Internet's first get-out-of-debt community - 123,000 members

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 5:20 am Subject: Big Design Change

Hi guys, I found some time this week, so I've landed the first big design change to the homepage in ... well a long time. I'm hoping this page will make the forums much more prominent, so prepare for some increases in new people posting questions!!!

At the same time, I've tried not to make the design feel ... too stiff and corporate. I want to feel the human beings.

Tell me what you think, because some of the same design styles I'm applying here will influence what I start thinking about wrt to the forums (of course, the details matter much more there, but I'm already seeing some simple things... like making sure its easier to check if you are logged in or not, and having it not magically un-log-you-out so frequently!).

Its interesting to think about what's happening in the user experience when new people come to this site. They type the words "debt consolidation" into google or yahoo, and they are suddenly flooded with companies trying to sell them debt consolidation loans. Some of these companies are good, and some are sucky. They cannot tell the difference (hell, without looking at rating chart, *I* can't tell the difference, maybe some of you more experienced moderators can look for clues though, but most of these people are not going to be thinking very clearly, they are tackling something finally that they normall do not want to think about).

So one of the things I think is important is that they can find what they are looking for. I want them to try the forums, but for many people if they do not see "quick fix", they will just hit back and go somewhere that promises them the world. How can we deal with this as a community? How do we encourage people that we can offer them a better service for their desire to do "short term action" by directing them to one of the reputable companies denny and ya'll have found, but at the same time...

Encourage them to think that getting out of debt will be a long term commitment. And working with other people in a community, learning, asking questions, etc... That will be of high value to them.

I don't want to ... preach to them. How do you say this... "You don't want to hear this, but for your own good, there is no quick fix, try this harder solution but it is the one that will really work"

Some of you were probably in the "quick fix" state wrt to debt at one time in your past. Any ideas?

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 5:45 am Subject:

Well you know me by now....certainly not bashful. I like the simplicity quite well. However, I don't know if you are still working on it, or, if my puter is just not picking up the main bg. It is really stark white on my end. It may just be on my end I don't know. But, what little brain I left from my desiging days.....we were always told not to go with a stark white as it hurts many people's eyes and makes it difficult for them to focus. Well ....now you know never ask me for input...right? Other than that it is looking grand I would say.

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 10:33 am Subject:

Snickell, I liked the homepage. It's kept very simple and neat. And I appreciate your hard work done. Smile

But, allow me to ask a question. I remember the previous template and when I compare this one with the previous one, there were many direct links like recent active community discussions, latest topics and many other links to reach the forums in the previous one. The current template only has five to six active links to enter the forums. Isn't this template having less number of clicks to enter the forums from the previous one? I mean if we are talking about making the forums much more prominent, the ways to access the forums is less but I agree, it's a strong hit.

Will it be a good thought to include the latest topics and the recent active community discussions in the current template?

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 11:52 am Subject:

I have to agree with Moondanzer. I am not a big fan of the white background. I think it gives it kind of a plain look. I like what it says, but just a little something to make it a little more eye catching.

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 12:05 pm Subject:

I like the professional look however I agree that it needs to catch the eye...Maybe a brighter color....I think whatever is done it's going to be still a great tool to access for everyones needs. Thanks for taking the time/effort to make it a worth while application.

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 12:32 pm Subject:

I like the homepage as it is now.Nice looking & at the same time uncluttered.

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 12:46 pm Subject:

I like the way that it looks too and the way things are worded!!!

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 12:50 pm Subject:

I guess for me the white is so bright. I like the softer colors, a little easier on the eyes.

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 1:23 pm Subject:

I'm thinking:

A link that will bring up all (new) posts within the last 8/16/24 hours...

To help keep members from jumping ship, an ignore member option (bans PM/QM from the designated member, ignored member's posts not visible to the ignoring member (and vice-versa).

A button in each post that you can use to report spam in-as opposed to the current spam thread.

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 2:25 pm Subject:

I think that the area with the link to the forums should be bigger and closer to the top of the page. Morningstar, I like your ideas about the new posts, ignore member and the spam button!

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 4:18 pm Subject:

It made me do a double take.

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 4:52 pm Subject:

Mishele - it made me do a double take too - I thought I was on the wrong page!

I like the design change - I think it's a nice change from the old one. It really does bring out the human touch.

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 4:59 pm Subject:

Okay here I go again....I do really like the simplicity. However, I think the white is to plain and too bright, and, I think the very light purple header is just a little too light. Bright white and very light colors are very difficult for many older people, color blind, and, people with vision problems. At least that was what we were taught... about a hundred years ago..lol!! okies I shut-up now Wink

Guest · Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 5:51 pm Subject:

Cool, I was afraid nobody would give me feedback. I should have counted on at least Moondanzer Wink

Thanks everybody (especially for the positive feedback, the rest of you are on probation Wink

)

FlyingCats: I think you are right, but for some technical reasons, it was easier to get something going initially that was "static". The plan was to do this, see if it lowers the number of people who visit from google and then immediately leave after a couple seconds (this is like 70% or something!!!)... and then if that's effective we'll fit some dynamic content on it. It is worth noting that after looking through all the statistics on the web server, almost nobody clicks on the dynamic stuff like the recent posts, and they're not enough text to read which makes me think people aren't really reading them either. Sometimes its really important to look at the hard data and figure out what people are actually doing, vs what we are hoping they'll do. So.... short answer is "yes, that's coming back in a week or so when I have the time to do harder stuff" *grin* My intuition is similar to yours, despite what the data says.... I think it is the sort of thing that will draw the people into the community, even if they don't click right away. What's cool is, because the page is so much shorter, they may actually see it on the new page, as opposed to having to scroll down 3 pages first. A good principle of design: new users can't read, and even if they could, they wouldn't want to. Wink

So white.... I think people aren't responding so much to the white background as extensive use of "white space", because the original page was white background too (as are 95% of pages on the internet). So one quick idea would be to put coloured bars on the side where the page expands, like how some people do with a blog?

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 6:30 pm Subject:

I feel the catagories in the forum speak for themselves and are easy to navigate. As to the "quick fix" some people are looking for, it's probably because, many are in panic mode the first time they visit here.

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