Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

As we close out 2011, we wanted to highlight some of the work we have been doing in the last quarter and announce some of the new items coming in 2012.

Iconography, Know before you Click - We added PDF, word, email, etc icons to our links. The icons are a simple way to let you know what to expect from the link. No more, surprise, you downloaded a word doc!

New News, Plus Events - Yes, new news is a little redundant, but not when you have reformatted the look of the news. The news items have a standard format, embedded map and better RSS descriptions. Events shortly followed the news. With its day calendar look, you can quickly see what's ahead. Parks and Recreation has started adding their news and high-level events to the Arts and Parks landing page.


I Want To...have Categories - The 'I Want To' lists with the same headings across all the landing pages left people wondering if the list ever changed. Only people familiar with identical twins can ever tell them apart, so we went with fraternal twins. Each left navigation list has unique categories that align with the landing page. We hope the categories stand out from page to page.

Do My Eyes Deceive Me? - You are not getting younger and your eyesight isn't improving...we changed fonts and sizes. The move to the Verdana font and increasing the font size is the first step in a series of design changes. If you are really attune, you may even notice that the center column font is slightly larger than the left and right columns.


Design changes...?
Yes, we are updating the look of the site.
But you just...?
Yes, while the new site just celebrated one year, the actual design was older than that. And as we all know, design trends can date a person, which is why we should periodically clean out our clothes closets!
I just got use to...?
Yes, you have become familiar with the current look. We are going to gradually introduce the new design. The new design will give us more space for the content you want to read.
Oh yes...the mood boards!
You remember the four design mood boards. Do you remember the one you liked? There was one that stood out among the rest and it served as the basis for the new design.

2012, Happy New Year

The font change is the first of a series of changes. In early 2012, you will start to see the header area change as follows:

• no more flash movement
• gets taller
• gets more functionality (search, weather, text size move in)
• accolades will relocate above a revised footer

Late January 2012, the new header will move into place with additional functionality (calendar, maps, directory) in place. The color scheme will change as the new header appears. Moving functional elements into the header will open up valuable real estate on the page.

As the year continues, other landing pages will start to have news and events emerge on them, and then we will cut over to the new look for the main and landing pages. Scrolling images, news, events, more navigation links, departments and service links are coming with the new layouts.

We will also be rolling out new layouts for recreation programs and park pages based on usability testing and staff design sessions. We will have opportunities in the new year to see the new layouts and to assist with usability testing before the final pages are displayed on the site. We are always looking for citizens to help with usability tests, so if you are interested, just sign up!