[BLOG] Icrontic's next redesign, vol. I
I recently bit off a project that turned out to be a bit bigger than anticipated. I copied the current forum template over to the development server with 2 goals: fixing the forum home page and improving our registration rates.
A little background, first. At the end of February, I made a change to how guests see forum discussions; namely, I removed the giant "You need to register!" header because we felt it was perhaps confusing people into thinking they couldn't actually read the discussion (it was a long scroll down to get to the conversation). As a result, our daily forum registration rate went down by over 50%. Clearly I need to find a middle ground between the two problems.
I think our current forum home page is better than it has been, but I also think it still leaves a lot to be desired. The giant block of info at the top is problematic, and it shouldn't be on every page across the forum. Similarly the Stats and Byte in the footer seem out of place, and there's a ton of dead space down the middle of the forum list.
I've long thought a sidebar for the forum home page would be the answer, but it's taken two months of on-again, off-again brainstorming and sketches to solidify a concept for the new design.
Now comes the sticky wicket.
In working on the design, I quickly decided the blue navigation bar at the top of the page was absurd. They aren't "parallel" options (i.e. some are actions, some are pages; some are used many times a day, others once in a blue moon). It doesn't fit the theme of the rest of the site (which begins each page with a white background and rounded corners). Worst, it isn't even immediately obvious that they ARE links - they're just bold text, like a header. That's problematic when most of your audience every day is a first-time visitor.
What happens when you scrap the navbar and remove the giant block of links? You end up fundamentally changing every template in the forum. This is what has thrust me, inconveniently, into the project I put off longest: the Fine-Tooth-Comb Redesign of the forum. I made the sledgehammer-style changes a few months ago, which left a lot of jagged edges everywhere I turn. Now it's time for some polish.
Here are the revised goals:
No big deal, right?
What's important to note here is that this isn't a paradigm-shifting change like the new postbit was. This is about refining the usability and design of the site without being disruptive. My goal is that after hour 1, 90% of you say "wow, this is easier to use."
More to come.
A little background, first. At the end of February, I made a change to how guests see forum discussions; namely, I removed the giant "You need to register!" header because we felt it was perhaps confusing people into thinking they couldn't actually read the discussion (it was a long scroll down to get to the conversation). As a result, our daily forum registration rate went down by over 50%. Clearly I need to find a middle ground between the two problems.
I think our current forum home page is better than it has been, but I also think it still leaves a lot to be desired. The giant block of info at the top is problematic, and it shouldn't be on every page across the forum. Similarly the Stats and Byte in the footer seem out of place, and there's a ton of dead space down the middle of the forum list.
I've long thought a sidebar for the forum home page would be the answer, but it's taken two months of on-again, off-again brainstorming and sketches to solidify a concept for the new design.
Now comes the sticky wicket.
In working on the design, I quickly decided the blue navigation bar at the top of the page was absurd. They aren't "parallel" options (i.e. some are actions, some are pages; some are used many times a day, others once in a blue moon). It doesn't fit the theme of the rest of the site (which begins each page with a white background and rounded corners). Worst, it isn't even immediately obvious that they ARE links - they're just bold text, like a header. That's problematic when most of your audience every day is a first-time visitor.
What happens when you scrap the navbar and remove the giant block of links? You end up fundamentally changing every template in the forum. This is what has thrust me, inconveniently, into the project I put off longest: the Fine-Tooth-Comb Redesign of the forum. I made the sledgehammer-style changes a few months ago, which left a lot of jagged edges everywhere I turn. Now it's time for some polish.
Here are the revised goals:
- Fix visual inconsistencies throughout the forum, as well as between the front page, forum, and blogs (e.g. "What is a title or section header supposed to look like?" or "Which Latest Comment list format will prevail?" or even "What does a button look like?")
- Remove or rework major pain points for new users, especially New Discussions, "advanced reply", and replying to private messages
- Craft a thoughtful and compelling guest message that reduces our bounce rate and increases our registration rate
No big deal, right?
What's important to note here is that this isn't a paradigm-shifting change like the new postbit was. This is about refining the usability and design of the site without being disruptive. My goal is that after hour 1, 90% of you say "wow, this is easier to use."
More to come.
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