Re: Website Redesign

The analogy is not an issue of which animal is best fitted for the desert, but rather the challenge of getting to your target. It is a well used analogy. Sniping has no place here.
I have asked for some example websites from Kathy. I am sure you all have experience with various vendors that you would trust to do the same work for you again. I have known and worked with Kathy for over 15 years. She is an excellent designer. I feel confident enough in her to get started down the road with her. If for some reason it appears she is not right for the job, we can back off.
Bob is right, a designer will give you what you ask for. The trick is to know what to ask for and ask for it in a way that allows the designer the flexibility to use knowledge and experience that we lack to give us the best product. Oftimes the most difficult part of all this is getting past our own egos (mine included) and letting others show us the way.
You want to have impact on the site, fill in the worksheet and comment on what I have said below and in other posts. Spend some time thinking about this now. Three months from now is no good. 


We need a multi-purpose website. In priority order the criteria are:
1. Be welcoming to new users seeking information on how to grow, cultivate, use irises in the garden and in the home. Get their interest and keep them moving around the site. 

2. Encouraging new visitors to join the society

3. Provide useful information to existing members

4. Provide administrative users with the information they need.
We have a lot of information that fills uses 3 and 4. Navigation needs to be better 

What we need is content for 1 and 2.
So if you have ideas for content, let us know what your idea is, outline what you propose for the content and get the content produced. Content is not going to come from Chris and me. It has to come from others. It has to be thought out, and constructed. Let's get some new material and not just reuse the old tired stuff. YES THIS IS A BIG JOB AND YOU (ALL OF YOU) NEED TO STEP UP. 

John



On Aug 24, 2008, at 1:11 PM, Robert Pries wrote:
With regards to camels, they are much more effective than horses for the long haul in the desert. Horse are inclined to quit on you. No one person can anticipate the needs of a diverse society such as AIS. Frankly I am not impressed by surveys I much prefer the give and take of discussion. Much of what John has said I agree with fully but I would love to see some examples of the web designers work. I would value what some of the younger members of our group would think of the designs. As I tried to explain before it is not just the web design but the content and goal you are trying to reach. the web-designer will give you whatever you ask for. 

----- Original Message -----
From: "John I Jones" <jijones@usjoneses.com>
To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2008 3:48:28 PM (GMT-0500) America/New_York
Subject: Re: [AISdiscuss] Website Redesign

Over the past year numbers of people have responded to my question
about what the website should convey to the viewer.

I have all that. There is a worksheet that I have posted at
aisboard.org that any of you that are interested may fill out and
return to me. I need them quickly.

The process will be iterative with concepts being presented and
commented on before proceeding to a final design and implementation.
I will listen to everyone's comments. As you might imagine not all
comments will be compatible with each other.

The majority of the content on our website will not change. It can't,
we need to have it. Certainly we will need some additional content.

Bob said: "Our present website is very good in sevral ways. It
provides a structure that allows for our corporate entitity to
function very well. It is like a yellow pages for all the information
that a director or member needs to intereact with our administrative
structure. Our future website should be able to perform in this way
also.

The problem is in what our website conveys to new prospective
members. They are not interestested in when we were encorporated
(sic) or what our prganizational (sic) structure is. A prospective
member wants information about Irises and ideas on how they might
enjoy growing them. The organizational structure may be become
important later if they are excited to join.

People are generally enthused by pictures and opening pages should
empahasize benefits of belomging but at the same time entriquing the
viewer with the flowers and te plants.

When people come to the site they should be greeted with a warm
friendly opening and a clear menu that wil give them several options
that appeal to teir interests. There should be a committee formed to
create an outline of topics and the content created fo these topics.
It is possible to advertise along one side of our webpage other areas
that may interest the initial viewer getting them more envolved (sic)." 

I agree with all of that and have, and will continue to, communicate
those sorts of input to the designer.


Let me be clear about a couple of things:

1. We need a professional designer who is up-to-date on the latest
issues on webdesign, navigation and communication.

2.  Organization and ease of navigation for all aspects of the
website are key.

3. The first impression of the site should be keyed to irisarians and
prospective irisarians, not administrative and business users.

4. The most common thread I have seen from all the responses on the
website redesign has been how much people liked the daylilly home
page which displays a different picture (from a fixed library) every
time you reload the webpage. I intend to do something similar but
without using so much of the page space so that we can have more
graphic and informative choices instead of, for instance, the long
list of hard to read links that appear on the daylily page.

Lastly, I have been tasked by the Board to manage and implement a
website redesign. I will continue to elicit comments and present
ideas/samples but, final decisions rest with me, not with a committee
unless you want a camel instead of a horse. If this is not the
perspective of the Board, please let me know now and I will gladly
hand the project off to someone else.

John








On Aug 24, 2008, at 11:30 AM, Robert Pries wrote:


I am unclear as to what a designer would do and would we like the
result. It seems to me that before paying for a redesign we would
want to know what it entailed. This is sort of a which cmes first
the chicken or the egg. I think it generally has to work in tandem.
I certainly would like input on any ideas as so as to ensure they
are sound marketing of our product. I would like to see sample of
what the designer has done before. I am certain this shows some
coceipt on my part but I think I could put together a design I just
could not implement it. As PR chair I really think I should nbe imn
contact with th designer. To me a design is content driven not the
content driven by the design.


----- Original Message -----
From: "John I Jones" <jijones@usjoneses.com>
To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2008 2:39:41 PM (GMT-0500) America/ New_York 
Subject: [AISdiscuss] Website Redesign

I finally been able to get some time from a designer I have used
before and am in the process of contracting for a redesign on the
website.

I will keep you all appraised of the progress.

John

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
<aissecretary@irises.org>
The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
<aissecretary@irises.org>
The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/


---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
<aissecretary@irises.org>
The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
<aissecretary@irises.org>
The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/


---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
<aissecretary@irises.org>
The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index