When I first posted this site for review, concerns were expressed at the less-than-intuitive navigation scheme. A subsequent small-scale usability test confirmed that there was a problem.

So, I've redesigned the navigation to be (hopefully) more straightforward and easy to follow. Please let me know what you think... and feel free to be brutally honest:

http://www.tapelibrary.com

Thanks in Advance!!

Edit by Janeth rule #1

The site seems to focus on the product line, not how users make buying decisions. The benefits, while actually having a benefit or two, are mostly reworded features.

You may want to sit down with an interaction designer and develop personas and scenarios. I think you'll want a facility to do side-by-side comparisons to help users come to a decision.

The site still is product centric. It would be usable for someone who has done all the reasearch ...made the case to any stakeholders, and ...is ready to get the exact model decided upon. The site offers data, not the context for decisionmaking information requires.

Believe me, I'm well aware of the product-centric nature of the site, and the many improvements that COULD be made in this area. I voiced those very same concerns long ago (when I was first hired as an employee), but the decision-makers disagreed. They insist that their customers only want stats and technical-info. So, my hands are tied.

That aside, what did you think of the navigation scheme? Did you get lost at any point? Confused?

Thanks for the review! Any more out there?

Bobby,
The site looks great. I see no problem with the navigation or the flow of the content. I easily moved through the site.

Great job.

My only side thought is regarding the pop-ups. Is this an issue with all the major isp players setting up pop-up blockers? Maybe a notice that the specific content is going to open in a new window?

Just a thought.

Best of luck.

__________________
Scott Brinkerhoff - Art of Zen Studios
Web Design I Design Monk
© 2000-forever - All rights reserved by me - SO THERE!!

That's a very good point, and one that I'm still struggling with. Because some of the tables are SO wide, they won't fit into the design... even if they're on their own, seperate HTML page. My only other option would to be to create an alternate page design (just for those tables) that doesn't have the right-hand navigation/ad area--thereby giving me an extra 140 pixels of width to work with. I didn't opt for this becuase I wanted the whole site design to be consistent.

I am, however, going to see if I can post a notice somewhere as you suggested. Oddly enough, I hadn't thought of that :)

Thanks!