The Buckminster Fuller Institute:A Web Design Critique

Zaakea Al-Barati, Keitha Hart, Anne-Marie Viola, Corina Waggoner

LIS 654

The Buckminster Fuller Institute

• An organization inspired by the late design scientist, Buckminster Fuller, promoting eco-friendly design

Online Entity: www.bfi.org

• An archive of Fuller’s designs and theories, and a platform for discussion on these and related related topics

• Large proportion of user-generated content, fostering a sense of community

Target Audience:

Adults interested in “green” design, sustainability, and/or the works and

theories of Buckminster Fuller.

Four Design Considerations:

(1) The Homepage(2) Persistent and Local Navigation(3) Content(4) Registration

The Homepage

As appears on Firefox browser

Homepage (Cont’d)

Problem Solution

Banner, menu & content don’t communicate who BFI is

Tagline clarifies and reinforces site’s purpose

Featured links fail to: differentiate internal/external, orient users to site’s org, (microsites lead away)

Welcome blurb defines site and provides starting point for new users

Who is BFI? What is BFI.org? Where do I begin?

Persistent and Local Navigation:Giving Users a Sense of Location

• Right-column navigation: not persistent throughout site

• Not inclusive of several main sections of site

• Despite large volume of content, lack of persistent search box

Persistent and Local Navigation (Cont’d)

• Breadcrumbs utilized, but are not descriptive at the end level

• Utilities should be limited to 4 or 5 links, and situated at the top, not in the footer

Content

Content: Disseminate Your Information!

Problem Solution

Blog format isn’t conducive to browsing; lots of scrolling necessary to examine content

Post articles as hyperlinks, with one-paragraph intros on main content sites; archiving of older articles

Content tags occupy too much space and displace other sidebar elements

Cut off the list of tags half-way through, and link users to a tags page to “see more”

It’s unclear when articles are posted Date articles

Many dead links Site maintenance

Registration

Registration (Cont’d)

• Access points are too discreet• Not much difference in site

appearance when logged in or out

• Would benefit from creation of a prominent registration section

A Note on Browser Compatibility

…but IE is missing elements!!

Same HTML code…

Conclusion

• BFI.org fails in presenting to users the myriad of resources and information it possesses.

• Site identifiers including a tagline and welcome blurb would be instrumental in defining the site to new users.

• Persistent navigation and a revised layout would help to facilitate browsing and better present content.

Our Proposed Revision: