BITS Embraces Web 2.0 in its Site Redesign
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Once in a while my alma mater, BITS-Pilani revamps its main site. It has done it once again. Personally, I don’t like the site much. I feel that the site designs of BITS (like Oasis or APOGEE sites, sites of divisions etc) are very odd and most of the times not user friendly. The designs can neither be called corporate nor hip. They are a mix of all the elements thrown in to make a site that’s supposed to serve the purpose. Now, in its redesign, BITS has used web 2.0 elements like gloss, glow, emboss, transparency etc. Also, the main site has an Apple iTunes Cover Flow (inspiration. eh?) that’s designed in Flash. It could have been a little bigger for better visibility.
The previous website was mostly designed by my brother , Ram Sundeep P. He was asked to copy the Stanford website. Though he kept the images part similar to the Stanford one but he tried to incorporate a change in color scheme after 6 pm (It turns blue from red after 6 pm) and more. He says that their suggestion to copy something else was bad but he was helpless. A similar design has been used for BITS-Goa site where the color has been changed to green. The old design of BITS site can be viewed at BITS, Hyderabad site.
Certainly, the new design has its own flaws. The glow and colors for the different buttons like Admissions, Placements etc in the main site is the part that I detest most. They used the web 2.0 gradient but the choice of colors is bad and the same colored glow for the button is obviously irritating! And see the credits page! Awww.. exemplary of bad design! Reflections, emboss, lighting… Way too over-designed!
I guess it is time that BITS gives relevancy to design.
Update: Comments are officially closed.
Entry Filed under: Design. Tags: bits-pilani, Design, new site, web design.
1.
Web Team | Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Thanks for the review and kind feedback on the new web site. Please keep in mind that the new look has been limited to only the pages which are centrally managed. Groups, Divisions and Units have their respective web-pages designed and managed by them and that’s why you find it a mix.
Couple of observations:
1. The claim that previous site was mostly designed by your brother ‘Ram Sandeep P’ is utterly untrue. It was designed by Rishi Sharma and his student team.
2. It is a blatant lie that anyone was ever asked to copy any university website including your claim of ‘Stanford’. BITS does NOT want to imitate anyone. I would recommend you to visit the Stanford.edu website and see the huge difference between the two.
3. However, your other comments shall be examined carefully and where required appropriate action shall be taken by the team (involves five students of Pilani campus who werwe involved in the design).
2.
Saawan | Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Thanks for your comments. First of all, this is not at all a review. This post is about the first impressions of the website. I don’t do reviews just like that. I take a lot into consideration when I review and it wouldn’t be a small post like this.
I used the word ‘my brother’ to show that I’ve a first hand information about the previous web design. Certainly, neither he’d like to have a credit for it nor I would want to bring any credit for him. I said ‘mostly’ and I understand the meaning of it. I didn’t say it’s entirely done. As part of the team, he did the design and the design approval and suggestions is in the hands of the head of the team! (Again observe that I used the word ‘team’). Mr. Rishi was ‘co-ordinating’ this team (And I guess you understand what co-ordinate means – To see to it that the work gets done and I don’t say that it’s an easy task). Please check the previous team credits. I don’t have to comment about the similar looks between Stanford site and previous web design (even the pre-dominant red, yellow and white color scheme in the image bar. Sheer coincidence?).
You’ll find everything on this blog or my other entities completely about design. In any post, I don’t speculate if I don’t have the correct information. Yours is just a part of marketing the brand value and I appreciate that.
3.
Web Team | Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Thank you very much for providing the additional pieces of information and more insight into your previous blog note!
We surely respect and appreciate any constructive criticism and your comments are equally invaluable to us as a team.
My earlier comments were meant to correct part of your original post which I hope, in all sincerity, you too know were a bit imprecise. Sandeep’s being part of a team does NOT really mean that what he shared with you as per your remark is fully correct.
It is a usual practice that the teams are advised to survey a large number of well-known sites before they could design their own. This is done primarily for learning about trends and picking up the best of the practices — not for imitating anyone in particular.
Colour scheme was in deed a design decision which included one clour scheme for the daytime and another (blue one) for the evening / night time. Stanford did NOT do that thing any way. Moreover the internal arrangements and the code was altogether different. You may verify it for yourself.
I am NOT adding these comments for ‘marketing’. I know it because I was part of the overall team at that point of time and know for sure that NOBODY was ever asked to IMITATE anything from anywhere.
Anyway, I would like to close the sequence of my response here since dragging the matter disproportionately will hardly serve any purpose.
I do respect you as an Alumnus of BITS and the same applies to Sandeep; but in all fairness, I simply wanted to place the facts as they were at that point of time.
Your technical / design oriented constructive comments shall be definitely welcome even in future and we hope toi benefit from your and other alums’ insights.
Thanks again!
4.
Saawan | Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Ok! I’ll close the comments here. This is the general perspective of any person who visits the website. I just tried to portray it. Please note that Design is front-end. Being an insider for four years, I know it is largely ignored as we first give importance to coding which is back-end. Any project would be a success only when both balance.
Thank you very much.
5.
Rajat Tibrewal | Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Sir,
All respect to your views and comments. I will just try to point out a technical flaw.
“BITS has used web 2.0 elements like gloss, glow, emboss, transparency etc.”
This is not what Web 2.0. In fact, there are NO web 2.0 characteristics shown by the BITS Website. Please choose a better title for the post.
6.
Saawan | Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Technical flaw? Rajat, please read the text given below (taken from the following link) and better understand what is Web 2.0:
http://f6design.com/journal/2006/10/21/the-visual-design-of-web-20/
Web 2.0 is a collective term used for different things in different views. If you see CSS, XHTML, RSS etc as Web 2.0, designers see the flashes, glossy elements, reflections as web 2.0. Anyway, I didn’t say embracing web 2.0 style is wrong! Previously, the main site wasn’t but now it’s following the current web trend.
I’m not someone in O’Reilly to review the meaning of Web 2.0. It’s a term that evolved over the time with the trend and it encompasses several things. Don’t just see it from the coding point of view. Please don’t point at simple things!