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Netscape Communications
Company timeline
The Job
In 1997, Netscape’s latest shot in the browser wars was the “layers” capability (later called Dynamic HTML) of Navigator version 4.0. Netscape Creative Director Hugh Dubberly wanted to use a redesigned Company section on Netscape.com to showcase the new feature, using a company timeline that showed the capabilities of the new technology.
The Solution
Working from Hugh’s idea, I sketched out a plan for three layers, each holding a graph that showed a key measure of Netscape’s success: Its quarterly financial reports, the number of hits on its Web site, and the number of downloads of its key software, Netscape Navigator. The bottom half of the screen showed events (taken from company press releases) that occurred in the same timeframe, and to some extent, explained the growth shown by the graph. Controls on the screen would allow users to bring a particular layer to the front, focus on a particular month or year, and call up individual press releases.
ReVerb, in Los Angeles, provided graphic design. Spotted Antelope coded the dynamic HTML, including the “stalker”—a control palette that followed the scrolling page to the left or right, skidding to a stop with delightfully human-like behavior.
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