escapist redesign
- Thread starter Generalissimo
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I think it's alright overall (I'm not the type to hate changes) but they should consider this-
The header (the top part of the page) is abit big but this is more of an nitpick.
They need to highlight the Forum button more or make it more noticeable. Why not have it next to the other subheading titles (the Latest, Feature etc)? Alternative would be an forum type of box on the main page like they did with the article and news etc.
Your Groups icon no longer appear next or near to your avatar on the main page so it's impossible to see which groups had been updated or not (since the newest comments are on the right hand side).
The header (the top part of the page) is abit big but this is more of an nitpick.
They need to highlight the Forum button more or make it more noticeable. Why not have it next to the other subheading titles (the Latest, Feature etc)? Alternative would be an forum type of box on the main page like they did with the article and news etc.
Your Groups icon no longer appear next or near to your avatar on the main page so it's impossible to see which groups had been updated or not (since the newest comments are on the right hand side).
Why are all my favorite websites changing? Oh well. *shrugs*
I miss the design before last. Just because it was easier to use with my phone. I had to log out earlier and boy it's pretty damn hard on a touch screen.
I miss the design before last. Just because it was easier to use with my phone. I had to log out earlier and boy it's pretty damn hard on a touch screen.
The cycle of every website changes.
The site changes, everyone's not happy for a while, a few weeks later some people are not happy and then we get used too it...just right before it changes again.
The site changes, everyone's not happy for a while, a few weeks later some people are not happy and then we get used too it...just right before it changes again.
I am not a fan. I don't know what resolution everyone else runs on, but for me the auto scrolling window at the top (which I find to be extremely lazy and pointless anyway) takes up pretty much my entire screen. Unless I'm going to the forums, which are hard to find given the illogical button placement, I have to scroll down. Yeah, your convenience feature that's meant to highlight new and cool stuff makes me actually go somewhere else to find even basic site featires like recent news stories. It's terrible design.
Other than that, I don't find the redesign to be bad at all. It looks like a bit of a mess but it's not too hard to find things.. once you've scrolled beyond the obnoxious top of the page.
Other than that, I don't find the redesign to be bad at all. It looks like a bit of a mess but it's not too hard to find things.. once you've scrolled beyond the obnoxious top of the page.
The last time we changed the site we did it abruptly and made folks unhappy. I hope that will be less the case now, as we did take steps to minimize the "shock and awwwww".Quaxar said:
1. We gave Publisher's Club advance notice of the new site design and got their initial set of comments. We then updated the site design and showed it to them again. This was very helpful. (And hopefully/presumably at least some of them told their friends it was coming...?)
2. We actually made a video showing the new design to give everyone advance notice of what was coming. This was posted last week and got a lot of video streams. Some folks still missed it, but we couldn't push it more than we did without being really irritating.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-escapist-presents/5942-New-Site-Layout-Overview
Anyway, I'm sorry some of you were still caught off guard, but we did have a process this time around to avoid "change shock"!
The forums icon doesn't work too good, i.e. at all. I hope you guys fix that.
And I kinda liked that little space that showed you the last two threads you commented on. Why'd you have to get rid of it?
And I kinda liked that little space that showed you the last two threads you commented on. Why'd you have to get rid of it?
Also, two other points:
1) With regard to the utility of the design, one of the things we do is "heatmap" how our community uses the website. (For those of you who don't know what that means, a heatmap is a color-coded map of what portions of a website get clicked on the most). With our last design, the heatmap told us the site was performing badly. For instance, there was "hot" activity at the very top, for forums, and there was "hot" activity at the very bottom, where the "read more" buttons were located. In between was a sea of cool grey where users never clicked. That means that the big boxes, big headlines, etc., were all providing no value - you guys weren't clicking on them.
With the new design, a week of testing on Publisher's Club has showed that the areas that should be hot (e.g. useful) *are* hot - the test audience has been finding and clicking on the content in very functional ways.
So, while tastes may vary widely as to what constitutes good design, we know that this is so far more successful as a functional design. We will, of course, continue to monitor the site and update it as we see how it gets used "in the real world". Comments that let us know "this was a valuable feature from a previous design" are quite helpful. The Pub Club can attest that we radically repositioned the Popular Forums box on the basis of their feedback.
2) If you are seeing large areas of white space on the website, it means one of two things. Either you have an ad blocker installed, or there's a bug in our design as it relates to your particular platform and browser. If it's the latter, please let us know (and tell us your platform and browser). Thanks!
1) With regard to the utility of the design, one of the things we do is "heatmap" how our community uses the website. (For those of you who don't know what that means, a heatmap is a color-coded map of what portions of a website get clicked on the most). With our last design, the heatmap told us the site was performing badly. For instance, there was "hot" activity at the very top, for forums, and there was "hot" activity at the very bottom, where the "read more" buttons were located. In between was a sea of cool grey where users never clicked. That means that the big boxes, big headlines, etc., were all providing no value - you guys weren't clicking on them.
With the new design, a week of testing on Publisher's Club has showed that the areas that should be hot (e.g. useful) *are* hot - the test audience has been finding and clicking on the content in very functional ways.
So, while tastes may vary widely as to what constitutes good design, we know that this is so far more successful as a functional design. We will, of course, continue to monitor the site and update it as we see how it gets used "in the real world". Comments that let us know "this was a valuable feature from a previous design" are quite helpful. The Pub Club can attest that we radically repositioned the Popular Forums box on the basis of their feedback.
2) If you are seeing large areas of white space on the website, it means one of two things. Either you have an ad blocker installed, or there's a bug in our design as it relates to your particular platform and browser. If it's the latter, please let us know (and tell us your platform and browser). Thanks!
I was talking about this a second ago with another Escapist. Only copy-pasting it because I like what I wrote
"I hate that almost everything is grayscale with occasional ejaculants of color."
"I hate that almost everything is grayscale with occasional ejaculants of color."
It loads super fast now on my phone and iPad! Also it looks purdy 
I don't really understand the complaint about the forums button. I found it fine and it's not tucked away in a corner (well it is in a corner but it's not hidden) or anything.
The only thing I miss is the last posts section of the user box thing you had with the last design. The bit where it had links to your last two forum posts.
I miss that
But apart from that I like it a lot!
I don't really understand the complaint about the forums button. I found it fine and it's not tucked away in a corner (well it is in a corner but it's not hidden) or anything.
The only thing I miss is the last posts section of the user box thing you had with the last design. The bit where it had links to your last two forum posts.
I miss that
But apart from that I like it a lot!