Usability

[maisany]

I wasn't quite sure where to put this, so I'll post it here.

I know that "design changes" are supposedly in the works for the site, and I've noticed a couple of very minor changes so far, but what genius decided to do away with the "teaser" summary text for the "Online Now" section on the front page?

Having a bunch of headline links, with no summaries is considered rather poor usability practice. You need to give people *some* idea of what they're going to get when they click on a link. Some of the headlines are descriptive enough by themselves, but most are not. I think it was a very big mistake to remove the summary text (though they could've been shortened a bit from their typical lengths).

[kcbbfan]

I like the new look of "the central column menu" though I see the point maisany is making about the teasers.
Maybe you could tease the current day?

But on the whole I like the change.

[RON@HQ]

Guys, this is all a work in process. We toyed with a one-line teaser beneath each link but a week's worth of these extended down further than any user would be apt to scroll. The writers were informed of the change just yesterday, so the links posted now are just pulled from the past week's content. They have all been instructed to provide much more descriptive links for all their future articles. Let's see how that works, and we'll make any changes after that.

Thanks for the feedback, though. I do appreciate -- and count -- on it.

[makelele]

Not that any suggestions were solicited, but perhaps a java script could allow the teaser to pop up when the mouse is hovered over the article title that is linked?

[maisany]

Ron,

FYI, my comments aren't meant as "criticisms" per se. I'm just giving you feedback and input. Take it for what it is.

I'm responsible for our corporate web site and so I deal with these issues all the time, so when I see certain things that stand out to me, I'll mention them.

[Red]

A couple of comments for what its worth

Before the new design, the articles were in the same order each day/week. Since the same link is used for each week week's version of an article, my browser always shows new articles it as read. When the articles were listed in a consistent order, I was still able to easily determine which articles I had read. Now there is what seems to be randomness in the order of the articles listed ... probably now listing in the order that the articles are posted. I read an article go back to the main page and often find myself selecting the same article again, and possible missing an article thinking that it has been read. Having any one of consistent order, unique urls to articles so that the browser recognizes them as unread, or a url mouse-over summary would make it easier to determine what I have read, and what I have not read.

[Red]

Another small thing that could help would be to list the day of the week along with the date. Instead of "MAY 2", "MAY 2 - Saturday".

[RAY@HQ]

Good thoughts, Red... the inconsistency of the column order has thrown me a few times too. We'll see if we can do anything about that. And the day-of-week idea is a good, simple addition.

[Giuls21]

Well I actually like the new set-up...its helpful for me to see what new articles are posted by day, rather than having to search for them like under the old system. Since I pay good $ to subscribe to this site and have a genuine interest in everything that is written, no teasers are needed, as I am going to click on the links anyway. I thought the teasers took up too much space...just my 2 cents...

[rugby12901]

I agree with Giuls21. Who needs a teaser when your going to click on the tab anyway?

[Siesta]

I also agree with Giuls21 and rugby12901. Basically the teasers meant nothing to me; didn't even read them as I check all the daily links. New format is an improvement, imo, as it serves as a check for me to be sure I hit all the links.