+1 To the *sigh*
Now for the obligatory tear down:
* "Image-mode", complete lack of understanding/reinvention of
Wikipedia content. Replacing Wikipedia's emphasis on content with a
mode where some random image that may only be partially related to
the information in the article is brought forward as something
primary. (Not that the majority of articles even have a primary
image in the first place).
* "To focus on the content and text, no references or links are shown
by default. You have to manually turn these on in the menu." WTF!
This is very anti-user/bad-usability. Users are not going to look
into the menu to turn on links. The mass majority of them are never
going to realize that links even exists. And as much as you might
think
https://xkcd.com/214/ is a problem links are used by users to
jump from article to article when they realize that the information
they are looking for is really part of a related article rather than
the one they are currently on. This "feature" will actively hinder
reader's ability to navigate Wikipedia.
* Additionally as much as someone might dislike the "clutter",
references are an important fact of Wikipedia. References verify
whether you can or can't trust a "fact" that's been put up on
Wikipedia. Verifying the sources is a oft done but important part of
seriously using the Encyclopedia. Hiding them doesn't help encourage
that any more.
* The search bar. I can understand the supposed rationale for putting
search at the bottom. But before you jump on random untested idea,
I'd like to see actual usability tests on putting the search field
down there. Especially on tablets. Cause usability studies so far
have shown that the best place for search fields is the upper right
(well left on rtl). Otherwise it can become harder for random
readers to find the location of the search bar.
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/12/04/designing-the-holy-search-box-ex…
~Daniel Friesen (Dantman, Nadir-Seen-Fire) [
http://danielfriesen.name/]
On 2013-06-04 9:13 AM, Brandon Harris wrote:
As many of you know, people redesign WP all the time.
Here's this month's.
http://mhauken.no/wikipedia.html
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Brandon Harris, Senior Designer, Wikimedia Foundation
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