This morning we launched a new look for Metacritic which should greatly improve readability and ease of navigation on the site. We've added a new rotating "topslot" on the home page which will direct you to the most important new pages on the site with the hottest and most relevant reviews. Please feel free to let us know what you think about the new layout, and there will be many more changes to come, so stay with us!
And as always, thank you for using the site!
Best,
Marc Doyle co-founder metacritic.com
Death to Videodrome... long live the new flesh! Twitter.com/metacritic
Posts: 412 | Location: Santa Monica | Registered: 12 May 2004
The distance between the metascore and the reviews is too large. To fix this, the summary of the movie (the description part) should have a view more feature. For example, the new Harry Potter should have be:
Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle... view more >
This would save room and keep people's knowledge of events minimum for those that don't like to see too much about the plot.
I use this site daily, and registered on these forums to tell you that the white behind the text on the main page makes the site almost unreadable. Please either change the color of the text or the background color. Thank you.
I too signed up specifically to tell you how terrible the new design is.
Rather than improving usability you've accomplished the exact opposite by adding an avalanche of useless clutter. You've taken emphasis away from the actual content and have replaced it with a giant, obnoxious flash banner.
I'll be patiently waiting for a greasemonkey or stylish script that will cut out the entire page except for this area with a darkened background and Metascores included. Until then I'll be skipping the homepage entirely.
At best it seems half finished - the old link color is too pale for the new white background; the blocks of the old blue are incongruous with the more designed boxes etc.
At worst you've taken a shotgun, aimed it down and pulled the trigger. The new look is cluttered and less readable, and as other's have pointed out, one of the best things about Metacritic vs. e.g. R****n T*****s was its clarity and ease of presentation (I think you would agree you are not the most comprehensive and timely of the options out there).
Strongly advise getting an actual designer to take a look at this, sort it out ... and quickly.
Originally posted by Balthazor: I have to agree with Twelph. I've been a long-time user of Metacritic and I find the new background whiteness disturbing.
Adding the ability to change the background color would make the website more flexible; Gamespot allows this, to an extent.
quote:
Originally posted by Twelph: I use this site daily, and registered on these forums to tell you that the white behind the text on the main page makes the site almost unreadable. Please either change the color of the text or the background color. Thank you.
quote:
Originally posted by racer005: My goodness, the new look is HORRIBLE. I actually went to the trouble of signing up for this forum just to make my feelings known.
The site looks absolutely generic now, and readability has not been improved, it has been DRASTICALLY worsened. Really, really awful.
I've never been a 'fan' of Metacritic to begin with, but I've come here daily for one thing: clearly presented information. Now that's gone.
The original look was so very simple, so very easy on the eyes. The redesign has made it all a mess. It looks like IGN or something.
PLEASE go back to what you had before. You're going to turn people off with this.
quote:
Originally posted by penguin: I too signed up specifically to tell you how terrible the new design is.
Rather than improving usability you've accomplished the exact opposite by adding an avalanche of useless clutter. You've taken emphasis away from the actual content and have replaced it with a giant, obnoxious flash banner.
I'll be patiently waiting for a greasemonkey or stylish script that will cut out the entire page except for this area with a darkened background and Metascores included. Until then I'll be skipping the homepage entirely.
quote:
Originally posted by delany: I'm sorry but this new look is not good.
At best it seems half finished - the old link color is too pale for the new white background; the blocks of the old blue are incongruous with the more designed boxes etc.
At worst you've taken a shotgun, aimed it down and pulled the trigger. The new look is cluttered and less readable, and as other's have pointed out, one of the best things about Metacritic vs. e.g. R****n T*****s was its clarity and ease of presentation (I think you would agree you are not the most comprehensive and timely of the options out there).
Strongly advise getting an actual designer to take a look at this, sort it out ... and quickly.
add me to the list of those who registered specifically to express dislike in this new color scheme. please go back to the dark background with light text. unlike printed media, it costs you no more to do it that way and evidently required monitors to use less energy [note: blackle]. i don't know what they were smoking whoever figured this new design makes it easier to read, but it does not. [e.g., your forums are markedly more legible using the older scheme.]
Thanks for your comments (and your emails) everyone. It's all very helpful. We're an evolving site with another stage in the pipeline, so I appreciate the constructive and refreshingly frank words. Keep 'em coming.
Marc
Death to Videodrome... long live the new flesh! Twitter.com/metacritic
Posts: 412 | Location: Santa Monica | Registered: 12 May 2004
I too went to the trouble of registering simply because of the visceral, painful response that the redesign has invoked.
Upon loading the site, my eyes widened first in surprise and then wider in horror as I beheld the shambling monstrosity that this website has become. There was nothing, _nothing_ wrong with the website as it had been previous, and I am on my knees before you in supplication, begging you to change it back to the way it was. The white background laughs in the face readability, and the clunky main page that jams a midscreen ad into your face is sadistically un-useful. Unless you have simply grown tired of success and have decided, Pearl Jam-like to whittle your userbase down to the committed few, I meekly suggest that you consider going back in time to fire the crew of dark, malevolent druids who thought this would be a good call.
That "Latest User Review" section wastes most of the right side of the page for four reviews. Then you take into account the space used for the advertisements on the bottom the page and the attempt to put as many review links into the smallest space possible it just looks messy.
I have bad vision but normally I'm just fine when I'm at my monitor.. I nearly had my nose against the screen trying to see what the latest albums posted were.
p.s. Have you guys thought about updating the forums a bit though?
The previous design was excellent; clear and inviting.
The site now seems smaller, less comprehensive and lacking an intelligent design aesthetic which subconsciously distances the reader from exploring further.
Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.
Posts: 2759 | Location: The ever silent spaces of the East | Registered: 12 February 2007
Yep, the white of the background is too.. well, it doesn´t work, not at all, and with the old blue bars it also seem unfinished. The old was, in many ways more calm and unified in a certain look.
Remember, don´t fix what isn´t broken.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Don´t be suprised if sometime, somewhere, someplace when you least expect it, someone steps up to you and says: Yippie-kai-yay motherf****r
I fear I'm going to sound like a broken record here...but I too signed up just to say how AWFUL the new site design is. I loved the way it looked before: everything was simple and clear. The dark blue color scheme, which I loved, added a sense of professionalism and modernity. Now everything seems to be in a cluttered mess, and the white is absolutely jarring to the eyes. Please bring the old layout back!
Originally posted by Metacritic Games Editor: Thanks for your comments (and your emails) everyone. It's all very helpful. We're an evolving site with another stage in the pipeline, so I appreciate the constructive and refreshingly frank words. Keep 'em coming.
Marc
It's nice to see the staff is taking note.
And I have to reiterate what Dertanius said: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The previous Metacritic design was fantastic. Just go back to it!
