Comments on: Update, Reload & Party

By: Ajay

Ajay — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 03:08:17 +0000

Yeah, like I said, I’m talking about the visual design, not the way the site’s content is linked to. I guess it was done by ideacodes, but they could have just been following orders. I’m not sure that most people would think this visual design was better than the last.

By: dave mcclure

dave mcclure — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 04:22:52 +0000

hi ajay -

well, can't say i was the only person involved in the effort -- the man himself was a significant influence, as was our design team over at Ideacodes and others Behind the Curtain.

however, one of the overall goals was to make it easier for people to discover the different content verticals the GigaOm team covers, and also to provide the writer headshot illustrations, to make it clear that folks like Katie and Robert and others were also writing stories, not just Om.

the tabs are there to make it clear what subject areas we cover, as well as to allow people who like those subjects to focus more on their specific interests. we also created the 'Featured' section so that articles didn't move so quickly off the main page. before, when everything was all in one area many times feature articles flew by quickly -- however that view is still available via the 'All Stories' tab if you like the all-you-can-eat approach.

while i can't comment on the colors & look & feel (i'm not a designer), it was a design that several people seemed to like. but hey, we know we can't please everyone. and we're always open to suggestions :)

regards & we'll keep working on it,

dave

By: Ajay

Ajay — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 18:15:08 +0000

Hello Dave, Good to hear my opinion was registered. Don’t mean to step on any toes, are you the one who came up with the design? I was just stating some honest criticism of the new design, mostly aesthetic (except for the bloated comment boxes, please cut those down). Perhaps you can articulate what the goals of this visual design were, why you made the choices you did. I’d be interested in hearing about it.

By: dave mcclure

dave mcclure — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 07:32:31 +0000

well ajay, all we can say is… everyone is entitled to an opinion ;)

By: Ajay

Ajay — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 21:21:10 +0000

I think the old design looked more professional. The current one looks like some random wordpress blog on the net. I'm specifically speaking of the rounded corner-framed posts with categories and tags unceremoniously dumped at the bottom, the comment speakbox frames that may seem cool to some but waste a lot of space, and the light blue and cartoon visual design that adds some personality but seems like some amateur blog on the net. The header and the footer of the pages are fine, it's the framing of the content that's not so great. I also like that you added links to contiguous articles, I always wanted those.

I like that you tried to add some personality but your visual design communicates who you are. The old design communicated a slick, professional reporting blog, the new one seems like some kid on the internet installed wordpress and tried to write something cool. I prefer the former though it could always have been spruced up.

By: jack

jack — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 17:43:10 +0000

Oh and on the layout: I think it looks good. 2 things though:

the black line on top that strikes right through the logo is not necessary imho, and the horizontal scrolling annoys me :) also, do you sell your sponsors to only advertise to 1024 px + folks, and not to 800x600? jack

By: jack

jack — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 17:39:12 +0000

Hey OM, are you still sleeping? Must have been a rather enjoybale party. Cheers, Jack

By: LSF

LSF — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 11:08:06 +0000

I could do without the horizontal scrollbar. Did someone get the page dimensions wrong?

By: Agoracom

Agoracom — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 02:00:36 +0000

Om et Team, I wish I could provide some constructive feedback on how to improve the new site but I've knocked around for about 30 minutes and can't find any weaknesses.

Lay out is simple and intuitive. Color scheme is easy on the eyes and inviting. Nice use of rounded corners and bubble comments to make the site feel less "tech" and more community.

Hope you all enjoyed the party and any subsequent sleep. It is well deserved.

Best, George

p.s. If you are going to have an India tab, why not a "Canada" tab? We're doing some great things up here.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 23:48:55 +0000

Love love love the new design!!

By: Nicci Gabriel

Nicci Gabriel — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 23:02:24 +0000

I adore the comments design — very pretty.

By: Richard MacManus

Richard MacManus — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 20:49:30 +0000

New design looks fantastic Om! Loving those tabs.

p.s. Dave M - are you working for Om now instead of SimplyHired? I must've missed that news…

By: Mike Steinbaugh

Mike Steinbaugh — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 18:30:42 +0000

The new site looks really cool! Good job!

By: Ron

Ron — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 18:15:47 +0000

Go back to Avenir, it looked a lot better…

By: Geof Harries

Geof Harries — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 16:40:04 +0000

My only criticism - and this is design-related - is the serif font for your blog post titles. It just doesn't flow with the rest of the theme, which is smooth and bubbly. Either make it bigger, fatter or just go with a similar font style to everything else.

That said, I really dig your solid placement of ads (integrated but not obnoxious like other blogs and content-sensitive tabs across the top; the two stand-outs for me.

By: Dave McClure

Dave McClure — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 15:13:43 +0000

ebrahim: thanks for the feedback, and sorry to make you feel 'blue'…we might try out a few font ideas to see what works best for folks.

moritz: we want to bring the broadband wiki into the OMpire at some point in the near future… working on that one.