Further LSU Design Analysis

Following on from the previous post, which took a brief look into the current design choices of the Lincoln Students Union, I thought it would be beneficial to the development of our product to look further into these choices and learn what changes need to be made. Optimising the visual aesthetic of the application is a fundamental portion of what ensures users return to an app, thus prolonging the life and function of the product.

As was mentioned in the previous post, the design of the current LSU website is cluttered and unclear, with a few different styles being employed all in one place. It seems that the presentation of information on the site needs some form of cohesion, to bring together the information in one place with a suitable and functional framework.

Above you can see the current homepage of lincolnsu.com, which in my opinion is all over the place. There's banners, overlays, columns, lists and menus spread out in a poorly organised fashion.

Firstly, the dropdown options for the site run over more than one line, and the website looks poorly made as a consequence. For the application to maintain an active audience, the design needs to be optimal, with no wasted space or untidy finishing.

As you can see above, the menu has a portion of negative space that could be utilised much more efficiently. There is also a selection of menu options that have further options available through menu dropdowns, however there are also some menu options that do not. Uniformity is not something that is utilised enough in the design of this website, and it something that I will be very keen to implement for the conceptual development of the application.

Further into the website, there are pages for information regarding the societies, sports teams and liberation groups available in the SU. The design for these pages is different from the front page of the website, furthering the need for a site wide design style, rather than a range of designs on various pages. Branding is a key issue that a well designed application can help to solve, providing a stable and recognisable product for the students that will use it.

Becomes...

Which becomes... 

It feels like the front page, group selection page, and group list page were all designed at separate times,  with the final product ending up with a disjointed feeling. This also means the user takes more time on each page to establish what they are looking for, slowing down their navigation, increasing the possibility of losing the interest of the user. 

To ensure that these issues are not present in my own work, I will develop a design style across the application, preventing any clashes from article to article or page to page.