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(Solved) - Hate the new layout
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Hi Mrxindeed
I beg to differ, The Geek's design ethic is minimalist on par with my mother's so it's really not busy. :) The design is more ergonomic and efficient from a user perspective....form is following function which is consistent in my mind with the mindset of a proper geek like Lowell. The font-type of the nav bar is maybe a little too plain and too big for me but then again that assists the poorly-sighted of which there are a few on here I know of so really my taste is negated in favour of utility to the widest possible user base.
Tony
Every time we make the slightest change, we receive hate mail from people that are used to the old design. The funny thing is that quite often the people that are complaining, are the same ones that complained the last time we made a design change.
So I've learned that what really matters is what actually works, validated by user testing.
The new design is much faster, the ads load better, and pinning the top navigation bar accomplishes a number of goals: People can easily jump to the home page, the Search feature is very obvious (we used to get emails weekly because people couldn't find the search box), and the Subscribe feature is easily accessible.
Most importantly, the content is a lot higher on the page now when you visit an article - instead of the top ad being above the design (which I always hated), now it's integrated into the header. It makes the entire site load more smoothly, and more of the article is on the screen right away.
Many people have problems with "change", to any greater or lesser extent. The resistance to change seems to be an integral part of our basic human nature. We become comfortable with our routines, and develop a sense of security around certain elements of those routines - as they provide us with security in an-otherwise unsecure and unpredictable world around us.
Some people find certain types of changes more disturbing than others.
In my case, I am very "brand-loyal" regarding certain products I purchase on a regular basis, and have become accustomed to those products having always been available. So, for instance, when the company which manufactures my favorite cologne, or brand of toothpaste, or sneakers, suddenly discontinues that product, it upsets my "routine" and I probably become more affected by it than I should -- and it takes me a while to find a replacement.
All of us who have been regular members on various websites have witnessed significant changes like this at one time or another. And The Geek's point about the source of hate mail is very telling - because it comes from the same people every time - those who have trouble with this particular type of change.
Now, I may have missed it because I was very busy last week with work and not around all that much - but perhaps there could have been an announcement or some other type of notification advising everybody that the board is about to change and will have a new look - and describe those elements which will be different.
In any case - we really need to keep in mind the amount of time and effort The Geek and the Mods put in here to write all those helpful articles, answer our questions and offer assistance in times of need, and keep this site fresh and new on a daily basis.
We will all get used to the slight changes - until next time.
I do have one question though:
I noticed the HTG Favicon on my bookmarks menu in Firefox has changed from the smiling Geek, to a black box with the letters "HTG". I don't understand how or why this happened, and would be interested to learn the answer.
Lowell needs to sleep? I though all Geeks didn't need sleep!
Over all, I like the new look. The few bugs there were are being fixed as they are found (face it, bugs happen; it's a fact of life). I like that I don't have to scroll as far down the home page to see everything new and that I don't have to scroll back up to get into Discussion. The only criticism I have is that I personally feel that Discussion should have been left as Forums to make it easier for new people to the site to find them but it's not that big of a deal to me; the improvements outweigh that picky, little concern.
LOL, my first thought was hmmmm, I don't really like this. But then I realised that's what I thought the last time and I'll readily admit I'm not good at change.
I think changes are necessary, even if we don't always like it, because when you take a look at sites that were created years ago and haven't changed you'll definitely notice they look dated.
And I really like that images load a lot faster now - things are getting better and better 'under the hood' :)
(Though secretly I must admit I hope we don't go too much with the Windows 8 look - Win8 is ugly and if we talk about looking dated ...)
