Opinions Solicited

Monday, Mar. 03, 2008 - 7:33 a.m.

First of all, in recent days, I've been visiting the site of my favorite Web design critic, who has been one of my influences since I joined Diaryland, almost five years ago. I've learned a lot there.

Now, to the ongoing issue. I'm sure you're all thrilled that I'm going to grunch about this again!

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There's at least three of my regular readers who like the new design for the Diaryland members area, and exactly NONE of them have white text on a black background within their own diaries.

Hypocrites, the lot of you! Shame and double shame! (Just kidding, kids. Do whatever the fuck you want in your own diaries! :-) )

Ironically, the one person I know of who does use white text on a black background for his own diary actually can't stand the new Diaryland design! Go figure!

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Good news, though! Bless his heart, Andrew has finally asked for OUR opinion in the news and annoucements section.

I'm gonna go ahead and repost what Andrew said here, for your convenience, and then I'm going to respond to some of the things he's said.
Your mileage may vary.

quick poll on the redesign

Hey just some notes on the redesign: So, getting really mixed reviews right now, a lot of people writing to say they love it and also definitely some who don't. I have a feeling that people will get used to it BUT I will be looking into this a lot in the next couple of days and possibly changing things around. One thing probably changing will be switching it so the navigation boxes are to the left of the "recent public entries" boxes.

A few people have said they don't like the colors and it's tough to read white on black. Now, this is something I gave a TON of thought to early on in the redesign, believe me. I took a ton of print design courses at college and it was always said that white on black is harder to read, however my impression was that a large part of that was more in actual paper print, because the ink bleeds from the background into the letters a bit and it's not crisp and blah blah. When I first came up with this design, I showed it to a couple of people who are very, very good designers and checked it through with them. They both said it was fine and that on bright computer monitors it's really not an issue anymore. This jibes with what I feel after working on this design for many many hours, testing it, etc. Furthermore, really, in the members area the focus isn't really on reading that much, a lot of the time people spend in here is basically writing and editing entries, which is still of course black-on-white. So I didn't think it would be a huge issue.

However, some people are still saying they don't like the colors, so I'm going to look into it, and maybe the best thing to do right now is just to ask everyone reading this to take part in a little poll: Just send an email to [email protected] with whether you like the new look or not. I don't mind a quick sentence in the body too to sum up your thoughts, but no need to write too much, just a quick "I like it, 8/10!" or "I don't like the new colors" or "change is bad, boo" are fine. If everyone who reads this actually emails me, it'll help me get a good idea more. I hope people who like it write too, I know in general people who dislike something when it's changed are more motivated to email, so that may bias things a bit, but oh well.

Anyhow, there are obviously still a few bugs in the design also, like the buddy list isn't lighting up when it updates yet, I'll have those small things fixed by monday. So please do email either way.

Okay.

Here's the thing that got my attention in the news announcement, and my response, which will be worded as a direct statement to Andrew:

A few people have said they don't like the colors and it's tough to read white on black.

[ME: People are telling you it's tough to read white on black for one reason. Because it's true. They're not saying that to fuck with you.]

Now, this is something I gave a TON of thought to early on in the redesign, believe me. I took a ton of print design courses at college and it was always said that white on black is harder to read,

[ME: The people who taught those courses are correct. They are instructors for a reason, and they are telling you something that is completely true. It's very hard to read white text on a black background.]

however my impression was that a large part of that was more in actual paper print, because the ink bleeds from the background into the letters a bit and it's not crisp and blah blah.

[ME: Nope. That was never the reaason. Ever. Honest.]

When I first came up with this design, I showed it to a couple of people who are very, very good designers and checked it through with them. They both said it was fine and that on bright computer monitors it's really not an issue anymore. This jibes with what I feel after working on this design for many many hours, testing it, etc.

[ME: You showed it to a couple of people who actually told you that on bright computer monitors, it's not an issue anymore. That's nice. Why didn't you ask US what WE wanted?]

Furthermore, really, in the members area the focus isn't really on reading that much, a lot of the time people spend in here is basically writing and editing entries, which is still of course black-on-white. So I didn't think it would be a huge issue.

[ME: No offense, but you've missed the mark here. Didn't think it would be a huge issue? Dude, It's the only part of Diaryland that EVERY DIARYLANDER is forced to look at. Since that's the case, why not let the readership tell you what it thinks of the drastic contrast that a white box creates in the middle of a completely oppositely-oriented background? Personally, it makes my eyesight irritated to the point of nausea if I have to look at the bright white entry box for too long against the dark gray / black background.]

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I have noticed in all of the other journaling services that I frequent that the majority of default login screens and default templates are black text on pale or white backgrounds, with pastel illustrations. There's a reason for this.

Simply -- it works. It's easy on the eye.

Any design element that impedes communication is poor design.

Let me show you an example of an effective and pleasantly designed Diary: MutantDragon.

I have no idea who this person is, but this is one of the nicer designs that I've seen. It doesn't make your eyes bleed, and you can see every component clearly.

Examples of less than idea design are basically anything that isn't as easy to read as the above.

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All rightie. I had a lovely quiet weekend, and John is home today because he had a hard time staying asleep last night.

Have a good Monday!

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