Web Roast: Digg.com Redesign

I have never really been a fan of digg, and I know it's not what they do, it's that bloody, dumb ass logo...

Ok so that's probably pretty typical thing from a designer, but the minute I see the logo, I cringe at the rest.

Personally the first thing that they need to do is look at refreshing the logo, this is "old school" and not in a good way, thus it allows for un-usability on their site...

see notes...

For me, it comes down to colors, styles and the logo... unfortunately I can't get excited about a site, when the logo is lacking and the color scheme is naff.

I am sure that others on CF will point out more valid opinions, but IMHO, none of this works, it just looks like a jumble of styles, all chucked together...

I'm not a big digg follower, so I've got no attachment to the way things used to be. I was fully prepared to find the new version an upgrade and an improvement.

In the old version, a new visitor was greeted with a headline that read "News, Images, Videos....most recent, top in 24 hours, etc." Below that was a call-out bar that said "discover the best of the web," and which had a "learn more" link inside. So, if part of the goal is to attract new users, it's better in the old version.

That said, the new version has a link to "My News" which takes me to my customized and selected feeds faster than in the older version, so if part of the goal is user retention, the new site works better. It's also easier to find sub-categories of topics in the new site.

But design-wise, isn't it all a bit boring? It looks like Craigslist on color-steroids (a vanilla classified site with some added color) rather than something that was lovingly crafted by graphic artists. It's all rather glued together, and not really organized visually.

So, helpful suggestions:

1. Less is more. Show the Top 5, not the Top 10. Box it.
2. Underneath you could put a box about Join Digg, why join, take a tour, and follow by profile information. That would be a nice place to find it, especially for a new user.
3. I'm not sure I need "Top news" over in the right sidebar. And if I do, the Top 5 is enough, and don't need 10 items. Assuming I do want more "top" news items, use the right sidebar better. List Top 5 (in all topics) this week, Top 5 this month; Top 5 this year, etc. instead of a repeat of the top news in the selected topic.
4. Get some graphic artists to revamp the buttons. "Join Digg!" button is just blah.
5. Be careful about over-advertising. I really don't like the fake digg links embedded in the listings from sponsored ads. Keep your editorial and your advertising separate. You may generate some more money with an embedded ad, but you lose your followers. It feels like spam.

Had been a Digg user since 2006. Since they released this pile I have not returned. Maybe their plan was to have all long-time users leave so that newer users who were willing to be (or unaware that they were being forced into) bombarded with placed advertising could take their place. The homepage is fine, but the comment sections suck. They have fixed a few major annoyances (like forcing a user into My News). But even the filtered Top News when you're logged in is lame.

The design of this site is very weak. Navigation is alright, but the content seems mostly second rate nonsense.

I really think the design is clean and simple. New users can easily understand what this site is for and can navigate the site fine. When i first visited digg, it was very cluttered and it felt like every detail is bombarded to you at once, i hit the close button immediately. I find this redesign very refreshing to the eyes and noob friendly. Every link is clearly separated and easy to spot. In fact, i love digg now.

First of all I followed the old digg UI many times in my designs. It was so compact yet attractive. The new homepage is quite dull in color. Look at the old one how cleverly blue and green was used to have an contrasting effect and the orange and yellow was balancing the color pallete so beautifully. Still loving it. In new one the green buttons are pain to eyes and the flat yellow is looking out of pallete. So much wasted space in left in new one. For a site which deals mainly with content this westage of space is a crime. Even the icons were lot better. Sorry for my harsh criticism but the UI of digg was my inspiration , I am shocked with the new UI.

My suggestions 1.Too much use of blue , need some balancing color. 2.The left panel could be removes and can come in top, with dropdowns if needed. 3. The middle panel should cover the area of the left panel. 4. More space for content. 5. To change the follow button to something unique.

This site aint gonna work. Its like a box full of Lego. Its realy hard to navigate around, because the focus isent drawn to any specific point.

I will not comment on the overall design elements, it does seem like a site very optimized for a mobile market.

But one thing that is very simple, and the founders + creatives working at digg have completely failed at is... personality.

It's looks crazy boring, even more so than traditional newspaper/media sites. Come on this is supposed to be a young and new company and it has ZERO brand appeal.

You can get away with a boring interface on facebook because the users are the main focus.

Even though Digg is trying to make users the focus as well, they forget something important.. the story's and news items are the real focus and the reason this site exists.

This is not facebook, it's a glorified link dump.

No Style. At All.