Moving to a single style - feedback wanted

[no-FIAt-please]

I never knew the dark option existed, however after trying it I prefer it. It's less harsh, especially as I like to sit in the dark!

 

[FB]

I use the dark profile as I like the contrast against the side bars

 

[Johnny Carwash]

Have only ever used the light setting as i was unaware until today that there was another setting. Whether we end up with only a light/dark setting i'm not to fussed, i'll sit on the fence with this one.

 

[Brogan]

Thanks everyone.

To try and make some progress on this, I've disabled the dark style and made the side panels on the light style a few shades darker, actually matching the header now.

How does that look?

Do we need the colour change between the header and sides?

 

[gethinceri]

I'm on iPad nowadays and light/dark seems fairly similar. I think you should do whatever costs less and spend the money on Xmas or other site developments.

 

[Brogan]

There's no additional cost involved, other than time.

Although at my age, it's a valuable commodity

 

[Brogan]

So the first phase of the new design is complete (although just the page background and header colours have changed) and I have to say I think it's working much better already.
What other issues are there which need looking at?

BTW, if there are any designers here who would like to offer their services, then just say.
I tend to keep things very basic as it's really not my area.

 

[teabagyokel]

It's actually more tiring to use a dark site than a light site.
This is because the pupils have to open wider to let in more light, therefore putting the eye muscles under constant strain

I wouldn't want a black background but I find that the old dark style offers a contrast which relieves my poor eyes better than the silver. I don't know if it is a purely personal thing, but my eyes hurt more when there is a lighter background.

 

[Jos the Boss]

Maybe have a design competition, they usually get good responses!

 

[Brogan]

I don't know if it is a purely personal thing, but my eyes hurt more when there is a lighter background.

Is it still too light for your preference then?
It's actually several shades darker than the old colour and not too different from the dark style, albeit it's grey rather than green.

Maybe have a design competition, they usually get good responses!

We solicited feedback before moving to the new software; there wasn't a great response.
In fact, there was hardly any if I remember correctly.

 

[Jos the Boss]

We solicited feedback before moving to the new software; there wasn't a great response.
In fact, there was hardly any if I remember correctly.

Give like a design brief, then put it as one of those yellow front page notices, then just wait for the different colour schemes you'll get, some better than others and then put a poll up

 

[Brogan]

We won't be doing a design competition and public vote, but any designers willing to get involved are free to get in touch.

 

[Jos the Boss]

Would of been fun!

 

[Brogan]

The styling system is extensive with thousands of individual elements, so it's not something that can be captured with a simple mock up.

It really needs weeks, if not months of work to produce a new style.

 

[Jos the Boss]

Oh well there's me trying to dumb it down again! And how about different colour instead of green? Maybe a blue or red?

 

[Brogan]

Red is out due to the Ferrari connection.
Blue is too generic and is the default colour for most standard forums, including Facebook.

Unless a designer gets on board, we're not going to change significantly from what we have now.

 

[Enja]

I wouldn't want a black background but I find that the old dark style offers a contrast which relieves my poor eyes better than the silver. I don't know if it is a purely personal thing, but my eyes hurt more when there is a lighter background.

Completely agree with this. It actually hurts more to look at the brighter background. Maybe I just need to adjust to it, but that's my initial impression too.

Not trying to slag off your work here Paul honest!

 

[Brogan]

Other than the side panels, there isn't really a lot of difference between the two styles.

Does this site cause the same problems? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
It's brighter than this one and the design was based on the feedback from thousands.

Facebook is also a lot brighter: http://www.facebook.com/

As is Google+: https://plus.google.com/

I guess I'm just confused as to why some find the current style displeasing, when it seems that the majority of sites are predominantly white, with good reason.

 

[tonyw151]

Although i'm not a masive poster I'm here often. I have no idea if i was using ligh or dark before you changed and haven't noticed much of a difference since.

I have no probels with brightness at the moment although using an old CRT screen, though have noticed my partners new laptop to be set very bright as standard. Could any isses be local?

I understand green is supposed to be kinder to the eyes than other colours,

 

[Brogan]

Could any isses be local?

That will be a part of it, certainly. As almost all displays aren't calibrated (mine is, however) and laptops are significantly brighter (and washed out) than most other displays.

I hope we can can reach some common ground, as obviously we want to make the experience as pleasant as possible for everyone.

From what I can gather, it's just the colour of the side panels (or rather the page background) which is the main issue? As other than that, almost all of the other elements are the same between the two styles.