Early in its planning, the College Bowls calendar looked like any other calendar: A Flash-based interface with bulleted lists of bowl games. Clicking on any item in the list would reveal a logo, game information, analysis, and a poll. The developer assigned to the project, Kristen Novak, picked up on the visual disconnect between the routine calendar interface and all the bowl logos and other information hidden behind it.

What Kristen sensed is a recurring theme. I have often found it a challenge to find a balance between using a recognizable interface to navigate content and establishing a visual cue that informs the user as to what he or she can expect as they interact with interface to revel layers of content.

In this case, we brainstormed and decided to replace the bullet lists on the calendar with miniature bowl logos. The logos establish the visual cue, serving as links to the content. Displayed here is one transition, which illustrates a visual continuity from start to finish. Each frame shows one step in the larger transition. Once the page is loaded, the user immediately is confronted with visual content by way of the bowl logos and two clicks away from text and interactive content.

The five frames here account for the initial load, the first mouseover and click on a day, and the second mouseover and click on a logo.