Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Rust- User Interface Design [Updated with Final]

UPDATED: New text in RED; updated post with final mocks; Still hoping for final art in the future!


So I had a grand idea about a roller derby picture book and mocked all the characters, outlined parts of a story, and asked all the derby people I know what should be included in such a learning device. Well, my mind got carried away with the possibilities of the final project, so you'll have to excuse the sketchiness of these mocks. I already know I will be fixing the menu font type (it needs to fit in the stadium seating's perspective). I am unsure of what I'd like to do with the background of the site. Leave it as an image of the track/stadium, or leave it blank- some sort of color.

Anyways, the idea is to teach people about roller derby through a whimsical site/picture book illustrating the sport as a portal to a world full of super heroes.

Site Map and Outline:


The story page will add more episodes as time goes on (hence the dashed lines/boxes), all other page growth is static.


Introduce the learner to:
  • The Characters of the stories
    • Explaining positions on a team (plus referees), as well as basic rules
    • Informing the learner about our volunteers and how to be an audience member 
  • The intricacies of the Derbyverse
    • Arena
      • Showing the details of the track, and seating area, while explaining more rules
      • Outlines the Merch table and why roller derby teams are usually non-profit organizations
      • The Locker Room page will highlight some of the social issues in roller derby and the views of women in sports; also highlight the community of this grass-roots sport
    • Gear
      • Explains the different types of gear used in the sport
    • Rules
      • Explains basic rules of the game
      • Highlight legal/illegal hit zones
      • Highlight referee signals
  • The Story (picture book or comic being drawn in the same style as the site)
    • This page is a landing page for a growing list of links/episodes.
    • Episode 1 would feature the picture book, or a drawn comic, based on the information given in Characters and Derbyverse
  • The creators of the stories, in About
    • Outline the purpose of the page and stories
    • How to get in touch with the creator and web admin 


Mocks [updated]:

Home/Landing page; Final mock
Original mock




The Characters page (leads to more children pages- as seen in the site map); Final Mock
Original mock




This mock shows the Jammer image on-hover; if a user clicks on the Jammer image, they are taken to the Jammer page; Final Mock
Original mock




Jammer page with information about that position. Final mock
Original mock



This mock is of the Rules page, and shows how a page full of text might look. The top, white, underlined words are links that load different information into the page's content area (the grey box). Final mock

Original mock



Story page; Final Mock



Creators page; Square with X in it is for a picture of the "Creators"; Final mock

Legend/Key explaining colors, numbers, and details of pages/fonts/margins.



Questions:

  • Am I using too many types of menus?
    • How might I change that? (Maybe for the text-heavy pages, like Rules above, I should place Gameplay, Hitting, and Referee Signals as children pages- similar to the Characters page.) 
  • Should I change anything in the menu?
  • Does the linking between pages seem intuitive?
    • What could make it better?
  • Is there a way to display the content in a better way?
I have not decided on colors yet, and my image style will probably be simple drawn lines, similar to the stadium and track. Overall I foresee using a lot of vibrant, saturated colors to fit with the super hero theme, like the image below.


Thank you!
-Becca


6 comments:

  1. Really cool idea Becca. I dont think you are using too many menus, however I would change the wording on derby verse slightly so that it is less confusing. You have a derbyverse menu and an about menu, but your derbyverse menu reads "about the derbyverse". I would choose a different word then about for that title. Other than that, I like everything else, especially how the menu is incorporated into the stands and the placement of the characters on the track. I really like the way you chose to display the content.

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    1. I hadn't even noticed that! Gosh, thank you for pointing that out!

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  2. I love the display with the track and seating. It really sets the tone for the book and what you are going to be reading about. I am a bit confused as to if this is a book or a site or a combination, as you seem to be able to move around more than in a typical picture book (maybe I am just not that familiar with online books). I think your fonts are similar enough that they were not distracting to me. Having a scroll over feature would tell readers where to click for links so I don't see that as an issue either. I am not too confused by your menu titles, since many books have an "about" at the end which tells about the author. Very creative, as usual.

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    1. Thank you! I actually made this with a website structure in mind. I am not familiar with online books or virtual picture book apps, so I'm not sure how they would normally be structured.

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  3. Oo! Oo! I'll help you draw some assets!

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