Well, okay, I say ‘shall we’, but what I really mean is ‘we’re thinking of doing this’…
You can see a discussion about the design over on the side of Spanish things here:
We’ve had some good input over there, done some fine tuning, and I think we’re really close to being ready to do the same thing for the Welsh side of things.
But I’m conscious that those of you who might not have been interested in a post about the Spanish side of things might well not have seen this - so here’s your chance to go and have a nosey around over there, and then tell us if there’s anything about it you wouldn’t like to see over here…
Not at first, I don’t think. I’m not sure trying to do a different colour per language is very sustainable as we close in on being able to start field testing the new course creation tool
In which case, I’d put in a vote for using a green-based palette, but understand that it may be too much work at this time, given the importance of the SSiBorg…and the potential for many more SSi-languages on the horizon
You did a fine tune on the Spanish site so my vote is yes.
Modern
Lovely
(now) Easy to use
Color? I have some (personal) problems with green but if it is decided to be so I just don’t have the right to opse. But personally I’d love more Spanish to be kind of orange or so and Cymraeg to be red.
But yes, color is actually not important. You have bigger things to do like implementing new languages.
I quite like the new layout on my laptop, but on my Samsung Galaxy Ace, I can’t load up any of the pop-up windows (like the ones used for the list of challenges, or the vocabulary list on the challenge pages). I’d be fine with it, since I don’t tend to browse the web on my phone very often, but some older smart phone browsers don’t support the CSS 3 or HTML 5 additions used in that site layout.
I rather like the spartan approach, it works well for me, certainly with regard to the texts. Visually, I prefer there to be something that will make it stand out as an SSi course - at the moment I can not see anything that does that. O bydded i’r hen ddraig ddychwelyd
Personally, I tend to prefer evolutionary, rather than revolutionary change, when it comes to user interfaces.
That way, you can “modernise” (if that’s what you want to do), step by step, possibly almost without without anyone noticing, except hopefully, that the niggles are gradually removed. Or if not “modernise”, then “improve” (more important really).
I can see however, that others may prefer the exact opposite.
EDIT: One thing that I don’t think is a good idea (but which was done by my email provider, which lost it a lot of friends), was to change the underlying platform, and the user interface, in a very big way, all at the same time (and without warning). A lesson in how not to do things (if you want to keep old friends, as well as attract new ones). However, I think SSi changed its underlying platform some while ago, so I guess that isn’t going to happen here.
Thanks, that’s very helpful - we’ll have a look at some simple degradation for older browsers…
@mikeellwood - yes, in a perfect world, we’d do it step by step in such small increments that no-one would notice - but since this is specifically a design overhaul (very professionally done by @jonthomas ) it’s hard to see how we could break it down into that sort of increment. As you say, no major changes at this point to what is actually available
I have to admit, I’m just getting used to this version of the site. I like it. The Spanish one seems easier for a new user, but how would I get to challenge 1.6 or whichever I’m currently at? Can you download them? I would need an easy guide for the elderly!!!
I use a laptop which is maintained by my friend who was recently employed by the Forestry Commission to look after their IT so is far better qualified than I am. I started working with computers when one programmed with Fortran, found Basic easier, moved to Lisp and retired before picture handling!!!
I really really like the new design! There’s just one little thing which is probably me being picky but - I don’t like the vocabulary lists having a fullstop at the end of each line. Yes, I said it was picky, but they aren’t actually sentences so strictly speaking shouldn’t have a fullstop.
I like the idea of making the switch, although I, too, am not 100% sold on the red, as I find it a harsh colour to look at. On that note, have you done any research on colours and branding? I’m not an expert by any means, but I do know, for example, we tend to associate blue with trustworthiness and dependability (hence lots of financial companies use it). What “qualities” are you trying to imbue upon the SSi brand? That should be a factor in choosing which colour you use, although there aren’t any hard and fast rules on what conveys what (sorry). Also, who is your target audience? For instance, purple is associated can be with luxury, but you would likely never use it to advertise or brand luxury men’s goods. I would also suggest taking a gander at what colours your competitors use (Babbel=orange, Rosetta Stone=yellow, etc.). You need to be distinct in your choice, but also still true to who and what SSi is. If you haven’t already, you may go through the whole colour and branding research process and arrive back at red, but then at least you’ll know what you are “saying”!
I agree with that but then I (sadly for me as it makes damage to me personally) feel like green color for Cymraeg is almost the only option.
I like the idea of each language to be represented with its own color and if Spanish tends to be red (however red color more associates to Cymru and Cymraeg to me) then for Cymraeg green is almost the only one that remains and I’ll just have to bear that personal green burden to carry on.
(My green story is rather very complicated and I needed many years to prove to myself and other people around me it to be true. So colors are kind of important though.)
Not that it matters greatly but a common association between countries and colours is
ireland - Green (Emerald Isle - green rugby shirts)
Wales - Red (Draig goch - red rugby shirts)
Scotland - Blue (Saltire (flag) colour - blue rugby shirts)
England - White (white rugby shirts - St George flag)
As you can see, rugby plays an important part in my view of the world
