SGpro website updated

Wayne Kinney · March 15th, 2006, 01:02 PM

Hi,

Just uploaded the work in progress for the new SG35 (now SGpro) website.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wayne.kinney/sg35.htm

Please let me know what you think, im looking for suggestions.

Francois Poitras · March 15th, 2006, 01:53 PM

Hi Wayne, the page won’t load here (IE 6.0.29).

Aaron Koolen · March 15th, 2006, 02:00 PM

Hi Wayne, good to hear you're doing a pro version. Bad to hear cause I was trying to get money together for a unit for the 48 hour film project at the end of May, and you're not taking orders now :)

Some suggestions.

1) Intro - Remove it. I think website intros are annoying and just waste my time by waiting for them to load and then having to skip them.

2) Make the main page transition in faster. Takes about 8 seconds for it to finish. I'd say make it no more than 2, or just remove it.

3) Scrollers and short info window. Again something I don't like, especially custom ones like flash. The window with information is small and my window size has no bearing on what I can see, which I feel it should.

4) Transition between menu info. This takes too long flying off and the new one flying on. Make it instant.

Generally I think a web page should help the user and not hinder them by forcing them to wait for flashy animations.

I like the colours you chose and style. A little more vibrant than the other players who all seem to like that black industrial look to their websites.

Finally - need any beta testers? ;)

Keep up the good work. I'm really looking forward to your new adapter. I think you have sweet spot for quality versus price and I'm pretty much sold on getting one. The Letus seems to suffer a little from quality issues, the RedRock is very expensive for low end adapters. And the others like mpic, mini35 etc are just exorbitant.

Cheers
Aaron

Wayne Kinney · March 15th, 2006, 02:08 PM

Thanks Aaron,

Question, was your browser Explorer or Firefox. Does not seem to be loading in explorer for me.

Thanks for the suggestions, I agree with you totally. The site is designed and put together by a friend, he likes full flash webpages but im not a big fan.

I think ill take the design and make it more into html format with some little embeded flash for speed.

Once i get the prototype finshed, I can finalise the pricing and start taking orders.

Mike Oveson · March 15th, 2006, 02:45 PM

I'd really like to see your page too but it's not loading for me either. I'm running Internet Explore 6.0. I'll try this through FireFox when I get home.

Wayne Kinney · March 15th, 2006, 02:57 PM

OK, looks like its an explorer thing...

Think ill get it converted to standard HTML

Jason Jones · March 15th, 2006, 03:10 PM

Hey Wayne,

I'm viewing in Firefox and it works just fine. The Flash is a bit much though. I had my speakers up way too loud and the music scared the crap out of me as it came blasting through. Is that the Fight Club soundtrack? The design is cool, but it does take quite a while to load each separate section. And what's with the lo-res image of the dvx w/ your unit? Maybe something's wrong with my browser... Also, in the window with the caption "SG35 - Image Converter Give a Professional Look to your Work," it might be nice to have some still grabs from your test footage dissolving into one another (if you are going to go for some flash (big F and little f)).

Anyhow, hope that helps. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Wayne Kinney · March 15th, 2006, 04:10 PM

Thanks Jason,

Yes i will certainly make these changes, your input is much appreciated.

Theodoros Chliapas · March 15th, 2006, 05:04 PM

Ok here with Safari (v.2.0.3) in Mac OSX (10.4.5).

Congartulations Wayne,
i hope the best for you and your new adapter.

Aaron Koolen · March 16th, 2006, 12:46 AM

Hi Wayne. I was using Safari; I'm a Mac man.

Cheers
Aaron

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne Kinney

Thanks Aaron,

Question, was your browser Explorer or Firefox. Does not seem to be loading in explorer for me.

Thanks for the suggestions, I agree with you totally. The site is designed and put together by a friend, he likes full flash webpages but im not a big fan.

I think ill take the design and make it more into html format with some little embeded flash for speed.

Once i get the prototype finshed, I can finalise the pricing and start taking orders.

Dennis Wood · March 16th, 2006, 10:44 AM

Hi Wayne...nothing coming up in IE, but works great in Firefox. The site is pretty cool, but I'm with Aaron on the KISS rule thing. Of course everyone will have their own opinion, but for what it's worth, your site is a bit like watching a commercial. Being that you're promoting a product, that's not a bad thing. It's pretty upbeat.

Wayne Kinney · March 16th, 2006, 10:55 AM

Thanks Dennis,

We are actually working on a different style now, will upload soon.

Keith Loh · March 16th, 2006, 11:07 AM

Wayne, I finally loaded this up on Firefox and unfortunately I don't have that much good to say about it.

The all Flash interface is of course a big negative as it means I need the plugin. Perhaps your IE difficulties have something to do with that as well.

The intro just gets in the way. If you MUST have an intro, make it much shorter. I have no statistics to say how long it should be (as it pertains to what message you want to get across) but waiting for each line to come up meant time out of my day. A reader can read much faster than that. The medium is not television, it is the Internet and people use the Internet to scan information, not be fed it like a commercial. Fortunately, you have the skip option. A happier medium is to have the 'commercial' play but within the context of your main interface. So have your main interface animate up and have the commercial play as the rest of the navigation loads.

That said, I found the intro design not as compelling as the main navigation. It looks rushed and not impressive. The font work is pretty stark.

Music: annoying. My workmate here thought it was taken from the series "Bones". I'm not familiar with it but if it is not licensed, I would be wary of that. I don't mind a driving techno intro but then have it fade out and not come back. I don't need music to make me feel something on the Internet. For that I have my iPod and iTunes which I would rather not be interrupted by some website's decision on listening tastes.

It looks like there are a few elements there that need greater integration and a visual flow.The negative elements that are glaring to me are the bare font work on the menus (need tightening up), the menu that is stretched across the entire interface for no particular reason, that rotating elipsoid animation on the left side that just seems to fill space, and the fact that your central message needs to be scrolled in order for the user to read the whole thing. The reader's eye is pulled in many directions at the same time. First the most compelling image is the camera but then there is the image of your actual technology which is pulled off to the right. Your message at the same time is straight down the middle while the "SG35 Image Converter - gives your work a professional look" again seems to just be filling space. So the user's eye is pulled in many different directions. You should ask yourself, what is the first thing that you want the user to do. What action do you want to influence the user to do? Then reform all of your visual elements toward this keeping in mind that the most usual visual path for western readers is TOP LEFT to BOTTOM RIGHT.

The image of the camera itself doesn't immediately inform me what your product is. Is it the camera? Is it the matte box? Here is where Flash actually might be an advantage. How about an animation showing where your product fits within the framework of the whole camera system? That way you can have your product image but also have the compelling image of the camera system. Your product image by itself is not really compelling but if you show how it integrates within a professional system then at once you grab the viewer with the whole sexy camera plus informs the user on where your product is an essential component. More informed customers who already know what your product is will also not have to hunt and peck visually to be confirmed in what they already know.

By the way, you have a link for "language setting" but someone who doesn't read English has no idea that it is the way they can click to get their own language.

When you click to select a new section the user gets it via a slow Flash animation. All this does is slow down the user getting that information. This must be avoided. You are not selling a Flash interface. You are selling your information and your product.

I suggest instead of "Our Product" that you use the subheading you already have once the user clicks into that section: "What is the SG35" because this is what I want to know at once after I get to your site. Always focus on what the user wants to know rather than what you already know about your product.

Of course the other disadvantage of adopting an exclusively Flash interface is that your text is not searchable, is not copyable, and each section cannot be linked to. So if I am interested in sending this onto someone via email or IM, I cannot simply cut and paste the URL. Nor can blogs easily reference a page on your site.

You need to include Euro and USD prices if you intend to service those markets.

Wayne Kinney · March 16th, 2006, 11:19 AM

Great input, many thanks.

We have got rid of the intro and the other sytle is much faster. I will post up soon.

Mikko Parttimaa · March 16th, 2006, 01:56 PM

Im sorry to say this but I didn't like this page at all. Way too flashy, too colorful and not that professional to my eyes. The intro is bad and so is the music. Yes, I know it can be turned off but why must it be there in a first place? Why would anyone want a web page to have music playing on it? If this was html not flash and there wasn't music or intros involved it would be OK.

Perhaps because SG35 looks so much like M2 I was waiting something like M2 webpages wich are quite cool. Yet I believe with some work this page can be made into something that works but like this it will just turn potential customers away.

March 15th, 2006, 01:02 PM	#1
Wayne Kinney Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brighton, East Sussex, UK Posts: 938	SG35 (SGpro) New Website Under Construction, Comments Welcome!!! Hi, Just uploaded the work in progress for the new SG35 (now SGpro) website. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wayne.kinney/sg35.htm Please let me know what you think, im looking for suggestions. __________________ Thanks, Wayne.

March 15th, 2006, 01:53 PM	#2
Francois Poitras Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Québec (Canada) Posts: 133	Hi Wayne, the page won’t load here (IE 6.0.29). __________________ François

March 15th, 2006, 02:00 PM	#3
Aaron Koolen Trustee Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Auckland, New Zealand Posts: 1,727	Hi Wayne, good to hear you're doing a pro version. Bad to hear cause I was trying to get money together for a unit for the 48 hour film project at the end of May, and you're not taking orders now :) Some suggestions. 1) Intro - Remove it. I think website intros are annoying and just waste my time by waiting for them to load and then having to skip them. 2) Make the main page transition in faster. Takes about 8 seconds for it to finish. I'd say make it no more than 2, or just remove it. 3) Scrollers and short info window. Again something I don't like, especially custom ones like flash. The window with information is small and my window size has no bearing on what I can see, which I feel it should. 4) Transition between menu info. This takes too long flying off and the new one flying on. Make it instant. Generally I think a web page should help the user and not hinder them by forcing them to wait for flashy animations. I like the colours you chose and style. A little more vibrant than the other players who all seem to like that black industrial look to their websites. Finally - need any beta testers? ;) Keep up the good work. I'm really looking forward to your new adapter. I think you have sweet spot for quality versus price and I'm pretty much sold on getting one. The Letus seems to suffer a little from quality issues, the RedRock is very expensive for low end adapters. And the others like mpic, mini35 etc are just exorbitant. Cheers Aaron __________________ My Website Meat Free Media

March 15th, 2006, 02:08 PM	#4
Wayne Kinney Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brighton, East Sussex, UK Posts: 938	Thanks Aaron, Question, was your browser Explorer or Firefox. Does not seem to be loading in explorer for me. Thanks for the suggestions, I agree with you totally. The site is designed and put together by a friend, he likes full flash webpages but im not a big fan. I think ill take the design and make it more into html format with some little embeded flash for speed. Once i get the prototype finshed, I can finalise the pricing and start taking orders. __________________ Thanks, Wayne.

March 15th, 2006, 02:57 PM	#6
Wayne Kinney Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brighton, East Sussex, UK Posts: 938	OK, looks like its an explorer thing... Think ill get it converted to standard HTML __________________ Thanks, Wayne.

March 15th, 2006, 02:45 PM	#5
Mike Oveson Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Ogden, UT Posts: 349	I'd really like to see your page too but it's not loading for me either. I'm running Internet Explore 6.0. I'll try this through FireFox when I get home.

March 15th, 2006, 03:10 PM	#7
Jason Jones Tourist Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 2	New Website Hey Wayne, I'm viewing in Firefox and it works just fine. The Flash is a bit much though. I had my speakers up way too loud and the music scared the crap out of me as it came blasting through. Is that the Fight Club soundtrack? The design is cool, but it does take quite a while to load each separate section. And what's with the lo-res image of the dvx w/ your unit? Maybe something's wrong with my browser... Also, in the window with the caption "SG35 - Image Converter Give a Professional Look to your Work," it might be nice to have some still grabs from your test footage dissolving into one another (if you are going to go for some flash (big F and little f)). Anyhow, hope that helps. Can't wait to see the finished product.

March 15th, 2006, 04:10 PM	#8
Wayne Kinney Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brighton, East Sussex, UK Posts: 938	Thanks Jason, Yes i will certainly make these changes, your input is much appreciated. __________________ Thanks, Wayne.

March 15th, 2006, 05:04 PM	#9
Theodoros Chliapas Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Greece Posts: 58	Ok here with Safari (v.2.0.3) in Mac OSX (10.4.5). Congartulations Wayne, i hope the best for you and your new adapter.

March 16th, 2006, 10:44 AM	#11
Dennis Wood Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 916	Hi Wayne...nothing coming up in IE, but works great in Firefox. The site is pretty cool, but I'm with Aaron on the KISS rule thing. Of course everyone will have their own opinion, but for what it's worth, your site is a bit like watching a commercial. Being that you're promoting a product, that's not a bad thing. It's pretty upbeat.

March 16th, 2006, 10:55 AM	#12
Wayne Kinney Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brighton, East Sussex, UK Posts: 938	Thanks Dennis, We are actually working on a different style now, will upload soon. __________________ Thanks, Wayne.

March 16th, 2006, 11:07 AM	#13
Keith Loh Air China Pilot Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Posts: 2,389	Wayne, I finally loaded this up on Firefox and unfortunately I don't have that much good to say about it. The all Flash interface is of course a big negative as it means I need the plugin. Perhaps your IE difficulties have something to do with that as well. The intro just gets in the way. If you MUST have an intro, make it much shorter. I have no statistics to say how long it should be (as it pertains to what message you want to get across) but waiting for each line to come up meant time out of my day. A reader can read much faster than that. The medium is not television, it is the Internet and people use the Internet to scan information, not be fed it like a commercial. Fortunately, you have the skip option. A happier medium is to have the 'commercial' play but within the context of your main interface. So have your main interface animate up and have the commercial play as the rest of the navigation loads. That said, I found the intro design not as compelling as the main navigation. It looks rushed and not impressive. The font work is pretty stark. Music: annoying. My workmate here thought it was taken from the series "Bones". I'm not familiar with it but if it is not licensed, I would be wary of that. I don't mind a driving techno intro but then have it fade out and not come back. I don't need music to make me feel something on the Internet. For that I have my iPod and iTunes which I would rather not be interrupted by some website's decision on listening tastes. It looks like there are a few elements there that need greater integration and a visual flow.The negative elements that are glaring to me are the bare font work on the menus (need tightening up), the menu that is stretched across the entire interface for no particular reason, that rotating elipsoid animation on the left side that just seems to fill space, and the fact that your central message needs to be scrolled in order for the user to read the whole thing. The reader's eye is pulled in many directions at the same time. First the most compelling image is the camera but then there is the image of your actual technology which is pulled off to the right. Your message at the same time is straight down the middle while the "SG35 Image Converter - gives your work a professional look" again seems to just be filling space. So the user's eye is pulled in many different directions. You should ask yourself, what is the first thing that you want the user to do. What action do you want to influence the user to do? Then reform all of your visual elements toward this keeping in mind that the most usual visual path for western readers is TOP LEFT to BOTTOM RIGHT. The image of the camera itself doesn't immediately inform me what your product is. Is it the camera? Is it the matte box? Here is where Flash actually might be an advantage. How about an animation showing where your product fits within the framework of the whole camera system? That way you can have your product image but also have the compelling image of the camera system. Your product image by itself is not really compelling but if you show how it integrates within a professional system then at once you grab the viewer with the whole sexy camera plus informs the user on where your product is an essential component. More informed customers who already know what your product is will also not have to hunt and peck visually to be confirmed in what they already know. By the way, you have a link for "language setting" but someone who doesn't read English has no idea that it is the way they can click to get their own language. When you click to select a new section the user gets it via a slow Flash animation. All this does is slow down the user getting that information. This must be avoided. You are not selling a Flash interface. You are selling your information and your product. I suggest instead of "Our Product" that you use the subheading you already have once the user clicks into that section: "What is the SG35" because this is what I want to know at once after I get to your site. Always focus on what the user wants to know rather than what you already know about your product. Of course the other disadvantage of adopting an exclusively Flash interface is that your text is not searchable, is not copyable, and each section cannot be linked to. So if I am interested in sending this onto someone via email or IM, I cannot simply cut and paste the URL. Nor can blogs easily reference a page on your site. You need to include Euro and USD prices if you intend to service those markets. __________________ -- Visit http://www.KeithLoh.com \| stuff about living in Vancouver \| My Flickr photo gallery

March 16th, 2006, 11:19 AM	#14
Wayne Kinney Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brighton, East Sussex, UK Posts: 938	Great input, many thanks. We have got rid of the intro and the other sytle is much faster. I will post up soon. __________________ Thanks, Wayne.

March 16th, 2006, 01:56 PM	#15
Mikko Parttimaa Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 45	Im sorry to say this but I didn't like this page at all. Way too flashy, too colorful and not that professional to my eyes. The intro is bad and so is the music. Yes, I know it can be turned off but why must it be there in a first place? Why would anyone want a web page to have music playing on it? If this was html not flash and there wasn't music or intros involved it would be OK. Perhaps because SG35 looks so much like M2 I was waiting something like M2 webpages wich are quite cool. Yet I believe with some work this page can be made into something that works but like this it will just turn potential customers away.