Critique My Network - POZIAM

[Robert]

I launched POZIAM - a social network for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS 2 years ago and it has always been a work in progress. I just recently made some drastic changes and wanted to get some feedback from other like minded, creative , Network creators. POZIAM and I was just recently featured on Logo.

Our goal is to bring people infected or affected by HIV/AIDS to a safe place to ask questions, share experiences and discover similarities.

Don't forget World AIDS day is December 1st ...

Thank you in advance
Robert
www.community.poziam.com
www.poziam.com

[Robert]

any feedback good or bad is welcomed :)

[Linda]

Love the message and the purpose of your site Robert, and the fact that it's presented in a friendly welcoming way rather than clinical facts and figures.

I prefer the black background as it's a nice contrast to the red, and your choice of a casual hand written style font really helps to reinforce your non-clinical, "human" approach to the topic. The layout is great, all the pertinent information and features are front and centre (ie. easy to find), and I love that you give this often stigmatized disease a real face, by feature your members on the main page.

I have a few suggestions...

- The "Join Us" text in the page peel is difficult to read. I think it would work better if the graphic background was black and you used a white keyline around each red letter individually.

- Maybe add the words "World Aids Day" under or along side the stamp in the header to help people understand the reference.

- There are some typos in the blurb on the poziam.com page.

Congratulations on being featured on Logo, that's amazing! Obviously a true testament that your hard work and dedication are paying off. In my opinion, every physician should prescribe Poziam.com to their patients with HIV/AIDS!

Keep up the great work!
Linda

[Robert]

what page has typos... oh no.. I hate typos...

[Linda]

The blurb on the www.poziam.com page. Third paragraph, the word "then" should be "than their doctors". In the fifth paragraph it reads, " is to show the word that spreading the word and not the disease". This should probably read, "show the world..." ??? Also, there's a couple of places where there's no space between commas and words. For example, "spreading the word,not the disease."

Hope that helps!
Linda

[Jen]

Good catches.
;-)

[Linda]

Thanks Jen...I'd like to think my third grade English teacher would be proud, but her reaction would more likely be amazement. :0)

[Jen]

I'm sure Robert will appreciate the catches.
:-)

[Kate Lennon]

Nice site. I like that group chat schedule thingy.

[Robert]

Thank you Kate .... :)

[Kate Lennon]

Okay, "nice site" isn't exactly constructive criticism, is it? I had another look around. There are some clever little features (the scheduled chat is a great idea because it condenses your potential chat population to a particular time slot and gives them something to look forward to; I also like your "My Name Is..." image, linked to your signup page). Newsletter... yep. Overall very nice and straightforward, and not overcrowded (too many Ning sites have too much happening on the same page, I think; they end up looking like car boot sales). The only niggle I would have is with your choice of alarming red for what is supposed to be a "comfort zone". It's a bit overwhelming. I realise that your ribbon motif is red, and that the subject matter has to do with blood (and, I guess, with activism; though usually with extreme political views), but surely its precisely that medical aspect people want to get away from in a comfort zone? I would have gone with a more tranquil colour scheme, in the light green or light blue neighborhood, or possibly light amber/gold tones. At the very least I would suggest a less strident shade of red (either lightened up towards pink, or darkened to a rich vurgandy/red-brown tone).

[Robert]

Thank you for your comment Kate.,.. I will really consider changing some of the red to a more relaxing color... thank you

[DShan]

I was going to suggest this. The 'ambiance' of the site doesn't seem right...the red's a bit harsh. :)

Nice features though...I'm a fan of the scheduled chat too. We're trying to get this done via twitter.