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Design of This Website (2021)

gwern.net

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Re: Design of This Website (2021)

#61

Post by kretaceous »

I love this site. The content, minimalism and focus on performance, the honest over-engineering, everything. But I can't read much of it as is.

• My reason is not the font, which I like, but the 'density' (not information density). The line height is too less for me.

• There are a lot of hyperlinks and they look like the factorial notation instead of an underline and are of the same color as normal text.

• Sidenotes are a good thing but they should be shown on demand, not everytime (maybe there's a setting I missed which does this).

• Regarding the pop-ins, I dig the idea but IMO, showing the whole page is not very useful. Maybe just the summary of what's to be shown. Why would I want to read a whole article in the pop-ins and what purpose do they serve which sidenotes don't?

Re: Design of This Website (2021)

#62

Post by hypertele-Xii »

ManuelKiessling wrote: post #58
hypertele-Xii wrote: post #34

For a site that lists its #1 principle as minimalism, it sure has a lot going on at all times. Multiple menus all over the screen, many different kinds of links with distinct underline and icon suffix, popups within popups that reinvent OS window functionality, historiated initials, graphical horizontal divider with hidden links, a recommended articles carousel, and a very (visually) busy comments section. Minimal it…

Sorry, that's not minimalism. gwern.net isn't either; I'd call that "brutalism" instead. THIS is minimalism: https://manuel.kiessling.net Precisely in the sense of "NOT a lot going on at all times". Just the content, presented pleasently. And importantly, it's not only minimalism in look-and-feel, but also technically: even a long post with an embedded image like https://manuel.kiessling.net/2021/05/02/tutorial-react…

The site you link is nearly identical to mine, only less visually-oriented (which I feel is excusable as my site focuses on visual arts, not programming).

> Just the content, presented pleasently.

Please explain which part of my site isn't just the content, presented pleasantly?

> minimalism in look-and-feel, but also technically [...] weighs in at under 200 KiB

The exact page I linked to [0] weighs 160 KiB, less than your example. I'm confused about you bringing that up. I win?

[0] https://hypertele.fi/ec997be8c5933e87

Re: Design of This Website (2021)

#64

Post by notafraudster »

ManuelKiessling wrote: post #58
hypertele-Xii wrote: post #34

For a site that lists its #1 principle as minimalism, it sure has a lot going on at all times. Multiple menus all over the screen, many different kinds of links with distinct underline and icon suffix, popups within popups that reinvent OS window functionality, historiated initials, graphical horizontal divider with hidden links, a recommended articles carousel, and a very (visually) busy comments section. Minimal it…

Sorry, that's not minimalism. gwern.net isn't either; I'd call that "brutalism" instead. THIS is minimalism: https://manuel.kiessling.net Precisely in the sense of "NOT a lot going on at all times". Just the content, presented pleasently. And importantly, it's not only minimalism in look-and-feel, but also technically: even a long post with an embedded image like https://manuel.kiessling.net/2021/05/02/tutorial-react…

Your site is great (and minimalist) -- honestly, really really very good job.

One note: in general there's a UX recommendation not to use flags when you mean languages. http://www.flagsarenotlanguages.com/blog/

I'm not exactly sure the best way to solve this for your blog. Maybe something like adding alt-text to indicate "German Language" and adding a parenthetical to the end of titles "(German)" or something?

Re: Design of This Website (2021)

#65

Post by nitroll »

creatonez wrote: post #31
tut-urut-utut wrote: post #22

It's terrible. When browsing this website, one needs to be careful not to move the mouse over anything that will trigger a popup and cover the page they are trying to read. It's quite easy to accidentally get to 3 layers of pupups. Popups are antipattern, at least when they appear automatic, without user interaction.

For people who move the mouse a lot or just don't like popup footnotes, Gwern's website has thought of you aswell. If a popup shows up, click the button at the top right of the popup, and select the option to permanently disable popups.

My solution was to close the tab...

Re: Design of This Website (2021)

#66

Post by notafraudster »

hypertele-Xii wrote: post #47
martin_a wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you want to see a professional minimal design, check out mine: text-align:right? WTF? This really hurts when reading. So, while it might be minimalistic, it's not good design.

It's explained on the linked page, under 'typography': > When your eyes read to the end of a line of text, they have to jump to the beginning of the next one. Left-justified text causes all lines to start at the same vertical, making your eyes sometimes miss the jump and begin reading a wrong line. This is why you're sometimes reading the same line twice by accident. By right-justifying instead, the left edge of the…

Hey dude, I just want to give you some feedback as an outside observer.

You advanced your own website as somewhere between a solid execution and an ideal for minimalistic design. Virtually every reply you've gotten has been some variation of "Wow, I don't much like this design". You reply to each of the replies insisting you're right and demanding people explain to you how you're not. People are taking time out of their day to give you (admittedly critical) feedback. It probably doesn't work that well to demand more of their time. When you send signals that you're not internalizing the feedback you're getting, people are going to be loath to offer more.

It's OK if you don't want to incorporate feedback because you're happy with your work, but the context under which you linked it is such that it's perfectly natural people are going to give it to you unvarnished.

Re: Design of This Website (2021)

#67

Post by Jaruzel »

caslon wrote: post #55
Jaruzel wrote: post #35

Yet again, this is a website that has clearly only been tested on a hiDPI screen. At 100% scaling on Windows, the serif font used doesn't kern or render properly; crossbars in letters such as 't' and 'f' are overweight compared to other strokes, and makes the font look uneven. Designers all seem to think we use 4k screens at 200% scaling, for that ultra smooth look, when in reality, that's far from the case[1]. Edit:…

Looks fantastic on a real operating system at 1920x1080. Gwern is many things, a few of them positive, but he's not a designer. He's just a guy with an internet connection. The site works, though. Just install a better operating system, ideally with X11, that can do proper typography.

> Just install a better operating system, ideally with X11, that can do proper typography.

Ahhh if only life were so simple. While I'm at it, can you provide me with an alternate skill-set and career path that doesn't need me to use Windows for my employment?

Re: Design of This Website (2021)

#68

Post by ManuelKiessling »

notafraudster wrote: post #64
ManuelKiessling wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, that's not minimalism. gwern.net isn't either; I'd call that "brutalism" instead. THIS is minimalism: https://manuel.kiessling.net Precisely in the sense of "NOT a lot going on at all times". Just the content, presented pleasently. And importantly, it's not only minimalism in look-and-feel, but also technically: even a long post with an embedded image like https://manuel.kiessling.net/2021/05/02/tutorial-react…

Your site is great (and minimalist) -- honestly, really really very good job. One note: in general there's a UX recommendation not to use flags when you mean languages. http://www.flagsarenotlanguages.com/blog/ I'm not exactly sure the best way to solve this for your blog. Maybe something like adding alt-text to indicate "German Language" and adding a parenthetical to the end of titles "(German)" or something?

Very good point, and I've thought about this a lot. Still not sure what the best solution is... there is also a "flag-mashup" of the Austrian, Swiss, and German flag, but that's looking weird, too.

Maybe a combination: a small icon with the three flags in one row, and underneath, the text "German post".

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