MyBroadband news section improvement: Your feedback needed

I think the reason my brain really cringes is that all the headings and the added text of the articles look like ads. Normally my mind blocks out ads, but when it's so overwhelmed by ads it just cringes.
 
Praeses said:
I think the reason my brain really cringes is that all the headings and the added text of the articles look like ads. Normally my mind blocks out ads, but when it's so overwhelmed by ads it just cringes.
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That's an asute analysis.

I couldn't cut the wheat from the chaff at a glance.

Result instant dislike.
 
Font is perhaps increased too much from what it was. Should look good on retina displays but other displays not so great.
 
To be frank, the new design is terrible. The old one was quick and easy to find articles of interest, something which cannot be said about the new one.

How about adding a poll to decide the new design's fate?
 
TBH, its like windows 8's UI, looks good put is a pain in the a*s to use, old design was MUCH better and straight forward, this new look feels disorganized and cluttered. Nice attempt but I think a restore is in order ;)
 
Thanks for the feedback so far - it is definitely valuable. It is a fair departure from the previous design, and we tried to use the screen real estate better, and make the design simpler.

However, if it does not achieve this, we will make the changes which you require.

Can you maybe also give feedback on the new article layout (with the large image at the top) and the category design?

New article layout: http://mybroadband.co.za/news/security/71816-recording-the-websites-you-visit-mtn-explains.html

New category layout: http://mybroadband.co.za/news/adsl
 
It definitely looks more modern, but it's way too cluttered - each section just kind of blends in with the next, and I often have to keep checking where I'm at.
One moment I was looking at Afrihost uncapped headlines and the next there was some random non-tech-related Zuma story, and I had to scroll up to see that I was actually in a (new?) Misc News section

On a separate note, I think any non-tech stuff should definitely be relegated (for lack of a better term) to the end/bottom of the page - I come here for tech-related stuff and although you may be trying a hostile takeover of news24's top position in SA, for now I'd still prefer tech to be ahead of the rest around here :)

Re: new article layout - while pictures are great, I prefer to not have to scroll down just to see the copy in the article. I work on a 14inch laptop screen with Chrome windowed, and the picture is all I see... have to do a full page scroll to get to the text part which kind of sucks IMHO :|

Re: new category layout - perfect!
 
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I prefer the old look than the new look too much clutter*images* are irritating me. The old website loaded much faster but in future when you actually go ahead with a revamp on news section*website home page* inform the users in advance and get their feedback.

2 websites I visit today have a new look.
CrackBerry
MyBroadBand.
 
Seems like adverts were used to fill in any white spaces... Still see quite a bit of space at the bottom ;)
Lots of up and down scrolling trying to read the different sections, might as well merge everything into one. And the articles merge heavily into the ads that i actually had to look twice to make sure it was an article.
Why not give layout options such as Ars Technica does?
 
rpm said:
Thanks for the feedback so far - it is definitely valuable. It is a fair departure from the previous design, and we tried to use the screen real estate better, and make the design simpler.

However, if it does not achieve this, we will make the changes which you require.
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I would take note of comparisons to Windows 8 Metro AKA Modern. That's not a place you want to be.
 
Jan and RPM don't take this the wrong way guys(just constructive criticism for my favourite site) but I absolutely hate the new look,feels very cluttered and you have to scroll up and down to find articles.

Let me explain further,when you open the site you see two big headlines on the left and the rest of the screen is overwhelmed by adverts!Looks really cheap imo.....before i could quickly see at least three article headlines on my left and a few more headlines to the box in the right hence i feel usability has decreased by 600% percent when you just open the site.

Why should I need to scroll down now to see what I could see without scrolling previously?This layout is taxing from the beginning.

Scrolling down doesn't make it any better since the columns are basically with headlines all over the show and you don't know whether to read the columns from top to bottom with lots of scrolling or read across into different categories which are "different categories" and not even aligned properly but seem haphazard and then an ad jumps out at you because you thought it was an article.It really is that unusable,think about it if you want only business tech news you are forced to scroll up and down wheres as previously it was all just in one pane.There is no doubt usability has taken a huge knock and visually the advertising just became a lot less palatable.

Definitely need to revert back to old style.If you need to tinker with it a bit then fine but sorry guys this layout doesn't work at all IMO especially from a usability point of view.;)

P.S I see some people comparing it to metro lol thats not even the case I have used metro and its much easier to use.
 
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Great RPM,you guys are doing a great job of the site so far.Oh heres another idea that would make navigation simpler in the old style or new style(hopefully the old style that you'll re implement hehe):

I know you can click on the top headers to go read more say "business news" but it would be more intuitive to just have a "more...." button after the last business article headline.Ive seen it on other sites and even newcomers would find it easy to find related articles easier since they are already at the end of that box so no need to scroll or hunt just click "more..." and bam,instant gratification :)
 
Rpm do you guys use widescreen monitors?

P.S forgot to mention keep the option where you can go directly to comments and forum debate from the headline,makes sense.
 
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rpm said:
Yes - Full HD.
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LOL :D

I think that with a few tweaks the new look could be great. I agree that the different sections seem to run into each other a bit and my brain just wants to see it all as one. I think it may be the light grey text of the section headings. But you can't make it darker as then it will just look like the headlines. Not sure how to solve that without increasing the space between the sections, which sacrifices real estate.

But I must say I love the look of the individual articles. Very clean and great layout.
 
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