Ok I think we could make a bounty or two around a website update, it's a positive experiment - the current page is acceptable, but if a better one comes along that has a wider appeal, we'd be silly not to use it. A good looking, well filled out html5-ish website that looks sexy is great for PR/morale. Dev's should be more than used to the idea of iterative design (common programming principle), and it's a good practice to have for the devcoin project in general. It's the best way to use limited resources for complex projects.
One thing this highlights is our general problem of selecting dev tasks that depend on things like aesthetics. Programmers are typically a functional bunch, and UI/UX tends to take second place. A voting system would be good, but progress kind of died on voting-bounty engine ideas a few months ago. We still quite badly need some good solutions to be developed, especially for things that largely depend on wider appeal, so maybe we can bump that up the priority list once we get developers interested again. We want to create a place where the different disciplines can meet and play (collaborate), and a good bounty engine will allow that.
In any case, since we have to do without for now, let's try something new. I'd like three people to be the judges of the new website design. There will be a deadline for 2-3 page mockups (photoshop, ms paint, whatever, people may be able to use templates they've purchased, but I'm not sure if there are license ramifications for that, so check that first), and the judges have to decide if that submission meets the criteria they set for the new site. If no mockups are satisfactory to the judges, the original stays, and another deadline will be set for new mockups. The judges are picking which mockup to proceed with. If a designer can do a good mockup, but can't do the site itself, they should still do the mockup and say they'll need help with the site in their submission, and someone will be able to help for a share of the bounty (usually split by time spent, but that's up to the people involved).
The judges should be confident they know what a good UI/UX is - self-proclaimed is fine. I'm happy to put my 2 dvc in, but I don't want to be a final judge of this - I'd prefer to include more people in the decision making going forward. Of course, judges can't submit a design, but that shouldn't surprise anyone. If you want to judge this competition, have no intention of putting a design in but know in your heart of hearts what makes a page shine, post in this thread that you'd like to judge. The first three people in good standing with the community will get the task. Good standing is anyone who has ever earned a share, or a non share-earner (eg investor, but you don't have to prove it) who has actively discussed improvements here or elsewhere and has no legitimate objection from other admins or share earners.
The judges must decide on a list of criteria for the competition (including whether or not to allow logo-redesigns, considering the impact it'll have across all our websites and client), and once that's clear I'll suggest a bounty amount. If everyone agrees on that and the deadline, then mockup submissions are go. Once the deadline has passed, the judges will have a week to decide on a winner, and it's solely up to them how they decide it (eg: unison vote, vote for 3 designs and highest count wins, 1 vote each, as some suggestions). If a winner is picked, that designer has as much time as they need to rejuvenate the website with/without aid, and they'll get the shares once all the criteria are satisfied. If the criteria the judges set are extensive, this can be a tiered bounty with milestone rewards.
How does that sound? Anything that should be changed?
Sounds good - i can offer to judge if its ok
The criteria in my opinion, should be as follows,
Modern,
Considers devcoin colors and design,
Should be interactive,
Easy to read,
Understandable,
Include info (faq) about basics of devcoin in an easy reach
Load quickly
Not heavy on the eye
