So at the beginning of Fall Term 2005, the University of Oregon launched a new website redesign. The new homepage features some more descriptive and interactive graphics. It seems to me that the new Oregon page is an attempt at appealing to new students and faculty, whereas the last homepage design catered more to the students. Based on reactions to the new page which I have heard from my peers, I'd say the page isn't being welcomed as administrative officials might have thought.
Although I did not originally like the new page as well, it has grown on me. The old page was so unique to the University of Oregon. What we have now is something much more standard and played out. However, I did say that it has grown on me, and it has. I like the new flash on the welcome screen and the better news feature on the bottom of the page.
As much as I'm starting to accept the new page for what it is, there are some things about it that I just can't seem to get over. I think that the design on the JavaScript drop down menus is terrible. The menus seem to appear out of no where and have nothing to align to.
The other thing that I dislike is that other pages are not being converted to the new format quickly enough. All I want for Christmas is a university website that is unified on all levels. For example, take a look at the Office of the President. See any design differences? Sure you do, the Office of the President page looks like it was made pre-2000. It's not professional, and it's not representative of the University of Oregon. Now take a look at this, I incorporated the information from the Office of the President page into the new format. It took me practically all night, but never the less I did it. Why did I do it? I did it simply to show that pages can and should be updated to the new format. If the university can't allocate resources to updating pages, then they should outsource the work to a design firm. I can think of a few great web design firms that would love the work.
