FreeBSD Revamped Look 'n' feel: Feedback appreciated!

[Johnson David]

On Tuesday 16 September 2003 12:57 am, Roger 'Rocky' Vetterberg wrote:

> If you find redhat's site badly laid out, then we obviously have a
> different way of judging things. I find it good looking, easy to
> navigate and well thought out. Too bad their product sucks though.

I haven't been to the Redhat site in a couple of years. I'm going there 
right now. As user who wants to use the site, as opposed to a designer 
looking to critique it. My goal is to find the Redhat Linux 
distribution for home use as either an ISO image or a page to order a 
cheap box...

Front page: enterprise, enterprise, enterprise, whitepapers, enterprise. 
Nothing obvious anywhere about getting the software. I click on the 
tiny "software" button at the top.

Software Subscriptions: enterprise, enterprise, enterprise, etc. The 
only thing relevant to me needs is "community products" which is a link 
to the very bottom of the page, which a link to "Red Hat Linux 9". I'm 
getting closer, I can feel it.

Red Hat Linux: "Activate your product". What? Are they trying to make 
Windows users feel at home or something? There's a link to Redhat Linux 
9 for 39$ There's also a link to "download now".

Download Now: Well, I have to buy a subscription in order to download, 
but the information I need is there.

Summary: Four pages to find what I need. Is that good or bad? I'm not 
sure, but if I was just browsing, after the second page of "enterprise" 
links, I might have gone elsewhere, thinking that Redhat wasn't for 
SOHO or personal use. The actual layout looks good, but is still 
confusing to use. The top "header" of the front page contains twelve 
buttons, not counting the search button. That's standard for commercial 
websites, but it's still not great.

I would have to give the overall site a B- from a user's perspective.

David