Site Design of TheStoryofStuff.com
Home page design can consist of a variety of strategies. The Story of Stuff site utilizes two strategies listed by the Web Style Guide: menu and path-based. The site provides a menu that consists of both text-based HTML links, as well as graphic imagemaps. For example, the chapter links that allow the user to navigate within the 20-minute movie are text-based HTML links, while the navigation butttons are a combination of text-based HTML links and graphic imagemaps. These navigation buttons allow for the user to access links to parenthetical information of those relevant topics.
Due to the fact that the site is path-based, the user can obtain specific, more relevant information from various links on the site. For instance, if the user visiting The Story of Stuff site wanted to get information on how they can become more involved in the efforts to sustain the environment, rather than to view the 20-minute movie, they have the option to click on links that will direct them to that particular information.
The general layout of the site is left-column navigation with rounded corners on the containers. According to the Web Style Guide, "The thirty square inches at the top of a home page comprise the most visible area of the web site." Therefore, it is important that the main idea of the site is visible within that area, especially in cases where the user's screen may not be large enough to view the entire screen. The thirty square inches at the top of the home page of The Story of Stuff contains the "cinema screen," as well as the links to navigate within the movie, which is the main concept of the site.
The narrative of the movie is organized in a sequential scheme. Following the "Introduction," the chapters of the movie are arranged chronologically in terms of the process, from "Extraction to Disposal," ending with the chapter entitled "Another Way." It is displayed on a "cinema screen," which allows the user to view a 20-minute animated movie. Although the movie is slow-loading, the user has the option to select particular chapters within the movie that they would like to view, if they choose not to view the entire movie continuously.
The organizational pattern of the site is linear, with a predictable hierarchical structure that is easy to understand.
Jade Tate
CMS 3710
Updated: 10 November 2008