95 replies to this topic

[Exar Kun]

I like it

Top job guys - keep up the good work.

[riffola]

Excellent work guys!! Looks great!

[Mat]

perfect! its reminds me of myatlas! but better!

[EvilPhil]

Yep much better. thanks. good response to autosport

[Punter]

Great stuff.
Keep up the good work

[jhodges]

OMG, it looks fantastic! Kudos!!!!

[ans]

Very cool indeed. It looks well thought out.

First impression is I really like the gallery images and testing info on the front page.

[weasle]

top quality. just what we have come to expect from atlas....

[Vilenova]

I'm || this close to subscribing. The front page looks great and you guys seem to have some very interesting interviews.

[Rraman]

I visit AtlasF1 twice a day at least, so rather conversely, it'll probably take me a lot longer than an occasional visitor to get used to the new layout. (not everything is where it used to be, and I actually have to read the screen before clicking through to where I wanna go )

But... I like it!!

Very nice, and typical AtlasF1-style clean layout!

[Juan Taco]

I don't like it

It looks confused, as if CSS went badly wrong.

[Rene]

Nice

Not as good as 'my atlas' but still pretty good

[Turbo-Man]

It's excellent!!!! Nice job!!!!

[Lukin]

It looks very 'busy' but Im sure thats just cos I logged into the old one millions of times. Will be able to give better feedback in a week or so. Change is as good as a holiday I guess.

[QdfV]

Looks good!

The last few months I was just thinking how Atlas had outgrown the old format, which was great, but just didn't fit anymore with the amount of options etc. Final judgement will take some time, but first impression is good.

[Bart]

First impressions:

There's too much going on. It's a front page, for goodness' sake! Why do I need a ComboBox which allows me to select articles by specific writers on the front page? Or a search engine for FOR1X? Or so much space devoted to the photo gallery?

Personally, I didn't think there was much wrong with the old front page, and I don't see what problems this new one was intended to fix. Sorry to not be positive -- I know you guys devote a lot of effort to this, but I calls 'em as I sees 'em.

[Wolbo]

Since having been responsible for the redesign of our company website I have an above average interest in the webdesign (although I'm not a design expert). The new Atlas design is even more portal oriented than the previous design and as portals go this is a good and clean design. The downside of most portals is that they can appear very busy and that is also true for the new Atlas design. There are clearly two schools of thought on this where one school argues that the homepage should have a clear and simple design with limited and therefore obvious and intuitive options whereas the other school preferes to have as many options available as possible. The choice should depend to a large extend on level of web experience of the target audience.

Design wise there are two elements I don't like. The middle column is missing a horizontal line under Atlas F1 Feedback - Forums Serach - Private Message (no biggie). My biggest issue is with the navigation boxes at the top right of the page. Not only are these ugly and look artificially bolted on but they degrade the visual impact of the Atlas name and logo which is unfortunate. It appears someone wanted to use every last millimeter of screen real estate and forgot that using white space as a design element can be very effective and powerful.

[Rob29]

Humm,just woke up to this and it took me about 10mins to find the 'forums' link which is the only part I use regularly. Supose will get used to it!

[osborn]

Looks great guys, big improvement.

[Cappo]

Yep! Great improvements - only gripe is that the bulletin board should be moved up over the picture gallery as I suspect it gets much greater usage. Good work!

[Henrik B]

I'm VERY positive about the new look. While somewhat busy, it also gives the impression that there is a lot of content at the site, and I think that's a good thing. Some of the features were hidden too deep - you know how it is, if it takes three clicks we don't do it... And you sometimes forget about the feature. I'm for one will be using the photo gallery much more regularily. Nowadays I only visit it if ther's some picture I get a tip about.

[Double Apex]

I like it better than the old frontpage but I agree with the two points Wolbo mentioned. I especially like the way you added the photo gallery previews and the gallery links sorted by event.

So all in all good changes but it might just need a little more tweaking.

[stylus]

Much busier than before, certainly. : (That said, I only recently realised some of the content existed...)

At a resolution of 1024x768 it looks quite smart, if tiny on my monitor; but in 800x600 the page is too wide. Sideways scrolling is not my thing, though I love the site just enough to keep reading

[FredrikB]

its a bit wide.
This is what i get with 1024*768 with favourites window open:


But i guess everything can be improved.
This is a step in the right direction i guess.

/Fredrik

[FredrikB]

Btw, some browser statistics here (but i guess Atlas already knows what resolution we use) :
W3 Schools

/Fredrik

edit: the end of the (...) became an angry smilie, not my intention

[RedIsTheColour]

Thumbs up from me. Renders beautifully in Safari as well so pat on the back for the code bashers.

[lühr]

I agree with FredrikB that it's too wide.

Most web pages still use 800*600 as the reference screen resolution (and according to W3 around 37% of users still use that as a display resolution). In addition I expect a number of users with higher display resolutions to _not_ maximize browser windows.

[skinnylizard]

congratulations on the new look. top job.

[QdfV]

Mmm, on 1280 - 960 I still have quite a large white area to fill on the sides ;)

[Stl_Don]

Originally posted by Vilenova
I'm || this close to subscribing. The front page looks great and you guys seem to have some very interesting interviews.

Do it!
You'll never regret subscribing. A-F1 is THE BEST.
Besides giving the best coverage, A-F1 subscription will save you lots of time...
you won't have to waste time looking for news on any of the other F1 sites.

D

[mach3]

Great front page!! Thanks Atlas!

[isynge]

Originally posted by QdfV
Mmm, on 1280 - 960 I still have quite a large white area to fill on the sides ;)

On 1024x768 and window maximised the window is a bit busy, but usable nonetheless. It might have been an idea to design for 800x600 then use frames to dynamically fill the resolution available?

Equally the right-hand pane doesn't seem to have a huge amount of real value-add (in either content or functionality) when considering the amount of real-estate it takes up.

On the whole though these are comments on the margin rather than core criticisms. It'll be a while before I can come up with a comprehensive view on the site but first impressions were highly favourable - overall the site now looks and feels like the premium offering a paid-for B2C site should be.

Cheers

Ian

[repcobrabham]

more user-friendly than the old one, at least for a technophobe like me

all the main options on a single page, and i like that it's more condensed and orderly - it looks like the front page of a broadsheet newspaper, which i think lends a certain gravitas

content is still the main thing though, atlas, so don't let our praise go to your head!

[Kitschcamp]

Originally posted by stylus
but in 800x600 the page is too wide. Sideways scrolling is not my thing, though I love the site just enough to keep reading

Yup, far too wide. Looks absolutely horrendous. I only have a laptop, it only has an 800x600 screen. There is no way I can run at a higher resolution, this makes it very very ugly. Not happy at all, really. I can't think of another website off the top of my head that does not work at 800x600. Why couldn't it have been designed to autosize columns according to the browser, rather than this ugly monstrosity?

And definitely far too busy. It's stuff everywhere.

Can I get my money back?

[novocaine]

not to be rude, but perhaps the guy with a favorites pane should .. close the favorites pane?

personally i find atlas to be too narrow, especially when maximised (1600x1200). making the tables fit a percentage width rather than a pixel width .. would be appreciated by me, but probably few other people

the new front page is okay, but im yet to decide whether it actually adds functionality to my use of the site as opposed to just rearranging everything. i do not agree with having forix and the pictures gallery on the front page - forix because well i rarely use it and the pictures gallery because its going to take a little longer to load the front page.

i suspect the changes are motivated by a desire to advertise all the features atlas f1 offers rather than a wish to improve the users experience, but maybe im wrong.

[Stl_Don]

At first blush I thought "wow - this is great".
Then my 53 year old eyes said... "looks great, but I can hardly read any of the news teasers".

Probably a realy PITA for you guys, but a user option for Main Page text size would be great.

I'd like the Magazine back on the right and the weather, etc. on the left.

1280 x 1024 on a 19" LCD.

Don

[Bruce]

I like it - and I teach design - so you all have to agree with me.

[bear]

At first I found it too busy but I am getting used to it. Still the best F1 website!!!!!!!

mark

[bear]

I like it - and I teach design - so you all have to agree with me.

That right never argue with your teacher

mark

[lukywill]

Originally posted by Henrik Brodin
I'm VERY positive about the new look. While somewhat busy, it also gives the impression that there is a lot of content at the site, and I think that's a good thing. Some of the features were hidden too deep - you know how it is, if it takes three clicks we don't do it... And you sometimes forget about the feature. I'm for one will be using the photo gallery much more regularily. Nowadays I only visit it if ther's some picture I get a tip about.

second this.

i never liked the style 'portal' - too much information not needed - but this new front page is just great! love the links in the right top and the 'fast' links for pics and gp data at the bottom of the next gp.

[MortenF1]

I think it's great! The new lay-out get's full marks from me.

[FredrikB]

Originally posted by novocaine
not to be rude, but perhaps the guy with a favorites pane should .. close the favorites pane?

That would be the first website that forces me to do that.
Except som smart ass sites that measures my screen resolution and fills upp the whole screen without caring about what else i want to se on the screen or if i have a maximized window.

You cannot ignore 37% percent of the users plus all those that does not use a maximized window when browsing (as i do now for example..).
I think you must "go with the flow" a bit when you design websites. 800*600 i still very much the standard you have to accept.

But i wont quit my subscription, just renewed it

/Fredrik

[Mat]

To me, this new look caters more to the subscriber who uses all the features. I am a big fan of myatlas, but i didnt like how all the articles, etc are all just text hyperlink lines. I much prefered the 'look' of the old atlas home page, with photos next to news items as they came up. But i prefered the usefulness of myatlas.

This combines both i think.

P.S. My laptop is set to 1024*768 and fits perfectly on the screen. At home, on the 19" LCD, it fits with plenty of room on both sides, can almost see the whole thing in on e shot.

[fifi]

i like it

[miniman]

I'm a creature of habit so I don't like it ;) eventually, i'll get use to it and will love it

[bira]

Thanks everyone for the kind comments as well as the criticising ones.

I want to explain our goals in this change, as well as address specific points raised here by some.

First of all, the change was a necessity that reflects how much Atlas F1 has grown and changed in the last 3 years. Our previous frontpage design was changed when we moved to subscriptions, just a little over 3 years ago. The design placed emphasis on the magazine - with the main feature taken up the central focus of the frontpage. We felt that nowadays, while the magazine and its exclusive features are still a prime focus of Atlas F1 - it is not the only focus point. We have more to offer.

When thinking of how to change the page, we've had three goals in mind:

• For users unfamiliar with Atlas F1 or unsubscribed - showcase the wealth and depth of information we offer that is arguably unmatched by any other website.
  
• For subscribed users of Atlas F1 - make the frontpage functional, usefull and a launch page for almost every section and service we offer.
  
• Achieve both of the above without over-clutter and, more importantly, without altering our 'look and feel' - we didn't want Atlas F1 to suddenly look like an unfamiliar website that you've never seen before.

So in short, we wanted to leave the familiar Atlas F1 frontpage look, while radically change its content to offer both functionality to regulars and marketing to the new.

That's in general. Now, a few responses to specific points brought up:

• Resolution.
  
  Less than 10% of the Atlas F1 traffic have screen resolution of less than 1024 wide. We felt it was time to cater the majority and utilise that space.
  
  Someone mentioned that no other website has moved to high resolution. Never mind that this alone is not true (off the top of my head, the Washington Post does) - but surely Atlas F1 was never suspect of following trends, but rather setting them?
  
  Having said all that, this does not mean the minority was overlooked. If your screen resolution is 800 pixels wide or less, you have several options:
  
  A. Use My Atlas.
  
  This is a user-customised homepage for Atlas F1 users which allows you to select what content, how much and where on the page it would be. I would recommend you have a look at it, as all content that would be found on the frontpage is also found there, and the resolution will fit your screen.
  
  B. Use the frontpage of each section directly.
  
  Atlas F1 has a user-friendly URL system, making it easy to view each section directly. For example:
  
  News Service: http://www.atlasf1.com/news
  Magazine: http://www.atlasf1.com/magazine
  Grapevine: http://www.atlasf1.com/grapevine
  Gallery: http://www.atlasf1.com/gallery
  
  And, on each of these pages there is always a navigation bar for every other section of the website. So, if you wish so, you could use the News Service page as your Atlas F1's start point - since it is the most updated.
  
  C. Use the new frontpage nonetheless.
  
  The new frontpage was designed with the knowledge that users with smaller screen resolution "lose out" on content that exists on the right-hand side. However, this will not take away anything from your first-glance experience, as you still have - without the need to scroll sideways - virtually all content that existed on the old frontpage design, and more.
  
• Redundent content on the frontpage.
  
  Someone said he doesn't need the Photo Gallery. Another said he's not interested in the Archive quick-links and search. And another was surprised to see FORIX there.
  
  That's fine. But these boxes take nothing away from the frontpage - at worst, they simply do not add anything for you. The location of the boxes was carefully chosen to reflect just that. If you don't use or need FORIX search, for example, you really don't even need to consider it there - it's at the bottom, it doesn't come at the expense of anything else.
  
  But I'd like people to actually know about FORIX and perhaps encourage them to use it. And likewise for the Photo Gallery or our archive.
  
• The page is too big (in bytes) now.
  
  No, it's not. By using server-side compression, we have in fact brought down the amount of data you download by more than 50%. When you open the frontpage, you only download 11kb plus images. And the page has not much more images now than it did before.
  
• I think you're missing a line here / I think this specific element is ugly.
  
  Well, we played around with this page a lot. We tried out many things and many solutions. What we used eventually was the design that we felt most happy with - to the very smallest detail.
  
  For example, someone mentioned that there must be a horizontal line missing under the forums names. Trust me, there isn't. We tried it. It looked out of place, and it made the threads list look "homeless" - as if we forgot to put a title to it.

So those things were given a lot of thought and trials and tests. And a lot of feedback from people inside and outside Atlas F1.

But we had far, far longer than you guys to get used to it. So maybe, as someone said, you should reserve judgement for a little while?

I can't remember a single design change we have ever made on Atlas F1 - especially the significant ones - that wasn't met with some reservations, sometimes even strong ones. Does anyone remember that the Atlas F1 frontpage used to look like this just a day before we switched to subscriptions?

And when we moved to the previous design, people were complaining and saying it was terrible and demanded the old design back - so we maintained the magazine index as the old design throughout those years. Nowadays, no one uses it anymore as their frontpage. So obviously even old habits eventually die.


The most important point raised here was that Atlas F1 is, first and foremost, about content. The new design not only supports that - it in fact makes it clearer. There's no hiding behind whistles and bells and flashing colours and graphical tricks. There's content and content and more content, and lot's of it.

So again, thank you everyone for the comments - keep them coming, it's very interesting to read. But for those who are disappointed I simply say, give it some time. I am fairly confident, from experience, that you'll grow to appreciate the advantages of the new frontpage - even if not love it

[LuckyStrike1]

Great work I think

I actually started to get a bit "tired" of the old layout and suddenly a new fresh layout is out - perfect. The content of the site is IMHO top class but I have had problems finding all the goodies and being able to keep up with all new columns and articles so I've been constantly behind in my reading. I find this new format easier to navigate around and find everything there is to read. It do look busy, but so does many websites if not all of them but I'm already starting to get very used with this which in my book is a very good result ....

So all in all - thanks for the update from a happy customer Now I'm gonna try the search engine on the site, I've had problems finding what I want with the old one so now it's time for a consumer test of the new one ;)

[bira]

Originally posted by LuckyStrike1
Now I'm gonna try the search engine on the site, I've had problems finding what I want with the old one so now it's time for a consumer test of the new one ;)

Hold your horses... it's the same search engine as before. It's very limited, I know, but this too will change soon...

[mahelgel]

It changed? :

I hardly use the frontpage anymore, after discovering "My.atlasf1.com" but the new look is very neat and informative.... keep up the good work

[LuckyStrike1]

Originally posted by bira


Hold your horses... it's the same search engine as before. It's very limited, I know, but this too will change soon...

¨


Well the result of this very correct consumer test is that there were no significant change

But instead I found some old Mitch McCann articles/columns I haven't read so who is there to complain ;)