(Flash) Site Check

[dugfresh33]

I wanted to get some feedback on this. It's pretty close to being the final version; I just have a few more tweaks, then it's done.

http://www.nmia.com/~dougs/portfolio.html


Thanks in advance...

[benihana]

crisp and clean.

seems a little empty when you first open the site, and the 'click menu then click to open screen' type stuff is a little confusing.

also id add some depth swapping scrtipt to make sure the most recently requested window comes out on top.


ben

[dugfresh33]

Thanks for the feedback. I was toying around with that "depth swapping" idea, and thought that if anyone here brought it up, I'd get to work on implementing it.

As far as the look and "feel" of it, here's a little background story on what initiated that design in the first place:
I was thinking of a little mini-operating system, like how Windows boots up and sits there with a blank screen, ready for the user to go to the menus to start their session. That's why the menus and their link destinations work like they do. I can't stand clutter, and it just drives me nuts to sit down at somebody else's computer after listening to them complain about how sluggish it is and how they can't open any more files, and what do you see in the taskbar? They'll have Photoshop, Quark, three instances of IE, Outlook, Yahoo Chat, Yahoo Messaging, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo WebCam, Netscape, Windows file Explorer, and Acrobat Reader all open at the same time! So, I guess my deal was, pare it down. Simplify it. You want to look at "Print Work"? Close the "Corporate Identity" window. In the "Print Work" window and want to browse my "Skills" section? Close the "Print Work" window and open "Skills." No clutter. No "Alt + Tabbing" through an endless list of icons. Of course, maybe that's why I'm not on any OS development teams...

I've been working on that portfolio on and off for about two years now. Just recently, I decided to just sit down, solve all of the problems I had run into, and finish the thing (or at least come super close to finishing it).
Anyway, after two years, the reason for the design became a very distant memory, and it was more about making everything work in that design.

Appreciate your input. Keep it coming!

[voodooboy]

Great job Doug. Two thing I would suggest are to have the main windows open completely instead of requiring the user to click on a second button. I did this as a sample site in my portfolio. I am posting it here so you can see the difference.

http://www.glacialpoint.com/port_ima...ite01/main.swf

(takes a second to load due to large image files for the backgrounds. Remember it was just a sample and the images were not optimized.)

The second would be to take the time to program in some scroll bar functions for your text instead of forcing the next button on your viewer. This can be done using an external file such as this sample from Kirupa.

http://www.kirupa.com/developer/mx/dynamic_scroller.htm

Regardless, it looks great. Good job. When we do a Flash-Based Web Site Contest, I hope to see it in there. :o)