YC Design Prototype

The key is if this site hits critical mass. If we start gaining traction, I can think of ways to generate revenue much more efficiently, such as either through the store I run, through advertising, through our auction, through donations, and/or through investors. Raising capital is key, and if we can raise capital, and a lot of it, I can do many things such as rent out time slots at concert halls, organize either amateur or professional orchestras and conduct practice sessions to perform works submitted here. The performances would ideally be performed in front of live audiences who are interested in learning about new music.

Just to clarify on "pinning": even though the contexts are slightly different, we're still talking about forum threads (among other things): the use of a common word in two ways might be confusing. Furthermore, for me, the term evokes putting something static up for archive, not receiving updates on something thought of as dynamic; alternatively, as putting something up for visibility's sake globally, and not "bookmarking" it and "watching" it by individual members.

And I reiterate that it could be possible to merge everything into the feed, but allow the user to see the social-network updates only or the 'binder' updates only (e.g. via tabs). It's essentially the same idea as having feed AND binder, except that they're initially presented in a common view and can be accessed separately by the user when xe wishes.

I would again suggest different terminology: instead of using the metaphor 'binder', for instance, wouldn't 'subscriptions' or 'watched threads/content' be better, since it's immediately clear to the user what it means? When it comes to UI design, you do not want to be creative: you want to stick to paradigms the user is used to, and within limits of users' tolerance for "different" UIs make choices that allow the best possible usability: I think the latter is the decision you're facing with terminology.

Sorry that I'm repeating myself a little. I wasn't sure how clear I had been the first time on some of these points.

Thanks for clearing up my confusion regarding the feed...

But as far as the whole page goes, let me try and organize my thoughts a little and present to you what I think should happen:::

If you (add someone as a friend/"like" them/whatever) then, when they upload a new composition, it gets presented on your feed, as well as some comments about it. Simple enough.

If you (choose to watch a forum/topic) it gets presented on your feed.

Anything else that gets put up on the feed?

Also, one thing that confused me... On the left side of your picture there's a box that says "Fan Username Likes your works" then one that says "Composer username likes your works" ... what's the difference/point of having two groups?

Can I throw something out there?

Since when has YC EVER been about generating revenue? This site is very non-profit.

Can I throw something out there?

Since when has YC EVER been about generating revenue? This site is very non-profit.

Mike was simply stating the eventual goals of HIS business - all of which are still aimed at furthering the musical cause.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I couldn't find the part where he said anything about "profit", and I expect Mike would very much welcome your assistance in paying for hosting/maintenance of this site...

When someone adds music to his favorites, the target becomes a "favorite composer". And the target will see "you" as the fan. The feed will display various updates, such as likes, recommendations, comments, forum threads and added compositions. I can update this list in time.

As for the terminology, let's see how it works out. We can always change the terminology if its too confusing, this luckily isn't a programming issue. If the "binder" terminology doesn't pick up, I'll revert things to the boring standard phrasing. But I like to try a different things to see how things work out. If you haven't noticed by now, this is one big experiment, and it's all about testing.

Since when has YC EVER been about generating revenue? This site is very non-profit.

We must become profitable if we are ever to get to where I want us to go. Otherwise, there is no chance sadly. I have a store which generates some decent revenue, (and yes, profits) but I don't talk about that much because I detached that site from the main site for now, and I use ALL the profits from the store to help pay for the investments for Young Composers. Hopefully the auction will work out and help contribute to the profit building here.

There is still the option to buy subscriptions, but I am having doubts that this original model will work at a large scale. This is the reason why I created the auction site. If this all works out, I could eliminate the space limits, and allow everyone to have unlimited space.

Quick thoughts:

Your terminology "pinning" to me represents putting something up semi-permanently, as on a bulletin board. And you "place" things in a binder, don't "pin" them. I agree with lao completely, this binder-pin thing is not something I think users are used to and therefore the function won't be immediately apparent. If you use "watch" and "feed" and keep it simple, users won't have to figure it out, they'll know how it works already because these theses terms are the 'in' of webdesign right now.

I'd really like to see a plain white background myself or at least a white canvas before you pass judgement yourself. Having a dark coloured background closes the site up - would you paint the rooms of your house that same brown? No, it makes the rooms look smaller, any smart interior designer knows this. (light canvas like this, perhaps lighter, so that the lightest pixel is closer to #FFF http://www.utrechtart.com/images/products/POD_canvas.jpg)

Suggestion - I'd like to see if you made the black canvas (the banner) that brown colour instead... you know, like the old site. You could have a very short gradient, maybe a 10px or less fade at the bottom into white canvas.

I don't know where to do begin. I feel like I have covered a lot of ground before about what I like and dislike before and Laogeodritt's post above covers a lot of my dislikes (and in more technical detail) so I'll just answer the questions and leave it be now.

Is the design aesthetic? - Voted No.

I like the font - its a bit more funky that what we have right now. But layout is way too cramped. The feed looks too much like Facebook's and excluding the fact I hate the idea of the feed, I hate the look of it as it way too cramped.

Do you like our color choices? - Voted No.

It reminds me of mud of the most part.

Is the layout clean and simple? - Voted No.

Some of the writing is too small and the whole layout is way too cramped. I would hate to see how this skin would look like on the main forum page with the shoutbox.

Do you feel the design is modernized? - Voted No.

Nope. Like others have said, it more jolly and nostalgic than modern.

I will add that if the design was active, I would really be put off using this site.

+1

brandenunruh, are you commenting on the one in the original post?

There've been a few revamps and updates on the proposed layout since then, so I suggest you look up chopin's last update in the thread and comment on that instead.

(chopin, could I suggest you make a note about, or even direct link to, the post with the latest layout for those who don't want to sift through 11 pages of discussion and just read the first few?)

I was just updated that by the end of this week, our new test site update should be launched. Once I get more details, I will link you all to the site, and I will need a few volunteers to test the site for bugs.....ahem, James and Lao, you two especially :)

As for another update, we are moving our auction site to Record Hall. The site will have its own design, and the only link between Record Hall and YC would be user integration, and YC managing auctions (also seeing auction updates via the feed). The auction site will be re-updated for simplicity and design aesthetic improvements, making it very easy to request work done, or offer services you could do for X dollars. I don't think I will bother offering a traditional auction (selling products), since Ebay and Craigslist does that well already. Record Hall will just be a place to auction off composition, recording, or other music related services.

I believe these two sites may actually work very well together, but only time will tell.

I found this article that's pretty brilliant: I'd like you to keep this in the back of your mind as you design the site. http://sivers.org/quirks

Read it just now, and I agree with it fully. I will keep all of this in mind with the updates, no worries :)

I'm not sure if it's too late, but I like bits and pieces of each layout. (yes, I did look at the updated version of your new layout.) First off, I love the header we have now. It really is beautiful. Please don't get rid of it! :) I also love the font we have now. Honestly I think it's much cleaner, modern, and more refined then the new one you have. However I do like the new user page design.

I know I'm a few months late but... I don't know how a brand new layout like that managed to look so outdated (referring to the first post). It looks way to cramped and busy.