Poll : What do you think of the NEW LOOK MSE

lovinituk

jackieb wrote: »

You're a proper charmer.

Haha, I'm certainly not trying to make any friends - I'm far too mean and nasty for most here The truth hurts for some people though unfortunately.

lovinituk

Yolina wrote: »

Ooooh I'm a potential victim I will need one of those no win no fee companies, I can smell compo :rotfl:

LOL, I nearly joked about that earlier. I wouldn't be surprised if at least one person petitions their MP to 'get MSE changed back!!'

centsible

MSE_Martin wrote: »

Hi folks,

Yet we have to continue to improve the forum and we believe this is better.
3. The forum is broke. We need to make it better for mobile devices or we risk the fact google will no longer list it on mobile and we want people to have access to it whatever the medium

Martin

Hi Martin

Could you perhaps elaborate on these points please? How is the forum broke and what is it about the redesign that is better please? Just curious, so I know what you are aiming for.

I know the search function is iffy but the rest of the forum seems to work perfectly for me, on desktop. No use at all on a small screen touch driven device of course .

Basically though, are you aiming for a 'one size fits all' UI or are you aiming, as Microsoft is after their Win 8 bad experience, for a universal behind the scenes gubbins with UIs tailored to the specific device types?

Thanks.

MSE_Martin

Blulu wrote: »

1) It would be nice to have a little warning next time. Unless you did, but I missed it - which is quite possible.

we would never do it without warning. What happened today was a !!!! up. Someone was meant to add a few tweaks to the existing trial users accounts. Yet they switchedit on for all.

I was working on the weekly email the time. And when I heard I went ballistic . And asked immediately for it to be rolled back which is what happened.

in some ways this is why one of the reasons why I am sanguine about some of the comments above. We would never have done it this way. Never have communicated it this way. I'm not doinge it without giving people a clear explanation of what our plans are and how it all fits together

This angst could have and should have been avoided. And I apologise to anyone whoe was disturbed by it However we still do plan to roll out the changes at some point soon though we are of course listening to the feedback

PS I am speech dictating this at speed while still heavily working on the weekly email as my RSI is back so apologies for anything that doesn't make sense

smulx

I don't mind change, the style was just difficult to read. It strained my eyes to read the posts.

cbrown372

Your website Martin, your forums, if it improves my access to both via a mobile or tablet then its fine by me. Another website I use just updated their format and after the initial bedding in its working just fine and it lots of ways a whole lot better.:money:

[Deleted User]

Today was not a planned happening, a mistake was made and things went pear shaped, that I do understand it happens in all areas of life. What I don't understand is why it is going to be rolled out anyway if you ARE going to listen to the feedback. If we are worth listening to and the reasons put forward are convincing enough to make you listen why do I get the feeling that this change is already too far on for it to be stopped? We are only the little people who happen to use part of the big MSE machine but for many of our number who are regular participants todays format was actually painful and caused them actual physical symptoms I think that if the format we currently have had for a while IS ever turned off many people will NOT BE ABLE to use MSE any longer and if your revenue is partly from advertising you might lose quite a number of people and have a smaller number of members which might affect advertising revenues? I don't object to change for the sake of being difficult but if it has adverse effects is it really necessary?

rainbowfairydust

Martin

Thank you for clarifying the reason for the change. I am not adverse to a new interface but the one that was presented today was harsh to look at. I imagine you were wanting a "clean" feel to the forum but for me - its too much white. It made the site feel cold and unwelcoming. please don't under estimate the power of using a colour - I find the current colours calming to look at and it gives the screen some contrast.

I work in the software dev industry , and think i am tech savvy but the interface you presented wasnt that user friendly - even to me who could probably eventually work it out. I would assume that a good percentage of people who access this forum are not likely to be as confident a user as i am. I also fully appreciate the difficulty in finding a design that fits the criteria - ie in design aspect and being user friendly. Its a tough balance to find.

Please also keep in mind that this forum is a lifeline for some members. It would be a shame if they lost that "outlet" . I do hope that you are true to your word and allow users to keep the older interface if they wish.

ETA - Also i know this has been mentioned a zillion times but is there a reason that tapatalk cant be used?

lovinituk

smulx wrote: »

I don't mind change, the style was just difficult to read. It strained my eyes to read the posts.

As pointed out by someone earlier, the actual posts were black text on a white background just like it is now on the old template.

MSE_Martin

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Today was not a planned happening, a mistake was made and things went pear shaped, that I do understand it happens in all areas of life. What I don't understand is why it is going to be rolled out anyway if you ARE going to listen to the feedback. If we are worth listening to and the reasons put forward are convincing enough to make you listen why do I get the feeling that this change is already too far on for it to be stopped? We are only the little people who happen to use part of the big MSE machine but for many of our number who are regular participants todays format was actually painful and caused them actual physical symptoms I think that if the format we currently have had for a while IS ever turned off many people will NOT BE ABLE to use MSE any longer and if your revenue is partly from advertising you might lose quite a number of people and have a smaller number of members which might affect advertising revenues? I don't object to change for the sake of being difficult but if it has adverse effects is it really necessary?

I think the important thing to understand is that this feedback is a tiny part of the data we are gathering on the forum. We've done prior testing and seen that first timers use the site more, stay longer and find navigation easier on the new format.

The registered users in the feedback group are mostly staying with the new one.

We always knew long term users wouldn't like it, as in the 13 years I've had the forum, we've never once done a design change that has an instantly positively received by regulars - nor do others who run forums who I've discussed it with (1)). That's why we keep the rollback option - as if you want to use it a different way you can.

This redesign isn't perfect. I know that, but it is better than what we have now and I want to continue to improve it.

Anyway I'm off to carry on with the weekly email now. We'll let you know the progress on this in due time

(1) I am sure someone who runs a forum somewhere has managed it, so of course this is a generalisation, but generally a valid one