Website re-design: we need your input!

Foundation
21

Great discussions. Exciting first steps. Valuable criticisms & suggestions for improvement.

It is interesting that F#'s greatest strength - that there are compelling reasons to use it both from an abstract, elegance point of view, but also from a business perspective - actually make it hard to sell to either group. That seems to be the biggest challenge for the design team.

I also note that no-one likes the carousel, or at least the proposal for how it is to be used.

So here is a wild suggestion, keep the carousel, but have the elements be:

  • F# for developers
  • F# for business
  • F# for data scientists (?)
  • F# for educators (?)
    Each pane could pastiche the design style that is most likely to appeal to each group.

Alternatively, a similar idea is on the topic of F# for developers:

  • F# for C# programmers
  • F# for python programmers
  • F# for Javascript programmers

In each case there could be two sections:

  • What is familiar? (Stressing an easy transition. Two side-by-side code snippets chosen to look similar. )
  • Whatā€™s new? (Stressing the power & advantages of making the switch.)
22

This is fairly along the lines of how we put together the .NET/F# homepage. Iā€™m seeking ways to improve it - though first a different page is in order in accordance with some relatively high search volume found around ā€œWhat is F#ā€.

That said, I donā€™t feel that the fsharp.org homepage and the page I worked on need to be identical, either. The goals of the page (and site) are numerous, and since one of the goals of the FSSF is membership growth, there is an additional call to action beyond trying F# involved here. That double message is difficult to convey succinctly.

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23

Iā€™m worried about ā€œless contentā€. Not sure what that means. I think I like all the stuff there.

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24

How ā€œdoubleā€ is that message, though? I believe that someone who is already familiar with F# doesnā€™t need much content. They just need a link.

What about a simple call to action (Already love F#? Join the Foundation!) positioned just above the fold with variant styling?

Putting it at the very top of the page might work too, as long as itā€™s small.

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25

First, on behalf of the Board, thank you to all of you who took the time to share your thoughts about the proposed design direction for the fsharp.org website.

The Board met a couple of days ago, and discussed your feedback. We thought we should try and recap what we heard in the discussion so far, to make sure nothing crucial was missed or misunderstood, and share what steps we would take next.

There are a few recurring themes / ideas that appear in the discussion:

  • The design is too busy; the large image carousel at the top is a bit too much.
  • The website would benefit from highlighting more specifically what the benefits of F# as a language are.
  • Trying to address multiple audiences (developers and executives) is a concern, and could result in a message that is unclear.
  • Simplifying the overall navigation is a step in the right direction.

We will keep listening to this thread, so if you have feedback and havenā€™t shared it yet, please do so!

In the meanwhile, we will bring that information back to the design firm, and will let you know as soon as we have something to report.

Thank you again for your help!

The Board

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