I've lived with this redesign for several days now and I've come a definite conclusion: it stinks. It's hard to navigate and visually forgettable. The scoreboard stinks. The standings really stink. All the different sections appear visually identical on the front page. Nothing catches your focus. Seriously, what web-design flunky created that cluttered, hard-to-read mess?
As I was reading this I couldn't help but hear the name John Guppy quietly echoing in my head. Don't know why. Wait, yes I do. I've come to associate any utter and complete failure to do one's job with John Guppy. For example, I was off on Friday and to catch up today I made a list of things I needed to do. Here it is, late in the day (60-90 minutes left) and I still haven't gotten any of it done. Well, that isn't true, I managed to knock out the really small, trivial stuff like dusting my desk and taking the "away" message off my phone around noonish. Ah well, there is always tomorrow.
the flash animation on the main page still doesn't work for me, and i've now tried it in mozilla. this is frustrating. but i guess that just means the status quo remains... forsake mlsnet for bigsoccer because they absolutely suck.
Ditto. The standings are the most important content on the site and it should be displayed prominently. The need to click on a tab to see the hidden conference is insane!
Like others have mentioned, I liked the previous standings table, especially the number of games played. Similarly, the Golden Boot should have kept the number of games played, and assists. I wrote them asking if there's a way to revert back to the previous format and haven't received a reply.
For the most part, I don't mind the change. But it's not like I was using MLSnet as my homepage or anything. I generally read about a story here on BS first. However, I would click over to the site and take a quick glance at the standings every now and then, or check and see who's playing the Thursday game. I really really hate how I now have to click a tab to get Western Conference standings.
Hilarious. The change from logos to names in the results area is the biggest improvement. Most of the logos are indecipherable. I could never figure out who certain teams were without resting the pointer over the logo till the name came up. The written word is much easier to figure out. It also takes a lot less space, which has allowed for better placement of other things. Having the standings and scoring table on the main page are a big plus too.
The site is definitely way too busy now. That seems to be the #1 rule of good web design is not pulling the reader's eye in too many directions. Besides the feature story, it's so scattered and weird...The related headlines for each story are so tiny; how could anyone really read them? I wonder if they're checking these boards...
I'm experiencing the same problem. I've tried it in Internet Explorer, Netscape, and Firefox and nothing will load the Flash, even though I have Flash 9... Very very frustrating indeed. Anyone have any ideas?
On the subject of mlsnet.com, I'd love to know whether they monitor the number of hits they get. I think it would be interesting to know how site traffic has changed in the past 4 or 5 years. Anyone have any idea?
MLSnet people ... if you're reading this: your scoreboard and standings need to be the two most visible things on the entire webpage. by far. as logic follows, any changes you make to your design must result in these two entities being easier to read/access. you re-designed your entire webpage and made these two things LESS visible. who's idea was that? just think ... don't try to reinvent the wheel. checking the scoreboard and looking at the standings -- those are the only two reasons i frequent MLSnet. that and looking at the video. i actually find that I'm going to blogs to find the latest standings -- the Du Nord one has one single table that is readible and makes sense. if you're losing readership to personal blogs for something as simple as the standings ... then obviously you're doing something wrong.
http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?url=http://mlsnet.com Steady growth, and you can see an obvious "Beckham Spike" in Jan 07. Also note top countries who visit site: US Canda UK Mexico Argentina
Ugggh, Just finally got round to subscribing to mlslive.tv and some numpty has decided it would be a good idea to give the scores underneath the media player. >.< so stupid , dissapointing
nope. singlesnet is the ad I see. the site also has pop-unders which is ridiculous for a "major" organization.
I hope they were offered a hefty amount for that ridiculous advertisement. So much for wanting a wholesome reputation, e.g. no hard liquor jersey sponsors. It's ugly and shouldn't be in the center of the page. EDIT: I right clicked the ad and selected "block images from mlb.mlb" or something along those lines. An ad for MLSlive.tv replaced it.
Okay I don't remember a big add for "Singles in your area" square in the middle of the leagues website yesterday. C'mon MLS are you kidding me with this??
Nope. Check out the attachment. I've gotten the popunder before, but not this time. What a friggin' joke. Talk about Mickey Mouse.