Now I can. Some of the changes aren't bad, but I agree that logos on the schedule would have been nice (hopefully still coming).
I think it's really bad. Information overload. Here's the email I just sent to MLS about it. Just for reference, I'm a web designer (my portfolio if you want to verify is www.chrishungate.com), so I know what I'm talking about: Dear MLS, I just wanted to say that I really do not like the new MLSNet.com redesign. While I was looking forward to a new, improved site…what we got was an over-stylized, mismatched interface with so much small text and information overload. I definitely miss the old “scoreboard” area, which was easy to read at a glance with the nice big team logos for upcoming/recent games. Somehow you’ve managed to complicate the site rather than simplify it. It seems like you tried to shove every bit of information possible onto the homepage and therefore it looks cluttered and lacks focus. I’m not sure who thought it would be a good idea to use a Windows Vista-style interface for the video portion and distinctly different styles for other navigation elements. It comes of as very amateurish, which is what I hoped MLS was striving to get away from. Lots of fluff that distracts from what’s most important – the content. I’d rather have the old site back. Hopefully I’m not the only one with a dissenting view and perhaps you’ll seek to improve the visual design of the site. On a positive note, the size and quality of the video is much improved, but the video controls are so huge and stylized and in the way that it takes focus away from the video content. This definitely looks like a site designed by developers trying to emulate various styles rather than by true designers who understand how to create a balance and let the content reign supreme. Best of luck! MLS fan for life, _Chris
Ok, I've spent a little more time looking at it and I'm going to go with a thumbs down. There is way too much information on that page. Do they really want someone new to the game or new to the league to try and find information in that jigsaw? I can't imagine being a new fan trying to dig through that convoluted look. I can appreciate what they were trying to do, but I think the execution falls quite short. If anyone on MLSnet is reading this thread, I suggest simplifying things a bit. More easily identifiable visual elements and less smart text.
I don't like the new design at all. The old one was much easier to navigate. But I guess I'll become accustomed to it soon.
I am 39 and yes, I wear corrective lenses. But some of that small font is a strain for me to read, and since MLSNet.com has long been a daily read for me, that's not good news for me.
The league site has been modified/tweaked twice in the last year, while the team sites have pretty much stayed the same in that span. What's up?
This is my only dissapointment. Would be a great place for a single table now that we are qualifying for playoffs differently...just denote conference per team in the single table and I am happy. I think the smaller font is a result of bigger monitors using bigger resolution settings. Thats the industry pushing us along...."damn, mlsnet.com went to a smaller format so now I have to buy a bigger monitor to read it." (here's where Dell hears the cash register ring) Would like to see more content...more depth...but overall well done.
Worse for me as I surf with java scripts almost always turned off (kills 95+% of flash ads). With java scripts off, you can not switch to the standings for the west, you need to go to the standings page. I sure wish MLS would stay away from all the extra java scripts. Plus, there is now a huge blank area instead of just the small one from before. I could probably get used to the rest, but it is a little overpowering with the color choices compared to the previous. Thumbs down.
What a mess. Logos missing from the scoreboard on the right? Bad. Only showing one conference's standings, and forcing people to click to see the other? Bad. Having ten - TEN! - subsections of content on the front page (Shop, Video/Audio, MLSLIVE.tv, Auctions, Photo Galleries, MLS Mobile, Tickets, International, Fantasy, Futbolito)? Really, really bad. Listing the teams across the top in alphabetical order? Good. But that's it. It's cluttered. It's too much information. It gives me a headache. Simplify, simplify, simplify.
If they respond to some of the basic complaints here, it'll be an improvement. The page only needs to get slightly less crowded, and they really need to bring back the old scoreboard, maybe in a smaller version. Also, the team bar on top is simply too small. And if they could do one basic thing, they should be more timely in updating the standings. Often they have a full game story on the front page well before the standings have been changed to account for the results of the same game.
They wait until all the games for the day are done to update the stats and the standings...which personally I don't have a problem with because if you're updating after every game, it's possible you could move a team up and down every thirty minutes-1 hr and basically end up wasting some intern's time. But, thinking about it, it would be nice if they cleaned up the stats page from a .txt file into a page you can easily jump from stat to stat on instead of having to scroll the whole way down the page just to see, for example, PK results.
So the MLB site is now the gold standard for pro leagues? Considering more baseball fans go to ESPN.com and Foxsports.com than MLB.com this might not be a great change for MLS...unless they would rather have fans go to foxsoccer and ESPN. Also, for some reason it is soooooooooo slow. But after I was switched to Office 2007 at work I'm used to this new lack of speed.