the picture is too big, you have to scroll down to see that there is more below the pic

I like the idea of a page like this, I would go and look at it. I might even submit photos from time to time.

The pictures and images are a bit huge

I like the idea of changing photos. I would like to see regional campuses focused on as well. While I don't attend main campus, I like knowing what is going on there. I don't appreciate the fact that I can't participate in the campus activities made available to main campus student such as Explore Columbus. I feel that ANY activity that is offered to ANY campus student should be AVAILABLE TO ALL STUDENTS.

I would like to see news from the regional campuses as well. OSU-Mansfield has a great theatre program that Main campus students might want to see.

I agree, the image is too dominant for the page. What will be the criteria for submitting images? Will the photog receive a byline/credit for the image? Will it really only be up a day or do you anticipate it having a longer shelf life? The photo of the day adds an element of fun to the site which is nice. I like the archive at the bottom.

At least some very nice developments, good to read before going to the USA. But blogs like these, can they also be created by students?

Thanks,

GL

I love the idea of submitted images. I work at the Newark Campus, and I'm sure we all agree that this is a great way to highlight the strengths of OSU at all locations and also OSU folks all over the world. Thanks for a great design!

i agree that the image is too big. I would care more about accessibility of informaion that I want.

I love the idea of this..being a photographer, I love seeing when new photos are put up and a new one everyday would be exciting.

I really like the idea, I would defenatly submit pictures!

I don’t like to have to scroll down a page. I like things that are bright and use meaningful photography. I wish the stories on the Home page would change more often. I use all the links on the current OSU Home page and would want to be able to find those links easily on the new Home page. Sorry, I really can’t help you with design ideas, but I wanted to let you know what I do like about the current page.

I like the idea of more daily content, especially an image of the day. Sometimes it seems like the main page is only updated a couple of times a week, which doesn't reflect how much is going on around campus.

At 1280x1024 the size of the image is fine. It's a little big for 1024x768 in my opinion, and with a "View Full Size" button close at hand I guess I agree with other comments that the page should fit a little easier on smaller screens.

I'm fond of the site as is, however I do understand the itch for change.

Please don't change it like this. The picture is too large and there is hardly any content on the page. I like the current blurbs of OSU-related news that we have going on right now, it gives prospective and current students a bit of insight into what's going on beyond their own field of study.

I think this site would be much less interesting to a prospective student, less catchy and with less news. I do like the button link to Buckeyelink, and I like the idea of the picture that changes, but I think there should be a bit more content (and color).

Right now, my overall verdict is that this looks like some 15-year-olds myspace page. Not exactly the professional image a major research university would want to portray.

Thanks for the comments Amanda.

The "Image of the Day" will not replace the homepage. It will be a site unto itself, much like the current O-H-I-O pages.

To see how an updated OSU homepage might look, view these sketches.

Thanks again.

One of the key features for the home page is navigation. I like the ability to click on current students from the current home page or the ability to click on the campus map in order to find a building. If the home page becomes an event oriented site, then will you have a page that can help anyone find what they are looking for on campus, be it students, staff, or visitors. The new main page looks disorienting with clickable links placed here and there and everywhere.

Will the university please add some consistency to other OSU webpages. Have you ever tried to navigate the Treasurer's office pages - horrendous.

Oh, yes, I understand, people like pictures and shinny new things. But I concur with several others...the design is a bit amateurish. And the idea of themes, etc., really makes me wonder, is this a website for a university or a grade school? Even as additional site, it doesn't seem very professional.

If you look at other universities, many of their home pages use the opportunity to showcase new research and academic news/events. Since OSU is a RESEARCH school, maybe more of the home page could, oh, I don't know, be dedicated to academic/research news? The redesigned home page still has too many large, unnecessary graphics.

I think if OSU is going to continue to hike tuition, with the goal of making OSU more like UMichigan in tuition and competitiveness, then the home page should reflect that level of professionalism. Right now, the redesigns make OSU look more like a social club. It would probably be worth the money to farm out the job to an outside firm.

The first step to improving on the OSU Home page would be creating a more effective search engine for the site. I will use Google search before I use the OSU search. It is easily the most embarrassing aspect of the website; especially for a major research university.

The image page design needs to take into account that unless there is a reason to scroll (i.e. a sentance trails off while reading) that many people won't think to scroll down making the bottom of the page useless.

Merely coming from a web dev perspective, the site, displays fine for me at 1024x768 and higher resolutions, however you will run into issues with students in classrooms, labs, and personal machines that do not operate out of the native resolution of 800x600. Thus, you will get complaints about images being too large or text not displaying in the desired manner. There are some forum sites that offer some "free" scripting to adjust to resolutions, or redirect to a different page depending on different variables. Variables that go from OS, to Browser, to even native resolution.

Aside from that... I like the idea of user submitted images being displayed on the site, I think it gives the university a more personable feeling which would be a nice change from the opinions of the last few years.

Whatever change you make, please make the home page easy to load. It makes no sense to have so many graphics that it takes the page many minutes to load before you can actually do anything on the Web site. Or worse, you have to have some kind of "flash" software download before the thing works properly.

I also agree that the OSU Web site search engine needs to be updated.

With OSU's index, you should make all navbars active "dropdown" menus. Perhaps, as someone else suggested have constant top and side bars, and they all can be flash. Also since most people are moving away from dial-up, have more bandwidth heavy content(shockwave for ex.), as well as a lite version available. Maybe the pic of the day, could also be a video of the day (users can post either/or). Have all major/regularly used links such as Carmen/mail/buckeyelink/8help as their own animated Icons on Index page. Also have links for google translations to translate OSU in every language that the foreign language department offers, that that a simple link can make it a learning tool when students in those classes use it reguarly, and make it more convenient for international students.

Ravi,

It's not shown in the sketches, but we do plan to incorporate drop-down menus for each of the main navigation tabs (Current students, Faculty, Alumni, etc.)

Thanks for the comment.

I think on the homepage there should be a link to carmen across the top just like there is a link to webmail.

Maybe on the homepage you could do like a weekly career spotlight or spotlight a certain major and give some information on it. You never know someone could find it interesting. Also you could spotlight an OSU website each week (BuckID, Schottenstein Center, Ohiostatebuckeys.com) and maybe a cooler, easier to use event calendar that has like concerts, movies, performances, and sporting events.

I like the look.
Do you think people will really be able to come up with new "themes" every week though? Seems like a fair amount of work for not too large of a reward.

It would be nice if the page advances to the next image when you click on the image. Also I don't see the date associated with the "Image of the Day". Making the date more prominent will enhance the context of the image.

I LOVE the idea of a new O-H-I-O picture everyday somewhere on the home page. I know that you can browse these pictures through a link, but it would be cool to have a new one posted on the front always. Maybe even one week people could vote on the best O-H-I-O picture and the winners get their picture in the newspaper and/or win a gift certificate.

For one thing, the search engine needs to be improved dramatically. Instead of results showing particular entries first, it should list to results which relate to various departments and other general areas. This would make it less confusing. Also, the navigation in general could use work. It's too messy and unorganized.