The new MoMA.org site went live today. (Congratulations to Allegra Burnette and her team!) They have set a new standard, once again. The term WWMD (what would MoMA do?) is well deserved. And, having spoken to Allegra, I know this is just the beginning. There is much more to come, the site as it is right now is just the starting point.
I have already spent way too much time on the Multimedia Page this morning. Oh, what a wonderful time sucker. One of my favorite new glance into the prestigious organization is MoMA/Voices. Of course, I am biased as these 30second movies of MoMA employees have been done by my fab cousin Thilo Hoffmann. This one is my current favorite:
One comment on the new design: I am surprised at this new trend of having the navigation at the bottom with the content scrolling behind it. I have seen it a few times and to be honest, I am not a big fan of it. But maybe it will just some getting used to. Time will tell.
I too am loving the new MoMA site – lots of great new features – but I am totally with you on having doubts about the placement of the navigation.
Usability issues aside, in terms of composition I think it throws out the balance of the page
Mar 6th, 2009 / 10:53 am
I really don’t like this site. I don’t think its user-friendly or good-looking. I am trully dissapointed.
Mar 6th, 2009 / 11:53 am
And I thought I was the only one who followed the WWMD mantra. I love the building images that preface the content. Exhibition calendar timeline is brilliant. I can see what I need to see before it closes and get quick previews of exhibits. MoMA voices is a great way to highlight the best of visitors voices. The sharing features are terrific. Rather than creating their own social tool they allow visitors to share content in their own established networks. One positive note about the tool bar at the bottom is that it gets all the tool bar/menu functions out of the way so that the content has open space above. It’s kind of nice not to have a looming banner. It works better in the visit and learn sections, less so in collections where another bar is introduced for the breadcrumb nav. Over all I think it’s awesome.
Mar 6th, 2009 / 1:24 pm
I’m not a huge fan. . . yet. I feel like this site is one that will quickly grow on me. I agree with the commenter above, I LOVE THE EXHIBITION TIMELINE. But, I am not sure why they alternate colors I think it is just to liven up the design. If so, it doesn’t help, if not hurt, the viewer’s perception of the events and doesn’t serve a purpose for getting info across. Overall it is great to see what large institutions are doing to stay current. With such great leadership, I am sure they will resolve any issues the greater public has with the site.
Mar 6th, 2009 / 2:35 pm
I think that the navigation of this site is awful. The previous site was terrible as well. Whatever happened to a straight forward site? If MoMA wanted to go flashy, then go all out and wow me with amazing graphics. This is boring, terrible color selection, terrible proportion, average font…
Cheers to wowing Mainstream America!
Mar 7th, 2009 / 2:52 pm
With you 100% on the whole bottom navigation thing. There have been so many eye-tracking studies done that prove the standards of left or top positioning. I’m working on a site now in which the client insists on having a utility bar in the footer (“Just like Facebook”), with their registration and shopping cart. Huge usability flaw!!!
Mar 8th, 2009 / 5:47 pm
Although many people have expressed their disapproval of the bottom navigation, I rather enjoy it.
The bright orange bar definitely draws my attention immediately.
In addition, the word “MoMA” that comes up from the bottom also attracts my eye.
I think the simplistic grid structure works perfectly to show all of the different information contained within the site and keeps the site very uncluttered.
Kudos Allegra Burnette and her team for branching out and trying a new form. They’ve given me a unique web experience and the design is just as fun.
Mar 8th, 2009 / 9:34 pm
I’m not saying I don’t approve of the design, just the usability. Every once in a while stop and notice where your cursor is. Probably closer to the top, right? It just makes more sense in the physical world to make the user move the hand/arm forward a little bit rather than cause an awkward cramping to hit a target on the bottom of the screen. =)
Mar 8th, 2009 / 11:08 pm
I think it might make sense to have the navigation at the bottom especially since the site allows for users to collect, save, bookmark and share information when signed in. However, after logging in I had trouble getting the tab at the bottom to work consistently so I could see the pages I had bookmarked. After logging out, I also had trouble getting the “+” and sign in links to work.
Mar 9th, 2009 / 9:27 am