For the past 6 years the IGF website has been one of the easiest way to reach an international audience interested in issues related to the Internet Governance. With the constant evolution in web technologies, new standards and online social media networking, the IGF Secretariat is considering a redesign of the current website.

You can send your comments in this section of the online discussion board on your suggestions for the redesign, what would you like to see in the new one in terms of contents, layout and any other specific features. The deadline for suggestions is 30 May 2012.

I am taking a shot at this before I tweet the link and ask for more input.
First to see if I need to log in to be able to post a comment or if being a guest is okay.

Secondly to say that an integration of a tweets aggregator will be good

I realise this is Drupal and like the layout already. Can "comments" be allowed on articles?

Hi,

I have a few comments which are about usability principles that I believe should be considered. I will post them here and try to add other specific comments separately.
Thanks,
Nurani Nimpuno


Clear and obvious functionality
===============================
o Stick to conventions that work!
o Functionality should be designed so as to minimise the amount of thinking needed by the user
- (Reduces the amount of "figuring out" needed by the user)
- If something is clickable, it should be obvious
- Links should be in a different colour and underlined
* (Text that is not clickable should black and not underlined) - A link should change appearance when you hover over it
- If something is a button, it should look like a button!
* If something is not clickable, it should not look clickable

Clear visual hierarchy
======================
o Important things should be most prominent
o Things that are related logically should also be related visually
o Things should be “nested” visually to show what’s part of what
o All pages should have a scannable layout
o Pages should be broken up into clearly defined areas
- (Allows user to quickly decide what area is relevant to them)

Navigation
==========
o Each page needs to contain clear information about where the user is
- Each page needs a site ID (top left corner) "home", search, sitemap, login and 'contact us' (top right corner), a prominent page name, clearly marked sections, sections & sub-­‐sections, clear, comprehensible URL
o Persistent navigation
- Navigation links should be labelled clearly
- The name of the page needs to match what I clicked
o The current location needs to be clearly visible and stick out
- Avoid frames
o All pages should have clear breadcrumbs at the top
- (That match the hierarchy and page names)

Writing
=======
o Concise writing
- Short text is more likely to be read (people scan, not read pages)
o Keep instructions clear and concise
o Omit needless words

Home page
=========
o Should be simple and clean (not overloaded)