Re: Request for feedback on the /TR redesign prototypes

On 7/23/21 4:43 AM, Denis Ah-Kang wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> After receiving your feedback on reorganizing the list of TR reports [1], we had some
> discussions with Studio 24 to update their initial mockup to take your comments into
> consideration.
> It was also a good time to reflect on the different issues regarding the usability of
> the page and how valuable the concept of specification families is.
> 
> The following prototypes are the result of the analysis:
> - initial state:
>    https://w3c-dev.studio24.dev/technical-reports-v2/index.html
> - view of all specifications:
>    https://w3c-dev.studio24.dev/technical-reports-v2/search-results-all.html
> - filtered view by tag, e.g. accessibility:
>    https://w3c-dev.studio24.dev/technical-reports-v2/search-results-a11y.html
> 
> Please let me know if you have any concerns or comments regarding the proposed design by
> *August 15, 2021* and I’ll relay them to Studio 24.

Making every other element on the page a different font size does not make a 
page more usable. Even if you put lots of margins.

Font size changes and large margins are only useful when they're used 
(sparingly) in contrast to a backdrop of consistency. And this page has no 
consistency.


To repeat my comments from the AB list:

The visual hierarchy is too messy for me to follow.

You are using too many different font sizes, you are only using black on white 
text for every section of the website including its navigation. I cannot tell 
what to look at first or next.

This applies both at the overall page structure level, and also within each 
section. Each entry in the list, for example, does not have enough regularity 
in its structure, or differentiation in its parts, to be easily scannable. The 
collapsible filtering section has nothing distinguishing it from the 
(uncollapsible) rest of the page. Etc.

Overall, I find it harder to understand than the current /TR page.

And also, there is too much white space. For example, the filters section each 
item is so big, that I have two screenfuls of text for something that should 
be easily fitting in a small area. And should easily be identifiable as a 
secondary content to the search and the results. But it is not. It takes up a 
lot of space in a very assertive size and weight of font.

You are trying to do all of the visual hierarchy by making text bigger or 
bolder and adding lots of margins. There are many more tools in the graphical 
design toolbox, but you are over-using these and under-using the rest, and 
this result is messy and hard to parse.

~fantasai

Received on Monday, 2 August 2021 19:28:15 UTC