Design Critiquewww.barackobama.com

vs.www.johnmccain.com

LIS 654-1 Jill Goldstein

Prof. Gilok Choi Chana Ziegler Brian McMains

Suki Park

Introduction

Our focus:

Critique of Home and Issue pages based on three principles...

Info Design

Interaction Design

Visual Design

Information Design

Obama Homepage

• Message:

Change

• Clear campaign theme featured prominently on website

McCain Homepage

• Message: Country First...

Reform*Prosperity*Peace

• Unclear what this means; ambiguous

Information Design (cont'd)

Obama Homepage

• Text heavy

• Requires scrolling and scanning of info

• Deep website

McCain Homepage

• Less text

• Straight simple talk; geared toward the masses

• Style but less substance

Interaction DesignObama Homepage:• Excels at interactive

technology (web 2.0, video, text links)

• Appeals to younger generation (core of his base)

• Multiple ways to volunteer and become involved

• To broaden base, we recommend simplifying page (move store to new page)

McCain Homepage:• Limited interaction with

audience (playing catch up late in campaign)

• Appeals more to older demographic (not necessarily computer savvy)

Obama Homepage

Visual DesignObama Homepage• Modern layout

• Can be confusing

• Overwhelming (due to number of items)

• Lack of search feature

• Good use of logo (personalization)

McCain Homepage• Designed like a patriotic

billboard (red, white and blue)

• Good use of white space

• User friendly; easy navigation

• Poor location for search feature (bottom of page)

Visual Design (cont'd)Obama Homepage

• Logo more visual and symbolic

• Clever logo personalization for various audiences

McCain Homepage

• Logo not as attention grabbing

McCain Homepage

White space

Critique of Issue Page

Critique of Issue Page

Obama - Pros

• Targets specific audiences better

• Utilizes direct quotes more often

• Higher sophistication level

• Consistent structure of content

Critique of Issue Page (cont'd)

Obama - Cons

• Lack of search feature

• Text heavy

• Navigation requires excessive scrolling

• Graphics and font are monochromatic, not as engaging

Critique of Issue Page (cont'd)

McCain – Pros

• Superior layout, structural organization

• Better use of graphics, could be smaller

• Graphics more colorful, convey meaning

McCain – Cons

• Search feature needs to be moved to top of page

• Issues generalized, could use focus

Obama Redesign

Obama

• Add search feature, top right

• Move issues to more central location

• Smaller amount of text

• Add color to graphics

Obama Redesign

Comparison

Questions