Poll : What do you think of the NEW LOOK MSE

BlueBella

My avatar isn't showing on the new version - I can see it at the top left hand side but it doesn't show when I post? Anyone know how to make it appear?

redux

I feel like I want to thank fermi's and espresso's posts more than once, but much more important is I wish that if the year of trials has involved feedback that has frustrated participants by being been ignored, someone with executive power in the process should read this.

fermi wrote: »

Has been quite a bit of testing with a set of regular users and BGs, but a lot of the big usability issues highlighted on previous tests have not been sorted or addressed it seemed.

espresso wrote: »

As already pointed out, your team have totally ignored the comments that
were raised when this beta version was trialed a year ago.

For example, I am getting 4 different display variants by using the same browser on two Android devices, held upright and in landscape.

The phone display size is 800 x 480 pixels, so please don't make a trite excuse that if it's possible to have no actual text showing in a post body then it must be too small. Even an old 200 x 320 is fine with the old version.

quidsy

Current poll results are;

403 hate it = 95.27%
11 Don't care either way = 2.61%
9 Love it = 2.12%

Says it all really!

Painkiller

MSE_Martin wrote: »

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

The new design is worse for browsing (fewer threads viewable on page and no distinction between threads you've viewed and new threads/threads with new comments)

It's worse for submitting (the title field & message field are far too small for creating detailed posts and the 'preview' feature doesn't show formatting).

It's worse for finding the correct forum (links to the sub-boards were removed and put in a drop-down list that was only viewable on certain pages. I found myself having to go back to the main forum page to get where I needed to go.

It's worse for viewing on a desktop/laptop (There is too much white space, as if the site has been designed for using on a tablet in portrait).

My avatar was not in it's circle (bad design choice as a circle will cut off parts of the avatar and it's not easy to create circular pictures to use as avatars).

There was no visible link to my user control panel.

What are the people who are testing the new style doing? Are they being given incentives to provide feedback and are those incentives clouding their judgement with regards to functionality?

Moving the spam button away from the Thanks button was the only positive I experienced during the time the new style was 'operational'.

P.S. Next time you're talking with the ITV bigwigs, can you give them a verbal thrashing about replacing their free online entry routes with postal entry routes for their competitions, forcing every individual postal entry to have a stamp rather than letting entrants send all entries in one envelope and having the nerve to state "ITV is constantly looking for ways to keep its competition services engaging to a wide range of viewers"?

MSE_Martin wrote:

"Spending money to win competitions is NOT MoneySaving and not something we encourage."

Yolina

fermi wrote: »

I find it uncomfortable to look at for any period of time that you might expect even a new or regular user to spend here, and I have no sight problems or sensitivities at all.

I work with images, my monitors are calibrated and set up correctly, and I found the new version terribly harsh on the eyes too. That plus the inane amount of scrolling required makes it something I will not use.

Totality

MSE_Martin wrote: »

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

A possible risk which doesn't require a complete overhaul.

Ask Microsoft how things worked out when they launched Windows 8 and were met with backlash over the removal of long-term, popular features...

philatio

Anyone with an inclin (don't know how that should be spelt and neither does Firefox) of web design knowledge knows damn well that with a bit of time and effort you can make any forum software LOOK how you want it to look. It's called skinning.
You can have a new version of forum software, that works OK on mobiles and tablets.. and then with a bit of effort you can 'skin' it so that it looks like the old version.

There's no excuse for the abomination that we suffered yesterday.

Kimberley

For goodness sake give Martin and the team a break. No one likes change but it's happening and like Martin said you can still use the current site for as long as you want so what is your problem?

Stay on the current site that you like for as long as you like

Or

Go to the new site

It is your choice so stop having a go at those who need to improve it.

Those 400+ who hate it can stay on the old site can't they :doh:

Mandelbrot

redux wrote: »

I feel like I want to thank fermi's and espresso's posts more than once, but much more important is I wish that if the year of trials has involved feedback that has frustrated participants by being been ignored, someone with executive power in the process should read this.

I nominated espresso's post for 'post of the month' for March.
(Sorry fermi, but I think I'm only allowed to nominate one. )

That seemed one way to ensure that the post was read by those 'with power' ...

How will we pick the winner?

At the end of the month the MSE Team will shortlist the 10 posts we like the best (if there are that many!) and put them in a poll for you to vote on

The idea of voting for a 'post of the month' seems a fine one.
Hopefully, many others will take the opportunity to nominate a post.

redux

Painkiller wrote: »

Moving the spam button away from the Thanks button was the only positive I experienced during the time the new style was 'operational'.

What spam button?

I hadn't thought about this, but I see a button with a no entry sign icon

I tried pressing it, and it opened a page to send a PM.

So I tried pressing the envelope icon, and according to the URL I was reporting the post as spam.

The only other part indication was that button was now coloured in. It took 3 attempts to undo this, and I was then taken to a page which says you have not reported this as spam.

Intuitively the no entry sign might be intended as the report button, I don't know.

There is a way for me to avoid this confusion: turn the tablet upright, then these buttons are not shown, instead just a plus sign that presumably opens a drop down menu of the other buttons. But that's a guess as it doesn't work

So another glitch I just discovered ...

p.s. on the tablet upright, quick reply, thanks and + buttons are shown. Just tried on the mobile, both upright and landscape, which in both modes has only quick reply and +, and the + still doesn't work, which also means impossible to quote posts without laboriously copying and pasting then typing [quote etc manually.

Surely these things could be discovered and looked at in a week, rather than a year?