The first reviews are trickling in regarding the new site design. I have to say it's really about what I expected. A few people really like it, some think it's real neat, and others absolutely hate it.

I've done a bit of high-level educational research (doctoral-level at a research institution) regarding human-computer interaction, especially as it relates to the internet. The biggest thing related to design and the internet (and computers) is user expectations.

When viewing a blog, you, the good reader, EXPECT to be able to read from top-to-bottom and scroll down. When you're confronted with something else, your natural reaction is to rebel. I understand that, and I apologize to those who really hate reading the setup this way. I imagine that a substantial number of readers will not like this setup. However, as time goes by, if you continue to visit, I expect that you will find that once you realize what you're going to see, it gets easier and makes sense.

Jim really hit it with this comment:

It's like going to a restaurant and finding the chairs on the ceiling.

Barring any drastic problems or severe violence, I'm going to keep this layout for the month of June. At the end of the month I'll be going on vacation, so the last ten days or so, there won't even be any updates. However, as July starts up, I'll be redesigning, as I try to do every month, and I'll go back to a more "normal" blog design.

In fact, since I wont' have a lot of time at the end of the month to work on it, I'm already starting work on the new blog design layout for July! I'm considering a vertical design that's a one-page type layout with numerous drop-down boxes for menus -- perhaps with a single box in the center that scrolls posts as you request them.

I know that's been done before, and I didn't really like how it looked the couple places I've seen it, so I'm not sure it will go that way, but even if you hate this layout, be sure to come back and visit in the first part of July, as it will be changed by that time.

And as always, thanks for visiting, and feel free to tell me how much you hate (or love) the design in the comments section.

Posted by: Ogre at 10:34 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 401 words, total size 2 kb.

1 I love it! Welcome to Mu.Nu. I should be up shortly as well

Posted by: Oddybobo at June 03, 2005 10:39 AM (6Gm0j)

2 I like the horizontal thing, it's fine, but the wallpaper and color scheme seems to be making me somewhat queeeeasy.

Posted by: Oorgo at June 03, 2005 01:48 PM (lM0qs)

3 Yes! Now if I can just get someone to lose their lunch, I'll consider myself a success! No, I'm kidding. I was just trying to go with a bunch of blues this month, since last month was green. Then the left side I was working on a cave, but that just didn't work out, so I got left with the cavewall and nothing else.

Posted by: Ogre at June 03, 2005 02:02 PM (/k+l4)

4 I don't know why I've not had a problem with it. It's like reading a book... kind of like flipping a page. I'm bummed you're changing it back.

Posted by: Boudicca at June 03, 2005 11:02 PM (z7nbM)

5 Well it's pretty definite that it will stay this way for the month of June. After that, we'll see. Some people like it a lot, but there's a lot of strong dislike for it, too. I'll wait and see until the end of the month and see if people adjust to it at all.

Posted by: Ogre at June 04, 2005 08:16 AM (YgrHs)

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