mini-review of a front page that does some things right

ays .. weeks ago, my colleague mentioned, he’s a web dev wizard but no designer, so he really didn’t have a clue on what our site’s front page should look like. I suggested some, but today, once again, I came across one of another user generated content site:

I consider this look being quite well — in my restricted horizon, I tend to even call it ‘best’: There’s one core service the site offers to its users, and that is to give them a voice in reviewing/reviews. What the user needs to do to make use of that service is to write up a review “right now” — right the moment they enter that site.

And what does the site do right? — It puts exactly that piece of visual into the user’s sight that’s most important — most important to the user to get their review put onto the site: the review input box. And, just to make sure, noone would get that box wrong, they decorate it with another important message, a big black arrow saying “READ & WRITE REVIEWS”, followed by a “Write your first review to sign up!” right above the box.

That’s catching the visitor’s attention immediately and directs it to the right place. — Greatly made.