First, thanks for the constructive criticism.
On the public site, I have absolutely ZERO control over the arrangement, colors, or layout. That is the new Combined Arms Center template we have been directed to adhere to. Your comments mirror some of my comments internally to the web design staff, so I'll pass them on.
Some specifics:
Interesting observation.[*]The background colour is extremely poor and sets the tone. If I were you, I would shift it to either a green or a blue, both of which have more positive emotional connotations in Western cultures (grey engenders some distrust).
Hadn't considered that. Thanks.[*]Drop the pseudo-tiled marble background gif entirely - the sub-consciously communicated metaphor of "set in stone", which will be evoked in a number of public users, is definitely not the message you want to send.
We're working on this one, in v1.0 of that part as of now. The G6 is purchasing blog software and other tools where it will be used for this purpose, moving to v1.1.[*]Where are the "Success stories"? Think public, public, public.... This site is "selling" a product to the public - COIN - which is intimately tied into public perceptions of the "Surge" (no one ever said the public was savvy ). You need success stories and you need public items related to both COIN and the Surge. "COIN in video", with links through to the Daily Show (etc.) would be a start.
Noted, will fix.[*]Your coding for
<!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="DirectorsCorner" --> doesn't work properly in Firefox - I think it may be the
<p align="left" class="templatelinks"> commands that are causing the problem, although it may be an interaction with the .css style.
Will have my web guy go at it.[*]Both front pages should be visible in a single screen. I'm using a 1280 x 800 screen resolution and I don't see the entire page. When I scroll down to get the non-visible information, I don't see any reason why I should have to - there's not enough link information to justify it in my mind.
If I didn't want the harsh answers, I wouldn't have asked. Valuable feedback.Sorry to be so negative, but that is my honest opinion based on 14 years of web design, evaluation and analysis experience.
Marc
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