First off, I also like the design.  The front page is really friendly and it 
sets the tone for the site.  I like the wheat colors, and suspect it plays 
well for the target audience.

>I thought about removing the text completely because it is a bit
>distracting.

After I read the comment about the text on the front page, I remembered my 
first impression:  It was the first thing I read when I got the page in front 
of me.  I had opened the link from email and left it in the background, so at 
the time I looked at it I didn't know why it was there.  But thanks to the 
text I knew what the site was about.  It's hard to second guess first 
impressions, but had the text not been on the front page I would have had a 
much harder time with this.  There could be less text there and it would 
probably still be fine.  But I wouldn't get rid of it without providing more 
info in SOME form on that front page.

You might also consider offering quick start guide.  My problem was that I 
couldn't tell right away if I was a customer or a member.  Even once inside 
the site, I had to read each section before I could figure out what they 
were.  One approach would be to add "site introduction" or "getting started" 
on the splash page, then lead your target audiences into the appropriate path 
of action from the resulting page.

Your features bar on the right has things of mixed type in it.  I don't 
understand what the things are, and I don't know why they are features.


------------>Nathan



 I decided to keep it as a way to get some text on the page and
>hopefully increase the sites chances of a better listing in search engines.
>The actual text will be changed soon. Any other feelings on that?
>
>Thanks for the comments, I appreciate your honest replies.
>paul
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-hwg-critique(at)hwg.org [mailto:owner-hwg-critique(at)hwg.org]On
>Behalf Of Steven W Loney
>Sent: Thursday, January 02, 2003 3:30 PM
>To: hwg-critique(at)hwg.org
>Subject: Re: crit for dev.nplains.com
>
>
>win2000prof, IE6, 800x600, 1024x768
>
>I normally don't comment on what I like in a "critique".... but I really
>like the home page graphic... colors, images and the way all other graphic
>elements seem to key on those colors. Very warm & friendly.
>
>Get rid of the two paragraphs of text content... it's in "about us". A home
>page should only include:
>-elements required to give visitors direction to the content they want
>(navigation)
>-content that creates a positive look/feel (graphics)
>-information every visitor will want to see
>The text content is none of these things.
>
>Unless the Basin Electric Power Coop has paid money to have this site
>developed... get rid of that link on every page... leave it in the links
>page.
>
>Site creation & hosting credits are a disservice to the client. This site
>is about their business. Using it to promote your own business is a good
>way to let people know one of two things. Your sales and marketing
>expertise/knowledge is weak or you're willing to take advantage of clients
>whose sales and marketing expertise/knowledge is weak.
>
>out of time
>Steve
>
>At 09:53 AM 1/2/2003 -0600, you wrote:
>>Please review and comment on http://dev.nplains.com.
>
>
>
>





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Nathan Young
N. C. Young Design
(530)629-4176
http://ncyoung.com

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