will already have an account and be logged in and not see the whole thing anyway. Main point of the front page is to entice people into signing up for SL presumably as a basic account that they will eventually upgrade to premium.

I'm coming around to the original idea a little bit but I think you're on the right track by making it just a bar that goes across the top of the page, not something that fills the whole page.

Maybe. I just thought that a web page for SL should represent what SL is: customizeable. The customizing idea was to keep current residents happy, so such things are aimed only at people with accounts already.
Enticing new residents is where the movie comes into play. I think that a single movie on an uncomplicated web page will make people feel more comfortable and more like investigating than something that's all bells and whistles AND a movie, to be honest.
Bearing in mind that New Residents may already have an idea of what SL is and just be eager to get into it and not really bother with the web page, I provided that simplicty of navigation so people can 'go straight to it'.
I also had to bear in mind the corporate side of it. Second Life is a product of Linden Labs and investors aren't really bothered about WHAT SL is, only how it functions as a business. And the corporate side of SL/LL plays a large part in its continues operation. So, while the default page may be quite boring to people who already know about SL, the idea of it is that its designed to be simple for the new residents whilst still conveying that 'this is not a toy' corporate identity to it.

I'm not talking about "what you can do with it", I'm talking about "what will the new user who has never been there before see".
THAT approach is what people are complaining about in the original BS proposal.

They'll see the movie, obviously. I think both I and LL agree *and everyone else* that a good movie is probably the only effective way of describing what SL is about.

One idea I have for a default module is a Flikr photostream RSS for SL residents. Another good way of showing what SL is about.

But that's what this is all about: Ideas Generation. Not polishing the product.

i think i see what you are trying to address with this wire frame - and its definately getting there - but the one thing i have learned to my own personal cost in RL is to read th breif and not re-write it - that been the professional down fall of many excellent web page designs.. the lindens stated it quite clearly and it always helps to go back to it when designing for a client -

/quote :

The design is optimized for the new user coming to secondlife.com for the first time and is not logged in. The logged in homepage (which is what most Residents, as opposed to potential Residents see) will not be changing.

Here are the goals for the design:

* Express the richness and breadth of Second Life

* Allow us to address a wide range of potential Residents

* Set context for what a potential Resident might do in Second Life

/ end quote..

i am asking you these questions and not answering them because this is the sort of questioning i would ask any designer presenting a solution - does your design follow that brief for that one page - or does it try to be a redesign for the homepage for second life as a whole - for all users?

..and yes - personally i agree one large chunk pf flash doesn't for me deliver on the brief either.

From experience - people are attracted to information visually, or through dialogue with a user or a combination of many factors, does both your proposal answer that issue better than the lindens version?

I think you're seeing a consensus that isn't there, at least as to whether that is the only thing that should be there on the home page. That's not a "home page" thing, that's an "intro page" thing.

Well isn't that what you want to do for someone opening the page for a first time? Introduce them? The movie is a one-time show, like I said (though it could be made available in modules customizing again). After that the page would rearrange itself into a homepage.

Sorry, I thought you said the home page would be for logged in users.

I don't care what the intro page is. I always skip them anyway. I'm talking about the home page that people see after the teaser. What's going to make them want to sign up?

I think the main thing will be to promote COMMUNITY. I personally think people will be looking to become a part of a community more than anything else. I think it will also be important to make it clear what else is available. Help people decide on what their niche is going to be, etc.
For one, A Flikr module would definitely promote community (since Flikr has been a part of SL community for many for a long time) as well as giving a visual presentation of that aspect of the community. The showcase (particularly the community aspect) bar will also help to promote what's inside second life.
Resident Stories: Either written or visual (video formats) as to what Second Life is to current residents, what their niches are and how it's worked for them. (possibility).
Machinima: The filmmakers of SL: Another community within a community and a very visual one at that, possibly an inclusion of that in some respect.
Suggestions: Ideas generation is open to all SL residents. What doe the SL Mentors believe first-timers should see after the intro page? What do the residents think? What does Torley think? I can sit here and make suggestion all day long for what is going to be on the homepage, but the drawback is that they are just *my* suggestions and I would be unable to please everyone. The first step, for me as a designer, would be opening the content-aspect up to the Residents of SL and getting their opinions before setting out to create content for the page.
The design is good - the mechanics are good - but the content really shouldn't be decided by one person alone. SL's community has evolved to the point now (which is why I started putting my money where my mouth is) where Linden Lab should be able to look to its residents on this kind of project rather than wasting our money on outside companies. That's what makes us a community and that's what makes Second Life Second Life.

Also, a 'suggestions' section. 'feeback' How did you find the site? Any changes/improvements you'd make? We really wouldn't be able to crete the MOST effective page for newbies as resident veterans, so we would have to start out with what we *think* is best for a newb and then pay attention to the feedback and make changes as we went along.

One also had to bear in mind 'load time'. While browsers are becoming faster, you want the page to load within at least 2-3 seconds, which is why I kept it as 'graphic minimal' as possible. Bearing in mind that we have flash elements on the page already which increases load time from the start.

I tried to tackle design before content. I think any design would have been better than Big Spaceship's.

I agree. SL a full on 3D intensive experience. The new homepage is an attempt to indicate this using moving media rather than static images, as the Lindens say here earlier.

On other matter. I like black backgrounds so it works for me.

Since we [the residents] find it a good idea to have community promoted more than anything (in my personal opinion people will be looking to become a part of the Second Life COMMUNITY when they navigate to this page), I have begun to develop ideas to effectively do this.

First up, is the Newsreel. This is a bar of the same width and height as the exploration bar. The Exploration bar will be open by default, but clicking on the Second Life Newsreel bar beneath it will maximize the newsreel.
The Newsreel will contain relevant news concerning the community inside Second Life.

http://flickr.com/photos/28058818@N08/3121861467/sizes/l/

*Community Projects: News on what projects we the residents are working on that has some
benefit to the community as a whole.

*SL/RL Projects: How the Second Life Community is impacting real life with resident run
projects that affect real life.

*Events: News on upcoming events (burning life, Sl birthday, winterfaire)

*Funky New Lindens: Who has joined the linden family? A brief hello from them, perhaps?

*Sim News: What's new? Where is it? Good idea for this bit.

*Celebrity Events: Remember david bowies SL concert? No? Well, you would have known
about it had you read about it in the NEWSREEL! Could include news on other public figures and their relationships to Second Life too.

*Linden News: What is Linden Lab up to? How does it effect you, the resident.

- The point is that its a headline with an expanded article webpage. The headlines will scroll along. Each headline will pause for around 30 seconds before moving on (sufficient time, i think).

Here's the page again, but with the newsreel minimized.

http://flickr.com/photos/28058818@N08/3122687620/in/photostream/

Clicking on the Second Life Newsreel bar will cause the Exploration Bar to Minimize and the Newsreel to maximize.

What'dya think?

Soap! thats BRILLIANT! Great website design there!.

I do really like the new homepage just one small thing id like to customize the panels maybe a separate website for Business?. i know linden labs site already has Business information, Maybe we could me it multimedia with videos and demos of Second life as a product.

agreed - but i don't think the web developers go far enough in showing this to those tempted to sign up for SL.

Just using video can be thought of pretty standard in comparison to what many leading edge flash and other RIA developers are doing - especially in terms of adding depth to designs, (the z plane in 3D ).

How to explain, without giving loads of examples ?

- video moves - but is still 2D - if you could use a replicated lightweight 3D space - with interactive elements that are clickable would push the user to discover more about Sl - in a much more immersive and in-world like experience rather than a series of video presentations - all perfectly feasible using available technologies on the web.

the silverlight element here - http://nerdplusart.com/ - shows depth, if you could imagine instead of the glasses, an avatar representation walking through a typical (or not ) sl road - the the links coming closer and being clickable for new users to interact with - would def make it a stronger and more engaging experience.

I think i am disappointed with the solution offered, understanding what the brief is and the fact they have been given carte blanche to used such technologies.

But one risks overcomplicating something as simple as a homepage. Second Life itself is the 3D element, making a 3D homepage would be a bit overkill, I fancy. Plus you have to bear in mind the fact that people don't necessary WANT something that is entirely flash. People have download limits, bandwidth limits, they don't want a goodly portion of their bandwidth eaten up every time they navigate to the page.

good points.. my thinking was along the thread of - that this page being discussed is not a homepage per se - but more of a landing page for one particular group of users, and if the use of client technology is the way the brief can best be followed then use that technology to its fullest- rather than as just a virtual video gallery - offer a taster of the breadth of the user interaction in world..

of course then if that was the case, the black screen white screen, lag and greifers might well need fair representation too...

An old saying, if the advertising gets in the way of the product, then its wrong.

One thing web designers are overlooking here, a new user has seen some reference to SL and is trying to find out how to get into the platform. Why oh why would web designers expect them to waste time, rearranging modules, changing skins etc on a webpage that should serve one purpose? Thats just webdesigners convincing the majority of us, we really need these additional layers.
Same way, they convince us, we don't need lots of webpages, we can cram everything onto one page, with tiny fonts, and now, only one third of the screen width!! Imagine of newspapers adopted that formatting?

The webpage for me personally looks dated and not something I'd like to point a business client to.

Like I said, I'm looking into content over design right now. The homepage is NOT just for new people. It's also for current residents. The idea behind *my* homepage allows people to connect with the community of Second Life through that home page so, if you're at work and can't get on the client itself (for example) you can still browse the homepage...
Big Spaceship are the people LL are paying to do the design, I'm merely suggesting ways of introducing content and content alone, for now.

Maybe the whole plethora of pictures with Explore>> Dance>> Socialize>> etc could be coded into the login screen of the CLIENT instead?!

Well I have to say... If you make the site flash, or the help flash or anything flash then you need to provide an alternative. Because if the front page is flash then you need a link at the bottom that says something like, "skip intro" or "continue to non-flash site" or something like it.

Because I hate and will leave a website that assaults me with music, barrages me with fancy animations, or just assaults my senses in general.

I know this flash crap is "hip and trendy" but we can really do without it. I know that LL is trying to get the attention of a younger crowd or get the attention of more people, but do it with a nice smooth clean looking website.

White text on a black background is kinda hard to read on some people's monitors. And a lot of people are like me and surf around but if you're assaulted with a website that says, "You have to have flash in order to view this site" I generally leave. Same with quicktime. I uninstalled it long ago and will leave a site if it says I have to have it to view content.

Sure flash is... Well, Flashy. But it's been over-used lately. Everyone is doing it. Because web designers follow trends. (I was a web designer and worked for a firm for many years. So, I know.) For a while it was music, and contrasting colors, then everyone went for the "retro" 60's style, and now it's Flash.

Guarenteed if you check the page results when you unviel the new site you'll see people skipping the flash to get to the good old text html. No one wants to be forced to read at the pace of the developers, and no one wants to be assaulted with music and colors.

All in all... From the screen shot posted on the blog it looks like you probably overpaid for something that was done through a template. (Everyone's flash sites start to look the same after a while.) Really, LL needs to hire their own in house web designers that can tackle site issues, and work based around what the residents want. Not what's "hip and trendy" and "so today".

Since grey is rather dull. I took upon the notion in my latest rendition of the SL homepage to think about the colours a bit. Bear in mind these are DEFAULT COLOURS and that you can changed them immediately, if you wish. In thinking about what colour would be best to use, I immediately decided to go with the same sort of colour scheme that the SL Client uses.

http://flickr.com/photos/28058818@N08/3126613308/

Added a few interesting module concepts such as the Flickr module.

The '+-' on each module subheading allows one to add/subtract a link in each module. The page/module gets longer/shorter as links are added and subtracted.

The 'accessibility options' directs the user to a page where they can choose a low graphics version page or a HTML only version. The no Flash would remove flash content from the page, leaving only the CSS (bear in mind the only flash on this page would be the news/exploration bar [and possibly the flickr module] - the rest would work well with just CSS.)

The three icons are as follows: Labels would expand from them on mouseover.
'+' Add modules, take away modules, change colours.
'circular arrow' Returns the page to default. (reset page).
'house icon' Sets page as homepage.

///////////////GET STARTED////////////////
Begins the registration process. Vanishes after registry/login (will be visible if registered, but not logged in).

This is not the 'default welcome page' but more a tailored homepage for current residents.
--I'm still thinking about what best to put on the Default Welcome Page.

Thoughts? (Remember content over design, so far).

I just log and new homepage came up.

ooo! I like very much

I'm still seeing the non-flash homepage.

On my link right now I have to crank SL down below 100k to avoid packetloss. It loaded in less than 5 seconds. Even without my proxy cache. How long does the flash page take to load?