UX Booth

Andrew Maier’s www.nicholaspatten.com Review

Author Avatar

Author

Andrew Maier

Published

November 28th, 2008

Popularity

Share

Category

Full Reviews

Related Topics

0 Comments

My initial impression is very good. I’m looking at site that obviously emphasizes design. The colors on the page work really well together. What more, the content area is a stark black and white, and that draws my eye right to it.

Nicholas Patten uses a simple video player for his site

Unfortunately, when I go to the site, I’m forced to turn the volume down on my speakers. A video starts playing. Interesting. I’m looking at a list of videos on the right and listening to the video play on the left. While trying to make sense of what I’m looking at, I notice below the content area, an email address.

It appears this website is the personal repository (portfolio?) of Nick. Neat.

Key Questions

Okay, so it looks like, in addition to editing and directing photography, Nick does work in video. Or…do the videos help chronicle his work? Since the video is about ANSI and the ISO, I’m wondering if Nick works for the USA Standards Institute. Confusing.

I next try and stop the video. The video controls presented are interesting because I notice that there is no “forward” button. Additionally, there is no video “scrubber” to allow me to change my position in the video. By clicking, I get the impression that I’ve changed the location in the video, but I’m only guessing that clicking would change my position in the video.

I’ve paused the video.

I notice a label that says “playlist:” by clicking i get a selection: commercials, in-house videos, reels, etc. From the playlist, I”m gathering that NIck helps make these movies. What more, (since it said he was an editor) he may be a movie editor, and not a traditional “copy” editor.

Listening to the clips that are being played, they are upbeat and well edited. I feel like Nick does solid editing.

Alright, awesome. So I’ve gotten a pretty good impression of Nick. I’d like to see a resume and shoot Nick an email. Now things have gotten tricky. Looking around his site, I’m not seeing anywhere to do these things. I try clicking on “editor” or “director of photography” — no luck. Next I try clicking on nick@nicholaspatten.com. After all, it is white, and it looks like a web URL. No luck. I’m a bit frustrated. What’s gone wrong here?

Conclusion

Looking back, I think that I was given a really good initial impression. The site design is clean and elegant. I know that I’m looking at videos that somehow represent Nicholas Patten. The navigation is intuitive because it follows the layout of a video-site like youtube.

Nicholas Patten uses a player most people will be familiar with, a la YouTube

What’s there not to like? Well, for one thing, the site is more or less one-dimensional. I’m left with the impression that this page could just be a portal to youtube, and Nick could save on hosting costs.

My Suggestions

The problem with this site is that it brings me 98% of the way to hiring or contacting Nick, but then doesn’t do much more for me. Without a business card to call Nick, or a resume in my hand, I’m left with simply a collection of videos and a name. Again, not that it’s not a beautifully presented collection of well-edited videos. Because I’m definitely impressed. I just wish he had made it easier to contact him or ask for references. Making it easier to learn more about (and contact) Nick would make this site a solid portfolio.