01_website-e-information.md 1.3 KB
#3.1 Website & information
When people first hear about your project, they will check out the website. Many projects make the mistake of designing the website like it is a portal for developers or experienced users. Rather it should have information for people who never heard about the software before. Include short and understandable bits of information about what your project is. Free software projects often have a wiki or use the project management system as their website. That is exactly the »portal for developers« issue. Even (or rather especially) a very bare page with only some info, screenshots, download and help links is better than a platform where all the information fights for exposure and the really important things are buried. When the main website of a web application also acts a provider for the service, it needs to offer the relevant actions like Register and Log in as well. Especially these forms need to be made as easy as possible and tested thoroughly because they need to be »defeated« even before using the application itself. With a website you ideally do a user test, see 6.10 Watch people use the software. You can let them go through the whole process:
- Finding information about the application on the website
- Download & Installation (alternatively Registration & Log in for web applications)
- Using the application