IMDb, redesigned
As an assignment I got asked to do a redesign and because it's always better to use real content, I used this IMDb movie page. Don't forget to click on the top (bigger) video thumbnail to see the video player open. If you're interested in the process of creating this, there is a video with all the different steps. Try scrubbing the playhead if it's too fast: MP4 (desktop) or M4V (iPhone).
And here a couple notes:
Design/Style: Actually my main focus was not about the visual look, but more about content/IA, UX and business model. So I think the visual style could still be improved. I didn't include everything from the original page, just the most important stuff. The style is kept somewhat similar to not alienate users too much. I think if you show a completely new style it would loose it's current charisma. So, slow transition for less trouble.
Process: After doing a quick sketch on paper, I started straight in the browser. Photoshop is only used to create a couple elements, but not for compositing. Some would argue that this will limit your creativity because you're already thinking too much about how to create it. I think it depends on the project. If it's visually rich, mock it first up in Photoshop. If it's a big site, maybe create comps in Fireworks. But if it's more about content/IA or just a small site, you can create a wireframe/prototype straight with HTML to test how it behaves in the browser. Especially if you have transitions and different states. Then when the skeleton is good, start to style it and make it look pretty. So that's what I did in this example.
Business: I didn't include any ads. But I added a "Buy your ticket". If people are thinking of going to the movies, they often go to IMDb because of the rating. "Is the movie worth watching?" And after they check out the trailer they might say.. "Ohh.. I HAVE to see it." And that's the moment where you make them buy the tickets, on impulse. If IMDb could make a deal with movie tickets sellers, I think they would have a nice business model. And of course for movies that are out on DVD and the soundtrack, people could buy it on Amazon like it's possible already now. Also, a Netflix integration would be nice.. ohh.. wait. ;-) Something that Amazon really has to be carefull about. Don't loose IMDb's indepented flair! If it's gonna transform into an Amazon catalog, the site will loose its credibility.
Darkbox: There are a lot of sites that use lightboxes to show a video. I don't like it so much because you're trapped and can't do anything else. So I made a different kind of lightbox. One that opens on the site and just pushes content down. Let's call it "Darkbox". The benefits are that while the video is playing you might have questions and can check it out at the same time.. "Who is that actor again? - Ahh.. down here, James Franco." "When is the movie out? - Ohh.. January 28th." and so on.
Thanks for reading, simurai
94 min
James Franco (Aron Ralston)
Amber Tamblyn (Megan)
Kate Mara (Kristi)
Sean Bott (Sean A. Bott)
