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March 24, 2011 at 12:18 pm #53984TheDocMember
I would love to be able to turn the pages a little easier. I ended up clicking on one of the ads because I thought it would turn the page. Instead of the page turning, I got a popup. This makes me an angry user!
That little sliver of a page turn button isn’t enough, imo.
It terms of readability, the typography needs some major work. Probably needs a bigger line-height, maybe even a different font.
March 24, 2011 at 12:49 pm #53988infocentreMemberHi Doc,
Which issue were you reading? We changed the font from from our last issue to Arial – surely you can’t think Arial is unreadable!? ; )
We did have a pretty ugly font before that, however – so I could sympathise with that!
We also changed the page flipping. It used to be a block of text in the top left and right, but people didnt like scrolling back up to the top to turn the page.
Again, we don’t want it to be intrusive. One thought i had was that maybe the page-turn area should expand as it’s rolled over. Something i never actioned.
Like i said in the last post to Mark, i want to do something similar to the Navigation awareness animation that shows people the page-turn buttons.
The way i see it, it’s grabbing those first-time users and saying ‘just quickly, this is how you do things here!’. Know what i mean?
Cheers!
March 24, 2011 at 3:03 pm #53996infocentreMemberHi Josh,
Thanks for your input. Sounds like i need to do some reading on formatting text for best readability as i never considered it to be that bad in issue 4. The previous issues were a bit of a nightmare, which is why we changed anyways! One of the issues which we have found is the way different OS’s configure fonts and their sizes etc because this can be a pain when we are trying to keep as close as possible to a fixed height. If anyone has some good reading on fonts – please chuck it my way!
As for skipping the pages to certain content; there are a few ways to do that – the main 2 being from the navigation and ‘Quick Page Skip’ at the top of the site and the other being when you hit the contents page – I am not really sure exactly what you mean on this?
You are right, it has been covered before! (don’t worry though ey!) We want to do something different – the main focus being the images themselves and this is the best we feel to present them – big, bold and with no intrusion of conventional site features; navigation bars, footers, headers, sidebars etc.. Yep, it’s not the norm, but we like it! And our viewers seem to as well!
Thanks man!
March 24, 2011 at 3:32 pm #53998TheDocMemberThe fixed height isn’t the problem, it’s trying to cram too much text into that area.
I’ll link you to this again: http://www.20thingsilearned.com/
Notice how much white space there is, the margins and line-height are perfect, very easy to read.
Also notice the wonderful navigation bar across the top – easy to spot but not intrusive at all.
March 24, 2011 at 8:10 pm #53887Historical Forums UserParticipantHave you noticed that your site doesn’t display within the viewport in resolutions at 1024×768 and below? ‘Below’ isn’t that big of a deal, but you really need to scale down to fit 1024×768.
March 25, 2011 at 7:52 am #53763infocentreMemberHi aaronsilber,
Yes, i do realise. Resolutions are getting bigger and bigger and 1024×768 and below only account for less than 8% of our visitors, so it is not a big concern of mine.
@Josh – I will certainly take this into consideration with the next release as i think it is important and something i had overlooked previously. It would be very hard for us to track-back and re-compile previous issues, however – so they are stuck how they are unfortunately!Thanks
March 25, 2011 at 11:52 am #53743TheDocMember@infocentre – the iPad uses a 1024px display, I would make it a priority to make sure it looks nice on that device.
March 25, 2011 at 12:08 pm #53679infocentreMemberFor all 0.49% of our ipad users? It’s not a priority, no.
Thanks
March 25, 2011 at 12:21 pm #53680TheDocMemberOf your current iDevice users. Ignoring the development of mobile browsing would be a pretty large mistake, in my opinion, especially considering the content of the site.
To each their own, I suppose.
You mention that 8% of your users are using 1024px wide displays, and yet that isn’t large enough a number for concern? 8% is a massive number that I wouldn’t ignore. Sure, it might be a lot of work to make changes and fixes, but the goal should be a perfect user experience for the most people possible, to ensure that everyone keeps on coming back.
March 25, 2011 at 12:40 pm #53682Historical Forums UserParticipant*sarcasm* Yeah, 8% isn’t a big deal at all. Let’s forget about accessibility too! Like only 5 people on the internet are blind and use screen-readers, didn’t you know? Who cares about those dudes anyways?! They’re outta-luck! *sarcasm*
It’s becoming more clear that you’re not that serious about this project or the future of the magazine. 0.49% of all visitors to your site have visited using an ipad? So… *doing some math*… you’ve had a minimum of 10,000 views? Okay, so… *doing some more math*…. those 800 (8%) people who visited your site browsing on monitors at 1024×768 don’t matter to you? *Ouch* I’m not sure your advertisers would like to hear that.
*sarcasm* Oh, by the way, I called my friends at Google and they decided to do your magazine project ‘the right way’, using everybody’s advice. *sarcasm*
‘Think Quarterly’ just launched – http://thinkquarterly.co.uk/
March 25, 2011 at 12:53 pm #53668infocentreMemberHi Doc,
We don’t ignore our device users. We have a viewport width setup which brings the whole page into screen, so the images can be seen at best and text can be zoomed into.
The reason we have not taken that any further is because we want to, at some stage, develop an app that will make browsing from mobile devices fun and easy.
We are not ignoring that 8% either, but like i said before, its not top of my list right now. The stats from their part shows that they aren’t being put off by the horizontal scrolling as they match up to everyone else.
Cheers
March 25, 2011 at 12:57 pm #53669infocentreMember@aaronsilber – I am still waiting for your intelligent input into this thread that might lead towards some improvement on the site.
If you don’t have any, then don’t comment. I don’t need to know your thoughts on these things as they are just unhelpful and degrading.
March 25, 2011 at 1:59 pm #53651Historical Forums UserParticipant@infocentre – I’m afraid that nothing I could say would lead to improvement on your site. Did you read the “Elements of Content Strategy” book? Its a one-day read. Did you seriously consider screen resolution or how a grid system may play into your web-magazine? Have you reconsidered your content strategy in regards to ad placement and navigation structure? Other members have also given valuable advice.
The point I’m trying to get across is that you’ve been given valuable feedback, but aren’t willing to accept it. It’s not like I didn’t compliment you off the bat;
“Your magazines look cool, and they seem to have relevant content (kick ass content actually).”
I’m giving you fundamental advice because thats what you need. You’re wasting time if you start moving buttons around or changing fonts. I think you understand this on some level since you’ve indicated that developing an app is something you’re interested in, yet not ready to pursue… and I agree. The current experience is not a good one, and the base product is not ready to scale.
Changes need to happen on a strategic level (basics), and not on an operational level (details) (sorry, thats business speak). Leaders face the need for change and deconstruction all the time; but only great leaders can rise to meet it.
So what are you doing right now. What are your priorities? I’d love to help you meet those goals in a realistic way. Don’t understand grid systems? Ask. Don’t understand the difference between legibility/readability and how it relates to the web? Again, just ask.
Another issue with navigation: the icons in the upper-left ribbon nav don’t really indicate any type of functionality. I see a shape, a square, and a plus. I don’t think “this takes me home, this takes me to the cover, and this lets me share with friends.” I also believe that the difference between “this takes me home” and “this takes me to the cover” is unclear.
March 25, 2011 at 3:00 pm #53604infocentreMemberOk, thanks aaron. I will get back to you in a few weeks.
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