TeamWeb at UT Austin
Comments to: www@www.utexas.edu
On 20 December 96, TeamWeb installed a new and redesigned University Web home page. You can read about the redesign.Here are all the comments we have received, both positive and negative, about the new page. Comments are unedited and have not been corrected for grammar, punctuation, or spelling.
Finally, TeamWeb appreciates all comments, and they do make a difference in future directions we take. We thank all users who took the time to express their opinion.
THE NEW PAGE IS TERRIBLE. IT LOOKS LIKE A FIRST-GENERATION WEBSITE NOT A THIRD GEN OR SECOND, LIKE HOW IT USE TO LOOK. SITE HAS DIGRESSED AND LOOKS LIKE YOU CATER TO MOSAIC USERS NOT INTERNET EXPLORER OR NETSCAPE USERS.travisp@learnquick.com
12 February 97
Folks might want to take a look at the University of Texas' site, which has just undergone a redesign. It's:
http://www.utexas.edu/A short explanation of the U Texas' team's rationale for their new design appears at:
http://www.utexas.edu/teamweb/history/redesign2.htmlIMHO they are to be congratulated for the courage to be boring but efficient. They've emphasized fast download speed at 14.4 kbps and eschewed graphics and image maps to that end. They also place emphasis on handicapper accessibility.Texas was a very early site on the Web and they certainly have the talent to impose huge graphics and the Shockwave/Java/Javascript trend du jour on their customers. Instead they've decided to go with a site design that works well for the off-campus modem and AOL customer -- eg prospective students.
I also like their two-column layout with the left column being headlines and info to be emphasized, and the right column being the core menu items. It's a simple but effective navigability "theme" that carries to second tier pages.
I'm curious if the folks at Texas have received any letters of complaint from on campus or off. I know that as of about 1995 when the world discovered the Web vitriolic mail began arriving at MSU, demanding a less gopher-esque image.
Bravo!
wiggins@msu.edu
24 January 97
I want to compliment you on your design, and especially on your design philosophy. It is great to see that someone has considered accessibility over flash, and content over form. Well done!cobweb@fhs.csu.McMaster.CA
24 January 97
I read the comments on THE SEAL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS on your home page. The author, Harold Billings, made a wonderful and inspiring statement that reflects the true spirit of Texas and its rich cultural heritage. My congratulations to Harold and to you for such an excellent selection.gonzalezlima@psyvax.psy.utexas.edu
23 January 97
Web Central looks great and is very well organized these days - really good work.eric@mail.utexas.edu
23 January 97
I am a graduate student of Sociology here at UT. I often wanted to express my appreciation about your great job for the UT web site. It is well organized and has many valuable informations. I was always proud of my school's excellent web site. Thank you again for your great job for the web site.hcho@jeeves.la.utexas.edu
23 January 97
This home page carries far too much information and is fas too big, even when you have a 21" screen! And it contains some unimportant informatiuon like the UT wheather schedule. This may be fun, but is of no interest for someone from the outside. By the way, this damned window where I have to write this text is significantly too small. Do you want to prevent people from writing longer comments?michael@rs.uni-siegen.de
16 January 97
I think the main web page of UT is a bit boring and not very sophisticated for such a high standard school.If I didn't know better about Ut and I was to read or look at your web page I would have imagined that is was just any regular university,when UT is one of the best. My opinionis that you should put more colors and graphics (including a photo of Bevo).Also it would be cool if you had like a welcominf video w/ the dean of students.dubraska@hotmail
15 January 97
I like the homepage redesign -- the layout is quite nice and it's much faster to download. BUT. . . this business about linking to sound clips of "The Eyes of Texas" is just plain cheesy. There has to be a better use of bandwidth.shannon@texas.grg.utexas.edu
15 January 97
Great job on the redesigning of the UT home page. It looks very clean and modern. It gets the point across faster than the old version. It tells me exactly what I want to know in short amount of time. Who needs those time consumming fancy graphics? Once again, kudos to the team web central!!!wonsup.song@mail.utexas.edu
14 January 97
I think the new UT web page design is very attractive, but I do miss those gorgeous photos of various UT spots of interest.lizgran@mail.utexas.edu
8 January 97
Get rid of that ugly sheriffs badge looking thing. What in the world were you thinking about. I want to see the wonderful UT tower in all of its glory. Did you conduct any kind of survey? Was this the winning design? Sorry, but it is butt ugly. Thanks very much.tomcat@mail.utexas.edu
7 January 97
I can understand why the web team changed the large graphic that was being used in the old front end page but the new graphic is not eye pleasing. you might want to think about using more vivid colors. of course keep the same colors but make them brighter. when i first enter a sight, if the front page is not bright then i assume that the sight will probably be boring (or useless). please don't give the impression that UT is a drab and boring university. also, it was hard for me to read the text. i highly suggest using black instead of grey. for example, when i went to look at the new virtual store (great idea), it was really hard trying to read the text. i'm only 29 and i think my eyes are still in good condition. the grey text is also boring.fasg@utxdp.dp.utexas.edu
7 January 97
Your extensive use of table format in html to align the text on the page is ok on small pages (<8k), but on larger pages it is annoying. Netscape 3 does not display any part of a table until it is completely downloaded. It is good that you got rid of clickable imagemaps, but to really make life easier for modem users you should go all the way to plain text. (for an illustration of the table loading problem visit www.cdw.com's on-line catalog and your patience will be tested). I'm being critical here, but web central is still excellent. Thanksghobarah@gov.utexas.edu
6 January 97
I really like your new design. Very stylish.jyork@mail.utexas.edu
3 January 97
I understand there might be some advantages to the new page. However!!! The previous home page with its color and pictures of campus was more attractive, and gave the browser a better sense of place. Incor- porate Burnt Orange if we must, but I vote go back to more engaging color campus shots!! Happy Holidays and thanks for all the wonderful work you do on this and so many other projects!!seo@mail.utexas.edu
2 January 97
I really like the look of the Web Central redesign. Cleaner, nicer, brighter. Of course, I may be prejudiced by the fact that your first featured graphic is from the entrance to the campus library where I work.n.elder@mail.utexas.edu
2 January 97
Hey guys, I like the new design of the UT webpage much better than the old blue one( who came up with that one anyway??, yet the new design looks almost *too* plain....Now, I realize that adding fancy graphics increases downloading time, however you could add something like a nice grey margin where the rotating text on the left-hand side is,and maybe a tasteful wallpaper on the background - nothing too fancy. Just my 2 cents... Cheerspavlos@mail.utexas.edu
2 January 97
New homepage is a great improvement! Thanks for thinking of modem users.djhuebner@mail.utexas.edu
2 January 97
I like the old UT home page much more than the new one. So do my coleagues here. The new one look so plain, so simle, and so ordinary. It may be good for a small, lower rank school, not good enough for UT. The old one was wonderful and we used to be proud of it.xchen@mail.utexas.edu
23 December 96
The new main www.utexas.edu page looks neat!martini@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
23 December 96
This new web page pales in comparison design wise to the previous page. We want to see George Washington, the Tower, and Campus when we access the University home page. Change it at once.chris.barnard@mail.utexas.edu
23 December 96
Your new site design looks great! Texas Guaranteed Student Loan's Web team has learned a lot from your site over the years, so keep up the good work. Happy holidays!patricia.youngdale@tgslc.org
22 December 96
Just wanted to say I really like the redesign of www.utexas.edu/s.wilson@mail.utexas.edu
22 December 96
GREAT JOB!!! I was very surprised, but it was a pleasant one. Just thought you should have a pat on the back! Attaboy or girl,djg@mail.utexas.edu
21 December 96
My compliments to you for making a much more sophisticated looking cover page. It almost makes me proud to be a Longhorn.jackie@utig.ig.utexas.edu
21 December 96
I do not like the new page!!!! The old one was more original and gave people who visited our web page an idea of what UT is like with the Littlefield Fountain, ETC. The new page is too generic for UT. Our University is better than some cheap generic web page that looks like everybody elses. We are not like all the rest and I think our web page should display that!!! We want the old page back!!!!!!!hrbratton@mail.utexas.edu
20 December 96
Wow! I just saw the new look! It's great! Good job!ldaigle@mail.utexas.edu
20 December 96
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12 February 97 TeamWeb at UT Austin Comments to: www@www.utexas.edu |
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