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Year in Photos 2010

The Project

Every year Army.mil features the best Army photos on a new Year in Photos microsite. I updated the site for 2010, significantly breaking from previous styles.

What I Did

Previous Year in Photos sites presented the photos in a small Flash slideshow. This was not a technique I wanted to repeat when I started work on this project. I designed and built the site using a fresh approach, which instead involves a long vertical scroll with large photos. This method is both more accessible and more user-friendly.

What I Learned

While it's often easier to repeat past methods, sometimes innovation is required. Year in Photos became much more modern and this interaction model will likely last for years to come, as the basic template has already been successfully repeated.

Year in Photos 2010 index screenshot

Home page for Army.mil's 2010 Year in Photos, featuring month selection and links to the previous years' sites, which still carry great content.

Year in Photos October 2010 screenshot

The upper portion of a sample month in the Year in Photos. The menu on the left follows the browser window. A lightbox slideshow is still available at the top of the page for those who prefer the old style. The Army's Facebook fans were asked to "Like" their favorite photo.