Nice design but it doesn't add anything to the site experience for me. The header seems too big for orange. I used the option to turn the color of the header on HN from orange to white to further simplify the look of it. I do kinda like the number of comments bubble though. I'd love to see a link on the 404 pages.
Hacker News Redesign
31–40 of 161 posts
Re: Hacker News Redesign
#32I'm sorry, but this is a perfect example of the difference between design and eye candy. Often, people wonder why I spend $50,000 a year going to design school, when I can learn how to make things that are just as shiny by reading psdtuts.com. The difference is that style is only skin-deep. It's superficial. It's an added bonus on top of design . Design, on the other hand, is the core of the product: how it functions…
I think you're a little too harsh. The comment bubbles are helpful.
Your eye might need to jump around more because you're not used to the new design yet. Sometimes an article might say "discuss" which just means 0 comments. This would make that much clearer.
You might say you shouldn't have to "get used to" a good redesign, but after using a website for years, almost everyone would need to overcome old habits.
HN might be designed to compact a large amount of data in a small area, but reading tiny letters isn't exactly good UX.
Re: Hacker News Redesign
#33I like all of it but the bubbles. I find those distracting. I do care about the comment count/links more than the points though. If it were me (not a designer) I'd stick the '114 pts' right of the arrow, no bubble.. and use the current points bubble (which looks like a button) for the comments link. This would actually severely improve my mobile experience where I often hit the article instead of the comments link.
Re: Hacker News Redesign
#34The question you need to ask yourself is, "Does my design add value?"
The top comment already sums it up perfectly - Design is not about making things pretty or looking nice. Design is about function, design is about value.
I won't deny that the design looks good. I'd say it looks 'prettier' in certain ways, but if its not more functional or doesn't add more value to my experience on HN, what good is it to me?
Re: Hacker News Redesign
#35I'm sorry, but this is a perfect example of the difference between design and eye candy. Often, people wonder why I spend $50,000 a year going to design school, when I can learn how to make things that are just as shiny by reading psdtuts.com. The difference is that style is only skin-deep. It's superficial. It's an added bonus on top of design . Design, on the other hand, is the core of the product: how it functions…
You remind me of Steve Jobs (in a good way).
Re: Hacker News Redesign
#36> I know Hacker News is all about fast load times and minimal bandwidth usage, hence the lack of much graphical work in the current version. Actually, I believe that the simplified design of HN as it is currently helps ward off the typical Internet surfer looking for new links to click on. The last thing HN needs is to attract users who only post pictures of animals. My single piece of design criticism for HN would b…
My single piece of design criticism for HN would be to provide a hi-res upvote triangle image (heck, why isn't it pure CSS?) for retina display devices.
You don't even need CSS, just an unicode character: http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/25b2/index.htm
Re: Hacker News Redesign
#37I find the number of comments are a better indicator of how interesting an article is than the number of points. I don't even look at the point values.
Re: Hacker News Redesign
#38- Content is king. The density of content on HN is what people enjoy about it.
- Focal point should be the submission title. The item's position and number of upvotes shouldn't attract the most visual attention.
- Use color sparingly to draw focus. The submission titles should be orange, not their position in the list.
- Style should target audience. The style and aesthetic of HN is more appealing to hackers and programmers than the iOS aesthetic.
- Accessibility is important. Stories should be tab-key accessible.
- Redesigns should improve. OP's redesign shouldn't be a coat of new paint, but a superior model of engineering.
Re: Hacker News Redesign
#39I'm sorry, but this is a perfect example of the difference between design and eye candy. Often, people wonder why I spend $50,000 a year going to design school, when I can learn how to make things that are just as shiny by reading psdtuts.com. The difference is that style is only skin-deep. It's superficial. It's an added bonus on top of design . Design, on the other hand, is the core of the product: how it functions…
Check out this redesign
Am I missing something? I don't see any noticeable difference between this and the current design.
It's now harder to read
I find it immensely more readable than the current design, which to me is a left-justified wall of dense, unnavigable text. The low-contrast colors of the secondary information make it hard to pick out information quickly and increase eye strain.
Re: Hacker News Redesign
#40I feel HN does need a face lift. What with it showcasing the designs of tomorrow everyday and all! I agree with kijin, the numbers besides the posts seem of no use. We need to use the space so as to get as many posts as possible in the view without scrolling, so I wouldn't mind narrowing the distance between the posts either. Maybe a hover can magnify the post a little. Posts that link to URL could have some distinct…
I don't get what is wrong with current HN really. The site is not meant to attract customers or be beautiful - it is a news submission aggregator. The focus needs to be on maximizing information density while maintaining clarity. Titles, upvote icons, and comment numbers are sufficient to get that across, so adding "flair" will only detract from that appearance.
Also, I hate sites with huge title bars like that example. It pushes the actual content further down the page. Sure, this isn't 2002 where having 90% of your content in the initial view of page the isn't as important anymore, especially on a site like HN, but still maximizing for information density makes a users life easier.