Tell Us What You Think About Our New Look
We’ve worked hard to make our new home page easy to use and attractive. And we hope it will make you want to explore and enjoy the rest of AAR.
In the meantime, we hope you’ll tell us what you like – and what you don’t like – about our new look.
Many thanks to Jeanne Pickering of Pickering WebDesign for her stellar work on the design and technical side of AAR 3.0 and for holding my hand and getting this baby up and running.
This thread will remain open.
– Sandy AAR
That’s exactly what I need!
I love this site and will continue to visit, but honestly I’m not in love with the new look. As far as content, it’s fine, but the look is very “”childish”” looking. I’m not a big fan of the clip art. It could be much better.
I love it. Clean, simple and professional — and very attractive! Congratulations!
Well… I check AAR once a day pretty much every day for new reviews — and I have done so for something like twelves years now (crazy! is that possible?! time flies) — and I wasn’t going to say anything but… I really dislike the new banner. I thought the hammock image was cheesy too but I prefer it to the blocky, simplistic, clip art (ish) images that are featured now. Plus the artwork doesn’t have any connection to the “”Back Fence for Lovers of Romance”” catch phrase. (Perhaps it’s time to retire the concept of the “”back fence”” altogether?) I was hoping the redesign would be more sophisticated and reflective of the quality of the commentary and content overall. Two cents only.
I’ll just add my voice to clamour, and say that in case anyone’s wondering: This was not a unilateral decision. We have Jeanne Pickering to thank for the design, but the whole AAR team had a chance to weigh in with our thoughts before it went live.
Nana,
Our inclination is not to bring back the At a Glance box. On the new home page all the information is there that was found in our old box. The orange bar takes you to the new reviews listing. The blog bar takes you to the blog. The also new at AAR lists even more new features much the same way that the At a Glance box did.
This is a new and different and more updated way to access the same information.
I’m sorry that you’re not happy with the new design and hope you will become accustomed to it eventually. The information is all there, Nana, just in a different way.
Tara, you know what they say about beauty being in the eye of the beholder and I couldn’t disagree more with those who say the design is “”amateurish.”” It is a clear and easily understood grid and I find it visually very appealing.
I have to admit, I am in the “”not liking it so much”” group – as many people have previously said, I enjoyed the at a glance box that was so useful on the old site. As well (and this is NOT a dig at the site designer) I do think that the whole site does look a bit amateurish – more like a blog I designed myself than an established review website….I do like the colours though!
I’m sorry, but I think this new design looks cheesy. Not very tasteful and I really miss being able to check the new reviews at a glance. As of now, I haven’t been able to find the list. I hope I do cause I enjoyed looking at the entire list of books across genres.
Every time I come back I hope you’ll have resurrected the old at-a-glance box, and then when you haven’t, I come here and hope at least that you’ve commented on it. I appreciated that you made some tweaks suggested by other commenters and it got my hopes up for this one, especially since I’m not the only person who misses it.
If you don’t want to restore that wonderful, efficient, user-friendly, insert more biased adjectives here :) old layout, well, it’s your site. But I would be interested to hear the logic about why it went and why you don’t want to bring it back. I used to read the blog all the time and click through to the reviews listing. I haven’t used any functions but the message board since the new site went up, because the other areas are just too annoying to find, and without the dates, I can’t remember if I already looked at them.
AAR has been my source of “”what to read next”” for years. How lovely to have a beautiful new and useful website to use as well. Congratulations!
I love the soft blue, the inclusion of more visuals, and the site is easy to navigate. Congratulations on launching your updated look!
Jay — You can still read the new reviews list by clicking on “”New Reviews”” in the orange banner heading.
Overall the new look is attractive. However, I miss the list of recent reviews by book title. I enjoyed browsing the list. I miss being able to do that and being forced to use the search engine to find a review of something recent.
Oh, sorry, forgot to say I’m using IE6.
Yes, Jeanne, I am seeing the drop-down menus on the interior pages, and those links do work. Thanks! But on the home page, nada. No drop-down menus at all. (And I’ve checked about 20 times to make sure I wasn’t missing something! :) ) The problem is, without you sending me that link, I wouldn’t have had a clue how to get to those interior pages.
looks like your site has grown up….like it
To echo some other posters, the links at the top are not working for me. I click on them and…nothing. So yeah, for now I hate the new changes, as it is making everything pretty much inaccessible to me.
Once again, I have to ask – are you seeing the drop-down menus when you scroll over the links at the top? Are the links in the drop-down menus working or not?
Here is the link to the list of new reviews: http://likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/newReviews.pl When you scroll over the site navigation on this page, do you see the drop-down menus? Are the links working in them?
When links don’t work, that’s a serious problem and I want to get it fixed. Having said that, though, I want to point out that the site navigation has always worked as follows: When you scroll over the link, the cursor turns into a pointy finger and the drop-down menu appears with clickable links. The initial link, however, has never been something you click on to go to a page. It’s a placeholder for the drop-down menu. You can see it works the same way on the interior pages as well. Which is how it has always worked, so far as I know.
Again – if you’re not seeing the drop-down menus and especially if you’re not seeing them on the interior pages, then I really want to know about it. I’ll need to know what browser you’re using and what version of it you’re using. This isn’t advanced technology so everyone should be able to use the drop-down menus. (Caveat – if you need to increase the text size in your browser to larger or largest, you will get some wrapping. As Sandy said in an earlier post, the site navigation is being reviewed and streamlined and the wrapping problem will be resolved.)
I really like the new site. I adore the color–lavender or periwinkle–very easy on the eyes. And I don’t feel that the home page is too cluttered. The redesign is much cleaner and fresher than the old.
That said, I do understand those folks who say that it isn’t a ‘romantic’ design. That’s not really off-putting for me. Too many sites are cheesy and/or tacky in an attempt to be ‘romantic.’
I like the clean graphics, clean lines and bigger drop-down menus. No complaints from me and kudos on a great job on a massive project.
lindajean, the clip art (and original illustration) are intended to have a slightly retro and fun feel.
And, since mouse is curious, the designer of the “”dated”” banner and the textured background is 28 and a professional art director at a successful ad agency with quite a few design awards under her belt.
I’m going to agree that there are probably too many font styles on the home page and they should be reduced. Easily done.
I thank everyone for the feedback and please keep it coming, but I’m also going to ask this: Please no more personal digs at those who did the design. Though, honestly, “”of a certain age”” isn’t an insult to those of us who’ve acquired some experience and are proud of it.
I work in the ad business and EVERYBODY always has an opinion and rarely do those opinions converge. If you try to accommodate everyone’s feedback, what you end up with is “”design by committee”” which pretty much sucks every single time. You’ve got to have a strong point of view and go with it and then make necessary changes based on feedback. For everyone who says the design is “”dated”” there are others who are saying that it’s fresh and modern. Can’t make everybody happy. We just can’t.
I don’t mind the blue, but the design does look dated to me, and I do not like those floating clip-art images at the top. Also I didn’t realize that the New Reviews bar was clickable until someone above mentioned it.
Perhaps you are going for a deliberately retro look?
The clipart banner, lack of whitespace, cluttered layout, the textured background that must be a relic from the 90’s…yikes. I counted at least five or six different font styles on the front page alone! Visually distracting and just plain dated. Perhaps the people who run this site are “”of a certain age”” and therefore not as familiar with modern web design?
The makeover is really nice, the blue is easy on the eyes.
Naturally it will take some time to get familiar with the changes.
Good job on all the hard work.
I will keep coming back for reviews, and all the blogs.
Looks fine and no trouble navigating. Glad you kept the draw down menus in the same order. It was time to retire the hammock, but I agree with the earlier comment that the banner looks like tacky clipart. Thanks for all the hard work to keep the site running smoothly!
I had no idea you could click on the orange New Reviews button until someone mentioned it here. Perhaps making that more obvious would help.
@Susan/DC
Let me edit my previous comments. As I re-read your email, it became more clear that you are NOT seeing the drop-down menus on the home page but ARE seeing them on the interior pages. So I definitely would like to know what browser you’re using and what version it is – both on your Mac and on your PC. Please drop me a line at jeanne@pickeringwebdesign.com when you have the time. Thanks.
@Susan/DC
Are you not seeing the drop-down menus when you scroll over the top navigation bar on the home page? Do you see them when you scroll over the navigation bar on any of the interior pages? The code is the same for both and its the same code that we used before the change so I expect that, if you’re not seeing the menus on the home page then you’re not seeing them on the interior pages either.
If this is the case, would you mind sending me a pm and giving me details – what browser you’re using, what version, what pc, etc? Thanks.
Right below the banner that says “”All About Romance”” is the navigation bar with Home, Reviews, etc. None of those links work for me. I can get to the message boards if I click on the big orange bar right above the new reviews (the one that says “”New Reviews””) because the reviews page has its own navigation bar. Definitely not the direct route. I wonder if it has something to do with the PC I’m using. I’ll try from my Mac to see if it works on that and will let you know.
@Susan/DC: What links are not working for you? Everything is working for me.
Yes, the Message Boards link in the top nav bar is the only link to the boards from the home page.
The links on the top of the home page don’t seem to go anywhere. How, for example, do I get to the message boards other than clicking on “”Message Boards”” at the top of the page?
I have been using this website for about a year and I love the new look! It’s pretty, user-friendly, and easy on the eyes. I really appreciate the boxes on the home page especially. Keep up the wonderful work.
it took awhile to get used to it but i think i like the layout (i enjoyed how you highlight some new reviews with a snippet and their pretty covers) except for 2 things:
-The colors. There is just too much going on with the colors and it takes an extra moment to register all the colors I’m looking at. The light blue wallpaper/background is a bit of an overkill and is distracting when I’m reading the stuff written on the site. The choice of colors also makes this website feel more like a New-Parents blog than a place where people discuss romance books.
-the font for the navigation menu seems out of place. I prefer the navigation menu sans-serif font on the New Reviews page.
-and it took me awhile to figure out that “”New Reviews”” is clickable. It may be helpful to leave the link underline in.
Thanks for the tip, Diana. I hadn’t realized that! It’s really helpful. I still wish there was a way to incorporate the dates of the last update right by the various features.
@Kitty No you don’t need an extra step. Click the HUGE orange bar right over the cover pictures that says NEW REVIEWS. One click…just like before.
I like your new formatting of the “”home”” page. At first, I felt as some other readers have noted over the preview weekend that it looked a bit cluttered. Now I am finding after a few days, I am drawn to the “”reviews”” because of the cover art and brief intros and find myself reading everyone because it is easy to just “”click”” on to them, rather than have to search for them. The other formats on the home page are informative without being too wordy and I find myself quickly knowing what options I want to explore…or not! The new colors are inviting and I like the updated look! Change is good…hope you consider more as design and dollars permit.
Nice Job!
I was looking forward to the new design. I didn’t like it when I first saw it–it was too busy and cluttered. But I told myself that I had to give it time to get used to a new layout. So I’ve been visiting every day trying to get used to the new look. But I really don’t like it. I like the IDEA of the reviews up front with a pic to go with it. In reality, it takes up way too much space. And I don’t have a choice to look at the list like before, and choose which reviews I want to read. Of course, you can still click on the menu item “”REVIEWS”” and get to the list. So, for this reader, the design change is essentially redundant.
As some others have pointed out, I really liked the At a Glance feature. I don’t check the site everyday, and when I did, I always found that feature very useful, because it told me the date that the blogs had been updated as well as the reviews. I really miss that.
Finally, as someone else mentioned, I wish there were hyperlinks to connect to other reviews of a particular author, particularly, when a book is in a series. I know it’s expensive, but perhaps in a while that might be something you could consider adding.
Big improvement! Looks fresh and inviting and navigation is a breeze. Congrats to the design team.
I’m scratching my head in puzzlement over some of the rather vehement negative comments. There’s something offensive about blue? Can’t find anything? (as I read on Twitter) Seriously? I mean, seriously? Most websites today are laid out with a clean navigation bar across the top because it’s user friendly. The internet doesn’t look anything like it did years ago when we required big clickable buttons with pointy flashing arrows telling us what to do. And allow me to joyfully proclaim my happiness at seeing those amorphous purple blobs (flowers? were they flowers?) wither and die. I hope they’re in a better place because we don’t need them anymore. I won’t miss the hammock either. Not one little bit.
The excellent content is the reason why I visit the site, but a facelift is always nice. I hope no one’s eyeballs are so wounded by the new look that they’ll go away.
I absolutely love the new format. I’m in Australia and and find the site fresh, easy to read and negotiate (helpful for us seniors!) Keep us the good work. It’s such a joy to see how well it all works.
I love this site and nothing you change will keep me from it. Having said that, the new colors, banner, and large size seem childish and unprofessional. I hate having to scroll sideways and I think it’s a mistake to assume most people have big, modern monitors. On the plus side, I really like the format of the home page, just not the size. Actually on second (third and fourth) glance, the banner isn’t as tacky in it’s smaller size on the pages with the centered content. I still don’t like it, but that’s just a personal issue.
The whole look is fresh, more appealing than before, but not quite what I was expecting.
With a little poking around I’ve found my way around to some favorite spots quite easily. Such as clicking directly on the “”New Reviews”” banner to be taken straight to all the latest reviews.
On a personal level I’d sure like to have the Speaking of Audiobooks column added to one of the drop down menus on the Home page so I can go directly there if the latest column has fallen from the front page. I always struggle when I have to hunt for it.
I haven’t posted yet because I’ve been trying to decide what to think. I still am on the fence, but I’m not loving the new look. It’s just too blue. Like Courtney and some others said, it needs more whitespace. I also miss the “”at a glance”” feature.
It’s close to being good, I think, which is why I’m still on the fence, but imo it’s just not there yet.
Sorry, but you have lost me with this “”new look””. Not that I will abandon the site, but I don’t like the look and feel of the front page – it is too busy, and not informative. I find it hard to tell what’s new, what has changed, when things were last revised, and so forth. It looks more like the site is advertising books than providing services to readers. And the front page is too big – I have to scroll around to find things, whereas before, it was all clearly laid out right there in front of me, even with big font. Finally, none of the links work for me – can’t get to the reviews, blogs, nothing. Presumablythe latter is a technical issue, and I will keep checking back, but I regret the new look.
I love this site. Loved it before, love it now :)
Love the new look. This site has been a favorite of mind for years.
And to echo others, I really miss the box with recently updated stuff! But I can live without that. The site still functions perfectly well, it looks very dated and it’s not pleasant to look at.
I’m not crazy about the old design or the new one. To be honest, it’s not very professional looking – it looks like a site designed by an amateur back in 1998. And that banner at the top isn’t very “”romantic.””
The flicker is a technical issue that is being straightened out with our Web host. Should be gone in the near future.
@nana – I was getting the flicker at first, too. From what Ms. Pickering has told us, it may be possible that you have the old image savedin your cache. If you try holding down the control key while clicking on the reload icon on your browser, that may fix it. I tried on my computer, and it did the trick for me.
Anybody else getting a “”flicker”” when they load? When I first see the page, I see the old “”At a glance”” box, and it gets my hopes up that it’s back, and then it redirects to the new page front. It’s taking a long time to load, too.
Please bring back the box! It was so much more user-friendly. I don’t mind the new features – but couldn’t the box go above them?
I like the blue.
This probably wasn’t intended, but the texture looks to me like seersucker, and since the weather is hot and humid today, I appreciate that.It makes me feel cooler.
Nice makeover!