Re: is there a rule ...

On Jun 20, 10:04 am, bar <barbari...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jun 20, 12:17 pm, "GoneBeforeMyTime" <F...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:



"Tom Kunich" <cyclintom@yahoo. com> wrote in messagenews:s6-dnVPTqKMiZKHXnZ2dnUVZ_hmdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"bar" <barbari...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:0730c2f3-9c55-48ec-83b5-d44ff7257574@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
... that says all cycling news web sites have to suck?  cyclingnews,
velonews, pez, eurosport ... all just absolute nightmare websites, un-
navigable, and clearly designed by crackhead monkeys.

Cyclingnews was the exception until a couple of days ago. Imagine paying
some hacks to design a website that EVERYONE hates.

This is a big deal, worth everyone having a say, more importantly post
comments then pre request ideas submitted by users. The CN gang said they
had listened to the comments of their readers, and designed something based
on those comments, at least they stated something to that effect. This
doesn't seem to be the case at all, but if they were listening to readers,
they would listen now and seriously considering scrapping it in favor of a
total reboot. To start with, cloning bike radar is a bad idea cause that
isn't what readers want for CN. How many people even like Bike Radar
compared to CN? This seems to be  a business call based on marketing and not
on what readers want.

 Good for them I suppose, cause two sites that look and work the same can
save editing time, but if the readers hate it, then its a non-starter. My
first impression of the purple beast was Bike Radar for sure, but when I
started to click around it didn't take only a minute to figure out its way
too busy and convoluted for readers. Consider too, the whole gamut of
readers from teens to tons of older people who wear glasses already struggle
with reading convoluted sites, and easy on the eyes and easy simple
straightforward navigation is key.

There are just too many extra clicks and there is just too much on any one
page. Results are spaced out in those gray-tabled rows, and they wrap
sometimes weird, all spaced out weird, as before the results were just
neatly in line. Dynamic core link menu overlaps sometimes, and the spoilers,
ugh. There is a script to remove that in Firefox if you need it.  I never
did like black text on solid white background as that isn't the best for the
eyes, but at least they might of taken a cue from the default background
shades of html for reading. Not the prettiest but better for the eyes then
white.

Also the columns don't wrap like they should, you got a very narrow section
of long text to scroll with lots of wasted space on the side sometimes. For
photos you got to go find them, as where before you photos links were right
there with the article and results. Separating everything is not better like
putting all the cookies in many separate jars. It just drives you crazy, and
I wonder how many people will stop sending their photos to CN now.

However, CN deserves a fresh original approach instead of copying bike
radar. I like the appeal of the theater like graphic approach of the
U-Sports site, which IMO, the CN face lift sucks bad compared to that. I
would have preferred more flair on the home page, but with not the overkill
of bells and whistles and trying to squeeze everything into one page. Every
page shouldn't be all things to everywhere. Too much navigation can be a bad
thing, adding clutter and extra fancy clicks.

The old down and dirty design will always be my favorite, and while links
were sometimes missing or dead, misdirected, the navigation worked
reasonable well without too many extra clicks. The search engine left must
to be desired, and the photos should of been large thumbnails with alive
links to larger ones. However, the way it is, a real mess, I hate it. Its
rather obvious to me that it's cloned from bike radar and they didn't
research some of the award winning designs out there. However, they might
want listen to their users now,  and Toppermost made a good point.

"I have yet to see anyone address the very simple, yet profound question of
the day: It does not matter how many neat little bells and whistles you put
onto the new format. Its the (entire format itself) that people don't like.
"

IMO-

GBMT

dumbass(es),

bottom line is they screwed up one of the best cycling related news
sites around.  it's probably where we all were going on a daily basis
to stay posted on things. now the site is just a hideous, tangled
mess ... with flashy nonsense going on, some lame sunflower
background, and a "forum" right out of 1998

and they did all this seemingly without warning or without consulting
regular users.  that's fine -- it's their site, their decision -- but
they've lost users.

If they leave it as is for now, and then redesign it
in a year, no matter whether the redesign is simpler
or more complicated, the users will scream bloody
murder over the redesign, because they've gotten used
to the site. This will happen even if the site as it is
now is objectively worse, and the redesign improves it.

Periodic redesign of websites is like the way that
Microsoft (or any computer company, really, but
especially Microsoft) periodically releases new software
or hardware that completely breaks compatibility with
your normal workflow, other software you use, and
hardware/peripherals. Usually, the redesign is not just
to extract money from your pocket, but because the
internals of the old software or website had become so
buggy, outdated, and hard to maintain that they had to
redo it to keep the entire thing from collapsing.

Why do they break the user interface catastrophically in the
process? Both because they get caught up in the
exciting features of what the new technology allows, without
considering whether the features help the users, and
because most IT designers place human interface design
last rather than first.

This is just life in the Information Age. Get used to it.
The flexibility of dealing with digital information rather
than physical objects enables all sorts of wonderful
things, but it also means that the information gets
modified all the time just because it is cheap to do so.
If you have to cut metal, you don't make nearly as
many changes. 20 years from now, cycling websites
will have undergone a lot more changes, if they still
exist, but most pedals will still use the same old thread
to attach to cranks.

i think cyclingnews just pulled a "Tropicana" on us --
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/business/media/23adcol.html

I really have to wonder about people who freak out
and complain bitterly because Tropicana changed
the _packaging_ of their juice (the juice didn't change).
Who has time and emotional energy to spend on
worrying about some giant corporation's brand identity?

Ben
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: is there a rule ...
    ... had listened to the comments of their readers, ... How many people even like Bike Radar ... straightforward navigation is key. ... The old down and dirty design will always be my favorite, ...
    (rec.bicycles.racing)
  • Re: is there a rule ...
    ... some hacks to design a website that EVERYONE hates. ... had listened to the comments of their readers, ... How many people even like Bike Radar ... straightforward navigation is key. ...
    (rec.bicycles.racing)
  • Re: is there a rule ...
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