Simple 3D Navigation

[aelius]

Just finished work on this: www.napperdesign.co.uk

You'll need a quick computer for this one. All the client wanted was a very simple step-by-step introduction to the services of their new Branding Design division. The challenge was to give what was essentially a short slide-show presentation some depth and make it unusual and visually stimulating.

Although work is still being done on the sound fx side of things, the rest of the site is pretty much complete.

Any thoughts?

[arroni]

I think the site is just plain confusing – there is very little content there and it has just been drawn out..it looks as if the elaborate nav system is there to disguise this.


also... i don't think stating best viewed on a fast computer is good practice... if possible clients for the company don't have one what do you suggest they do? Shouldn't a site always be designed with the end users system in mind?... yes it should.


don't want to be to mean though but as the old saying goes...just because you can do it doesn't mean you should.

[aelius]

Thanks for the feedback arroni,

Some good points, all of which were addressed at the early development stages with the client. They were very clear about their target audience, and a scatter-gun approach of building a site for everyone was neither a necessity, nor part of the brief.

The site was never supposed to be an in depth corporate site - it is a brief introduction, nothing more - as I mentioned in my post.

The reason I added that a quick computer would be beneficial is simply because this is a public forum, and not too many members are likely to fit my client's target profile. Whether or not the public at large can enjoy their website at it's full-speed was no concern to them - they are not in a consumer industry.

The website has been, and is still being tested on a wide variety of machines, from lowly office admin PCs to high end workstations. So far, we have encountered very few problems, even on the oldest machines, with the exception of slower frame rates (which was to be expected). However, as a designer, I like people to look at my work in the best conditions possible, and so thought it worthy of mention.

Perhaps my wording could have been better!?

[arroni]

aaahhh you've thought it all through..

they do sound like quite a cool client though..wish there were more like them.

when i mentoined about the 'quick computer' thing i meant when it is stated on the splash screen of the site not the forum..

i did have one more comment though..just didn't mant to bombard you all at once.
when going through the navigation i wasn't sure whether i was controlling what was happening or if the movie was just running..maybe this is something you are addressing with the sounds you mentioned...

anyway good luck with the rest of the project..hope i didn't sound to negative

[aelius]

hope i didn't sound to negative

Not at all, arroni, I appreciate the honest feedback. In a way, I'm glad things like this are mentioned, as it's good to know I'm addressing the right issues when approaching a project like this one.

I must admit, the reason I put that on the splash screen was for the same reason I put it here - if people are going to be looking at my work in an office with 30 computers, I'd rather they looked at it on the fastest one and got the best possible experience.

Do you think this is likely to make viewers dismiss the site before they even take a look?

i wasn't sure whether i was controlling what was happening or if the movie was just running..maybe this is something you are addressing with the sounds you mentioned...

Yes, the reason we didn't allow back and forth navigation through the windows is because people just aren't used to the idea of 3d navigation, and so we wanted to sort of 'guide' them through a strange environment to be on the safe side. Unfortunately, due to the animated 'burst' at the beginning (a necessity to help the viewer relate the scattered shards to the company logo and understand where they are in 3d space), it is difficult to tell where the animation ends and the interaction begins. The sound effects should help define the two.

Hopefully

[arroni]

[QUOTE]
Do you think this is likely to make viewers dismiss the site before they even take a look?

i don't think so, but that's sort of my point. I just don't think things like this are relevant..


If someone visits a site i am not sure that they want to know how to view the site..they want it to just work..but this self-referential style (not that yours is, you do hint at it though ;-)) seems to be more and more popular. an example being designers using the flash 'ƒ' graphic..unless you use the software how do you know what this is supposed to mean? I don't know.

[aelius]

I see your point, and I do think there are more and more websites that are more about the site itself and the technologies that where used in its creation than the content inside it.

Umberto Eco would call it Paleo-Web Design, where the design of a site becomes more concerned with itself than the message it's trying to get across. I'm not sure this is as harmful to the web, as it has been to TV, though. Basically because the range of devices and technologies available to view web-based media is so huge, and the level of ignorance among the general public is even bigger (not an insult - just that a lot of them still don't know what a plug-in is!!). In a way, the self-referential style at least educates the broader audience, whilst making web design a more competative market, which in turn drives up the quality of websites.

I totally agree that it would be nice to turn up to a website and expect it to just work, but you simply cannot guarantee that, even with HTML. All we can do as designers is cater as best we can to our target audience and try to bring them up to date with web technologies at the same time, or be forever designing stale backward-compatible websites.

With my work, I make sure that anyone with the flash plug-in can use the site. But I still like to suggest a 'recommended system' just as you would with any other piece of multimedia work. It's like playing Time-Crisis on the Playstation - you can play it with the handset and have a lot of fun, but if you really want the full impact, get a light gun!