Let's get critical: Nov 2013 Site Self-Evaluation

Question

We all love Graphic Design Stack Exchange, but there is a whole world of people out there who need answers to their questions and don't even know that this site exists. When they arrive from Google, what will their first impression be? Let's try to look at this site through the eyes of someone who's never seen it before, and see how we stack up against the rest of the 'Net.

The Site Self-Evaluation review queue is open and populated with 10 questions that were asked and answered in the last quarter. Run a few Google searches to see how easy they are to find and compare the answers we have with the information available on other sites.

Rating the questions is only a part of the puzzle, though. Do you see a pattern of questions that should have been closed but are not? Questions or answers that could use an edit? Anything that's going really well? Post an answer below to share your thoughts and discuss these questions and the site's health with your fellow users!

Answer 1

Here are the posts I marked as Needs Improvement:

Photoshop shows outline around mask when exported to PDF

The question would be improved if it had a screenshot displaying the problem. It doesn't help that the OP never responded to Dominic's questions.

The answer suffers from severe formatting issues. There are 6 solutions, but they are all mashed together. Steps should be formatted with ordered lists.

How do you choose the spacing between letters in a diagram?

This has the potential to be a decent question, but my biggest issue is with the lack of information: what is a diagram? That could be anything, and the answer certainly depends on what sort of diagram we're talking about here. On a large format poster? A small aside in a magazine? In a bar graph? Way too broad as it is worded.

Command line program for adding curves/levels to an image?

Not much room for improvement in the answer, but I still am not a huge fan of link-only answers. Quote the linked section if you have to, something is better than just a link.

How can I draw a water wave in Photoshop?

Another link-only answer, and what appears to be misuse of software-recommendations since Photoshop is specified in the title.

Answer 2

Final Results

• How do you manage samples of physical design projects?

  Net Score: 9 (Excellent: 10, Satisfactory: 1, Needs Improvement: 1)

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• InDesign CS6 - Same weight stroke on different placed images appear different size

  Net Score: 7 (Excellent: 8, Satisfactory: 5, Needs Improvement: 1)

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• How to calculate how much contrast you need in a header if the focus is on content?

  Net Score: 7 (Excellent: 8, Satisfactory: 4, Needs Improvement: 1)

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• What is your ideal workflow for web development?

  Net Score: 4 (Excellent: 6, Satisfactory: 5, Needs Improvement: 2)

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• Preparing a file to be printed

  Net Score: 2 (Excellent: 5, Satisfactory: 4, Needs Improvement: 3)

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• Photoshop shows outline around mask when exported to PDF

  Net Score: -1 (Excellent: 3, Satisfactory: 5, Needs Improvement: 4)

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• How do you choose the spacing between letters in a diagram?

  Net Score: -3 (Excellent: 2, Satisfactory: 6, Needs Improvement: 5)

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• Searching for a font that's similar to Lato

  Net Score: -7 (Excellent: 1, Satisfactory: 4, Needs Improvement: 8)

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• Command line program for adding curves/levels to an image?

  Net Score: -8 (Excellent: 1, Satisfactory: 4, Needs Improvement: 9)

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• How can I draw a water wave in Photoshop?

  Net Score: -8 (Excellent: 1, Satisfactory: 2, Needs Improvement: 9)

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