March 29, 2009
Wireframes: Examining Chatham University’s Homepage
The first thing I noticed, when examining Chatham University’s homepage, is the layout is very clean. Chatham doesn’t use the entire page – rather, the content is concentrated in the center of the page, which is naturally where my eyes go upon opening the page. The page is broken up into individual boxes, making it easy to navigate the page and to find for what you are looking.
I like that Chatham uses flash in the middle of the screen, and it’s fast to load. The quickly changing ads makes it easy to see what Chatham has to offer and makes it even easier to learn more by simply clicking the photograph.
The most important links are on the left side of the page – from Admissions to Moodle – making it easy to quick scan for the right link. The links on the right side of the page stand out because each is in a different color (purple for Chatham College for Women; orange for College for Graduate Studies; and greenish brown for College for Continuing and Professional Studies).
The homepage contains everything a visitor needs: From the right links and news and notices to contact information. Visitors can see all of the information on the page without scrolling. I went to my alma maters’ Web sites (Point Park University and The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey) and both require scrolling to see all of the information on the homepage, making it a little less convenient than Chatham’s homepage.
I don’t really see any problems with the layout and the content. Both seem to flow naturally together, and I’ve never had a problem navigating the homepage. (Maybe, after I take the Web design and development courses this summer, I’ll have different, more critical thoughts.)
