[Request-for-comment] Redesign dart.dev landing page?

[ericwindmill]

The recent updates the homepage (#6891) opened up siloed conversations about an overhaul of landing page. Let's un-silo those conversations.

I present a straw man doc:

What are our goals with the landing page?

P0

• Tell people what Dart is in 5 seconds.
• Convince them Dart is worth trying in 5 more seconds.
• Tell them how to do that.

P1

• Show existing, convinced users where to find the reference documentation.
• Delight people, prove we make high quality stuff, etc. (aka have good design)

What are the potential issues with the landing page?

The most important information is buried in marketing. (We flipped the above P0s with a P1.)

As a comparison, look at go.dev:

• The most important information is captured within a few bullet points and buttons in the first section of the page.
• The next most important information, evidence of quality, is a massive list of "social proof".

I think python and node are effective in similar ways.

To be fair, the "look and feel" of Dart's landing page is standard across popular programming language sites, and especially ones that are trying to appeal to the same people Dart is. (see: swift, kotlin, c-sharp)

The internet is moving away from "sales page as a landing page".

I'm paraphrasing here, but: The proliferation of online ads and online engagement over the last decade means that people are being sold elsewhere (i.e. forums, social media, YouTube). The fact that they're on dart.dev in the first place means they're already "sold" and want the information they need to try it as quickly as possible.

(This isn't my big brained theory, unfortunately, but I buy it. There is real research, and I'm trying to find it to link.)

The latest changes left a bit of a hole.

Assuming that the current vibe is what we want, we should get a new header image to replace what we removed. We're in a weird middle zone now where we're not all in on flashy design or "brass tacks" design.

A lot of the language feels like it makes sense to us, but maybe isn't so clear to folks outside the Dart-o-sphere.

For example: "An approachable, portable, and productive language for high-quality apps on any platform." This says a lot to me, who has a lot of context. But I wonder if words like "approachable, portable and productive" could be clearer?

What should we do about it?

Simplify the current page to look closer to a page like go.dev while keeping some of the pleasant design we currently have.

Specifically, in order from top to bottom, the page could contain:

• A more straight forward header section (A title that is extremely clear and to the point, like "Build apps that run everywhere" followed by a bulleted list of the top three reasons what makes Dart great, followed by a big ol button that says "Get Started".)
• A "Who uses Dart" section.
• Move the DartPad section up.
• Whichever parts of what currently exists that we're attached to.
• Another big ol get started button.

Also

This is 100% personal preference. Why's is have to be so dark?