New desktop - too much white space

[Reardy Mister]

No doubt there is a thread for this somewhere but I don't see it.

Its quite hard to view chaps. Its just a bit of a washout. The stories are not clearly delineated enough, they're harder to view in a mindless list reminiscent of a Facebook or twitter feed. The eye keeps wondering off the sides of the page. Makes me not want to stop there at all.

Took the survey also.

Needs better delineation I think.

Edited by Reardy Mister on Thursday 29th January 02:29

[RacingPete]

What device are you looking at the list on, as I agree we have some tweaking to do on the mobile list view - but I think the other views are in keeping with the new design direction for the site.

[Guvernator]

Sorry but I have to agree with the OP, not a fan of the new look I'm afraid. I'm all for a website refresh now and then but all this seems to have done is made it harder to read. Reading the news stories and features, there is too much white on the page and not enough delineation between the sections. The comments section is now also horrible to read. All in all it might look nice and sleek but it's a definite step back in terms of readability.

[RacingPete]

Welcome all the feedback, so keep it coming.

As we have released a look and feel that works across multiple devices it would be good to also know what device you are reading the news on along with the feedback. Helps us look at the user's evaluation better.

[Guvernator]

I'm using vanilla Chrome on 16:9 Laptop display. Funnily enough I've just checked it using Chrome on an Android phone and it does look much better on the phone as the smaller screen\mobile version of the website formats the articles so that they fit right up to the edge of the screen with the bezel of the phone then acting as a nice buffer for your eyes. However on the laptop you don't have that buffer so it just looks like a lot of white space surrounded by adverts\links to other parts of the website which makes it difficult for your eyes to follow the flow of the main article\comments.

So improved for mobile device viewing but a definite step back for PC\Laptop screens IMO.

[mrtwisty]

Guvernator said:

a definite step back for PC\Laptop screens IMO.

Definitely this. The comments section at the bottom of articles is really quite bad.

[RacingPete]

mrtwisty said:

Definitely this. The comments section at the bottom of articles is really quite bad.

Just to qualify that statement... Is that the design, the idea, or something else?

[Shuvi McTupya]

To be honest I don't often go to the 'front page' of PH so I thought I would go take a look. When I clicked on the button to check out the new look that is being trialled,(is that what we are talking about?) the page didn't even load. I just got a blank white page.

[mrtwisty]

RacingPete said:

Just to qualify that statement... Is that the design, the idea, or something else?

Sorry, I wasn't very clear there. Its the lack of contrast - interrupts easy reading flow down the page.

[Reardy Mister]

RacingPete said:

What device are you looking at the list on, as I agree we have some tweaking to do on the mobile list view - but I think the other views are in keeping with the new design direction for the site.

Sorry - IE and Firefox on a laptop.

[RacingPete]

We are putting out some subtle design tweaks for this in the morning.

It won't solve all the white space issues, but might be a little pleasing on the eye - have a look and let us know.

[minimoog]

The article body font, while 'nice', is too spindly and pale for easy reading. Lacks contrast.

This goes 3x for the comments font, which is not only spindly but tiny and even paler, and therefore almost unreadable. Plus there's not enough delineation between different comments.

All in all while it looks superficially fresher it's a total sod to read.

Viewing on Chrome, pc LCD monitor.

Edited by minimoog on Wednesday 4th February 17:12

[mrtwisty]

RacingPete said:

...have a look and let us know.

Still not keen I'm afraid. As others have said, it's more difficult to read and scan than before the changes and looks kind of 'washed out'.

[MacW]

Using Firefox 32.0.1 on W7 64bit the page is completely blank for me.

Reloading does not return it to the standard homepage, I have not deleted my cookies yet but I assume that will at least display the standard page once again.

[RacingPete]

MacW said:

Using Firefox 32.0.1 on W7 64bit the page is completely blank for me.

Reloading does not return it to the standard homepage, I have not deleted my cookies yet but I assume that will at least display the standard page once again.

Which page, is this the new homepage that is blank?
Or news articles?
And by blank, do you mean the whole page is white and no headers, or just the content.

[MacW]

RacingPete said:

Which page, is this the new homepage that is blank?
Or news articles?
And by blank, do you mean the whole page is white and no headers, or just the content.

Totally blank from edge to edge.

[Hoofy]

Home page works but it's feels a little bland like many modern sites. Zzzzz. You wouldn't know you're on PH.

[vournikas]

Agreed.

It is very anodyne, isn't it?

[horst 2b]

Is there a way I can return to using the old layout, or has it been changed for good ?

[mrtwisty]

Seems like we're keeping it, despite all the negative feedback.