Finished my redesign!

[sevent]

Just just finished redesing of my domain sales site:

http://www.sevent.com/

Does it work for you? I'm using lots of DHTML but it should be OK. If you have problems tell me your OS/Browser.

What about the colors? Can you make out the words in the middle on your screen?

So I need to be pre-loading the graphics or did they load fast enough for you?

Thanks in advance!

[Acro]

From a design perspective, it's hideous. But if it works for you, who am I to disagree. Yes, it loads fast but the concept is reminiscent of pop-up spam.

[sevent]

OK. First feedback taken into account. I changed the behaviour so that the information only appears after you click on the button links (onClick instead of onMouseOver). Any other thoughts?

[Ian]

Works fine over here, i am using Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.7. The website concept is quite interesting!

[poing]

I like the colour scheme, but I can barely read the "domain name sales" in the background.

What can I do on the site? I can look at a list of names, but I cannot actually submit an offer on any name. Clicking on a name yields no result. I am using Firefox 1.5.0.7 on Windows XP.

Not sure if this is intended, but also the domain lists are pictures, so theywill not be indexed by search engines.

It's nice technology to use on your site, but one thing I always find is good to keep in mind is that the technology should be there to support the goal of the site and not just be there for it's own sake.

When designing sites, keep the visitors goals and your goals in mind. How does the user get to this site? How do you get them to submit an appropiate offer? How easy is it for the user to find what they are looking for.

Unfortunately original design will not always get you what you want. Are you targeting average users or domainers (those are not the same in most cases)? Users deal best with something that seems familar to them.

It's nice to sort the domains in categories, but I would also like some type of search to find my name - you might need several different views on the same data.

[sevent]

Hi Frank,

Tks for you comments. I made the background a little easier to view. The site isn't made to appeal to bargin hunting resellers. It's a gamble based on where I see the future of the mid to high end investment and possibly "botique" domain market going, or rather where it could go.

Using graphics instead of text was intentional so far as search engine indexing implications as is the lack of any internal search.

Cheers!

[cursal]

I think the design is very straight forward.

-I don't like the use the different colors for the buttons (makes me think kids and crayons)
-the pictures could be a bit larger (to mostly for the IDN charaters/symbols) so they may be more easily read
-I suggest moving the buttons from a vertical line on left to one row across the top using uniformed colors.
-DHTML works fine in Firefox 1.5.0.7 and using the IE plugin to view the site.

Nice "almost clean" (see comment on colors) fuctional site.

[Acro]

Sevent, you've challenged me enough with the reasoning and justification behind this choice of a design - to the point that I will analyze why it fails to reach your intended goals.

First, the function of the overlaying "sheets" while it's amusing to play with, it becomes annoying after having to click & scroll for the large windows. You also have to click the layer again to hide it; that is, if you don't confuse the effect for a spam pop-up that somehow escaped your browser's blocker.

Second, there is no appeal to the mid to high end purchaser. The domain contains no background information about your function, your locale, potentially prior achievements in the brokering business. True, your domains cannot be "indexed" by search engines but there are other ways of achieving the same thing.

Should any changes occur to your portfolio, you will have to re-create the image, sorting the domains and changing the HTML to the new dimensions. A dynamically-driven portfolio offers easy back-end management with a couple of clicks: enter - update - done.

The use of layers has a side-effect: the screen will always be scrollable to the longest layer's length, regardless of how short the "pad" is.

The overall effect is rather unprofessional and the impressive portfolio is lost in a sea of mundane images.

This is my professional analysis, based on my 12 years of web development experience and it's not intended by any means to be a mere criticism of your choices

[whitebark]

Your flyouts from your menu should close when another is opened. And the overall theme of the site limits you to just how large it can grow. If it's meant to stay small - then go with it.

Code wise - it needs a cleaning- at least 23 corrections needed to be compliant.