The old layout was easy to read, scan, and comprehend. The new layout suffers from Outlook 365’itis (our University just adopted it 8 months ago): not enough division, too much that smears in to something else, and made by someone who hates people with eyes.
I don’t want to have to think when I come to scan for things to read. I know that sounds shallow, but the old design allowed me to just scroll and scan. This design is scroll, jump horizontally, try to decide what is new and not, jump horizontally, scroll, maybe pause, get frustrated, leave to search for news about this new design, end up in the forums, and decide to post sad, ranting note about how much I hate it.
And yes, some of the errors the past year (maybe less), are what make it hard for me to defend blogging as real news and/or true journalism. I offered services as an editor once- no reply =(
I hate the new jumbled layout. I’m pleased to learn that there is a way to see the posts sequentially, but the “we like it, so too bad everyone else doesn’t” attitude is really disappointing. What I appreciated about Boingboing was a sense of community–I mean, isn’t that the point? “We think this is so interesting that we wanted to share it with you.” Not, “We’re so much cooler than you and what we like is best because we like it, so too bad for you.” It’s really clear that you don’t care whether I look or don’t, and I’m feeling a little ridiculous because it makes me feel a little sad.
I am confused by the new layout. IThis used to be the site I went to multiple times a day and now I rarely look. It is your site, so do what you want, but I am betting you are getting quite a bit less traffic (?)
o There’s no time-stamp on the items in either column - among other things, I use the time-stamp on Cory’s posts to figure out when I’ve seen the probable last BB post of the day, and can close my browser’s BB tab and stop checking for new posts for the rest of the evening;
o I can’t copy the text of an item title/headline so I can email the title and a link to someone else - I have to open the whole article in another tab just to click-drag & copy the title, or manually re-type the whole thing;
o The new items in the left column are too small;
o All the old items I’ve already seen and no longer care about in the right column are nice and big and easy to read (hint: Swap the styles of the left and right columns!).
I only read replies from people who include at least 6 points… and paragraphs.
definitely irritating
I have absolutely no track record for being irritating. There’s no possible way I did it deliberately.
PS: Your analogy sucks. Here’s a better one: Someone orders a supreme pizza which includes anchovies and parmesan, gets the pizza and says “This thing smells like vomit and off fish - I’m never eating here again”. Meanwhile everyone else knows you can get the classic supreme that doesn’t have anchovies or parmesan and the chef out the back and all his chef mates have a good laugh about what an ignoramus they just had in the store. Who are you in this analogy?
I too am having a hard time with the design. I have read BoingBoing daily for probably a decade now. For the past few days I’ve been encouraging myself to “Just get over” the new design. However I really am having trouble scanning through the posts looking for something I’d like to explore more deeply as I often do.
I read Slashdot daily also, and was laughing at the backlash over their recent design changes. I was one of very few who was at least unbothered by them. Those changes were minimal by comparison.
The new BoingBoing design seems to be taking it’s cue from Print Media, shoving article teasers into tiny boxes like they were on the cover of a physical magazine. Magazines are constrained by the physical paper they’re printed on.
In the digital world we don’t have the problem of physical constraint and therefore should be putting usability and user experience above all else. I don’t feel this new design is doing this, and I’m having a hard time understanding it.
Because I still quite enjoy the content of BoingBoing I think I’ll have to use Flipboard for my iPad to read the blog or some other rss reader.
The old linear view gave me the following advantages over the new…
I could better see pictures
I could understand which articles were posted in which order
I wouldn’t feel discomfort scanning the page
I could scan back until I’d reached a point where I’d been reading last
I wasn’t being told that certain articles were more important than others by their size and placement on the page.
I’d love a guide to help me understand the design decisions, perhaps if I could understand them I’d be able to learn to live with them. Are there advantages I’m not understanding? Am I just and old guy who “Wants his internets the way they were back in the good old day?”
Screen size isn’t a physical constraint? How does a designer then manage the idea of one format for all those screen sizes and ratios? Therein lies the challenge my friend.
You’ll be pleased to know that you can still access the classic view at:
You’ll be disappointed to know that some of us are still sufficiently miffed by the change that we haven’t been back to BoingBoing since. I’m dropping in on this thread occasionally out of morbid curiosity, but as far as I’m concerned BB’s decided I’m not its target audience and I’ve decided I agree.
Seems petty to rob yourself of something you enjoy as a statement of disapproval that will, in the scope of BB’s overall daily hits, be a drop in the bucket - especially considering there’s an option to view it like you used to (sans infinite scroll).
One man’s vote doesn’t matter much, agreed… except as it contributes to the total.
The workaround is noted. But the statement of direction expressed by the redesign, combined with other recent changes in direction, make BB’s value to me very questionable. As I say, whoever their target audience is now, I’m not it.
BB was already changing in ways I didn’t like. This was the one which made me stop waiting for it to change.
Whether that bothers you, pleases you, or is a matter of indifference to you doesn’t signify. But Cory & Co. deserve an explanation of why I’m quitting.
I’ve let it stew for awhile since I didn’t want to make a knee-jerk reaction. Overall I think the new design is good, but I think the big problem I have is that the columns should be reversed - the “main” column is pretty static, I guess reflecting “top stories” while the left column is the newer articles. As someone who visits NB multiple times a day, I feel the main column looks too static, and the new stories are harder to follow. I actually find it easier to use the bbs to find new articles, rather than the front page. That suggests a big design flaw. Swap the columns, have top stories be the smaller column and make the main column more dynamic, and I think that solves my only problem with the new layout.
I get a notification anytime someone posts in here… the irony being that I started this thread to make fun of the site’s appearance when it was missing its stylesheets and not as a commentary on the new design at all.
