[ Read this paragraph if in a hurry ]

I've updated the http://www.javaserverfaces.org home page, and done a little reorganization on some others. I've word smithed a little and attempted to present main points with concise descriptions. This will continue to evolve, not only as we decide what information we want to present, but also learn to express what our vision for JSF is.

[[[ Read farther if you have a few minutes to "burn" ]]]

I'll try not to dig too deep into marketing mumbo jumbo, but the home page is the first chance we have to exert influence. We can put a lot of information there, but overloading will dilute our strength. Keeping the entry point small, and providing definite steps that the user should take next, will ensure a greater probability that our desired outcome is reached :)

Basically that's long winded for, "Tell people what to think," or "Tell people how to start thinking." Guide the interaction you want to occur, and we want people to use JSF.

By giving them a specific starting point, and a short list of options, you increase the chances that they will take some action. When people get overwhelmed, they take no action. A good example of this that I've heard a few times is the Restaurant Menu. A long menu causes indecision, a lack of action; ordering takes longer because people are afraid they won't get the absolute best possible meal they could have ordered for their current mood. A short menu will lead to quick decisions, people are more willing to try something because they see everything up front, and arent afraid they are missing something, or forgotten something they've seen on another page. Also, most people usually order the same things over and over anyway, so an important key is to learn what they do order, and eliminate the rest.

That also holds true for websites... an overload of links will distract users and give them more chances to abandon the site and go elsewhere. So I'll try to keep tabs on things and make sure they stay simple / organized.

***Also!*** We also need to be careful not to undermine our own vision, goals when writing/publicising JSF. Don't list an advantage of JSF2, then put a little disclaimer afterwards saying "Hopefully that's the case." -- That's not going to make people trust us! Cutting off that last internal thought is hard, but really, it makes a big difference. It's all about confidence. Are we confident or not??? :)

---
Lincoln Baxter, III
http://ocpsoft.com
http://scrumshark.com
"Keep it Simple"

On Wed, 2009-12-09 at 18:05 -0500, Dan Allen wrote:
On Wed, Dec 9, 2009 at 5:58 PM, Lincoln Baxter, III <lincolnbaxter@gmail.com> wrote:
Ill work on the organization some tonight.

One technique on the home page to help new eyes recognize the nested information is to have a lot of short paragraphs on the home page that draw the user into the nested pages. Teasers so to speak. Not that I'm any information architect specialist, but if I don't see it on the home page, I usually don't go probing around without a cause.

-Dan


--
Dan Allen
Senior Software Engineer, Red Hat | Author of Seam in Action
Registered Linux User #231597

http://mojavelinux.com
http://mojavelinux.com/seaminaction
http://www.google.com/profiles/dan.j.allen