- UpMyStreet.com redesigns and bluntly – it’s incompetent A screen width that will shut out 30% of its users, incomprehensible navigation, ‘issues’ like a print magazine distracting you from the database of useful information… WTF?! Plus more pages != more ad revenue if you’ve pissed off all your users…
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8 replies on “Links for 2005-05-04”
Most big-company redesigns I’ve seen lately going live or in the hopper have been extra-wide. It may seem strange, but their stats justify it. (I don’t know anything about UpMyStreet specifically.)
It may be that their research has indicated that their visitors would like a wider site; of course, if that’s the case, then why not just make it liquid?
I’m not sure their stats do support it. All they show is that more users have higher resolution screens, not wider browser windows. I’m at 1280×854, but I browse at 800x wide. I know I’m not alone in this – maximizing a browser window rarely makes sense if you do anything other than browse.
Their site overwhelms me. Where do I look first? What’s with that jumble of search information ABOVE what should be the main focal point? Everything is listed on one page … subcategories in the left sidebar, flashing ads in the right sidebar. It’s like I’m at the carnival and everyone is shouting at the same time, “Over here, over here!” And if this is supposed to be about neighborhoods/community, then what the heck is AOL doing there (never mind it’s ten story height). Clearly someone is proud of their new design, but it needs to be toned down. :o)
Agreed, upmystreet has not done a good job. Visually confusing. But I want to carp a bit about what you’ve done with plasticbag. I’ve given myself a few days to get used to the new design. But, I have to say, the one just before this was better. This one isn’t growing on me. It just seems kind of boring. Visually, that is. Content is great, as ever.
Where can I see the old design? This design is interesting, albeit a bit monotone.
… Although that’s the idea. And strangely it’s effective.
Waxy.org has links to several US newspaper sites that are now strapped to 1024px wide. I am not sure I like this trend. I don’t browse at 800px wide, that is just too small on my screen (1400×1050) but I like the white space around pages that are strapped to 800px wide. When I hit a site that is 1024px wide I die a little on the inside. It just does not feel right. Oh well, another year, another piece of web standardisation out the window.