sugarenia.com

I really, really like Last.fm new design. It’s so clean and organized for once - using the old interface, I could not really tell what was where and always found myself clicking here and there to get the pages I wanted.

But the current one, ah! So usable, so pretty, so clean, so new.

It has its rough edges (all redesigns have at first) but it’s a nice change for one of my favourite social sites.

And the people who worked on it do not - in any way - deserve the shit they get thrown at since they launched the new design.

Really, people. You, Last.fm users out there. Especially the freebies. What’s wrong with you? What do you think is SO fundamentally wrong with the new design?

Jeez.

See my point now?

last.fm, redesign

I’m ashamed to admit, I haven’t discovered Konigi till recently. It’s a great repository of design bits, methods, tools and techniques related to user experience, a recent favourite of mine.

First of all, I digg the design. I digg it so much it hurts. I guess when we teach “content must define the design, never the opposite”, that’s what we have in mind:

Simple, works.

Feel free to browse the archives, but what I liked best was these graph paper templates, because hey, you can never stop using pencil and paper in UI design.

konigi, UX, design

Zennaware’s Cornerstone is a (or yet another a) sexy Subversion client app for Mac OS. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m sure it’ll be pretty enough. But the site, oh, the site:

Awesome use of colours and grids in a page so informative it (kinda) hurts. I love it.

What I’d like to see differently: Screenshots should be moved to the top of the content, right after the introductory text. Screenshots is the first thing a user wants to see while checking out an app, especially a Mac user.

Moreover, I’m a sucker for big headers, but well, this one kinda hurts my 13.3” Macbook. Only thing I can see when full screen is the humongous logo, the download badge and some text.

zennaware, cornerstone, subversion

Newly arrived Acrobat.com must have like, the cutest re-login window ever.

Awww. Don’t you just want to smooch your screen or something?

To taste the cuteness, just log into Acrobat.com and leave the tab open without doing anything till the session expires. Then you get this.

…And to think that I’m not even a fan of babies.

acrobat, adobe, acrobat.com, babies

I’ve been using the Web since 1998, while I started peering at it from the professional podium almost 3 years ago. I’ve never ever clicked on any advertising banners, unless by chance or misfortune or because they were so damn annoying I had to shut them down.

I’ve found myself clicking - again and again - on The DECK advertisements, mainly through Twitterrific (which now uses ad placement for financial support - a noble cause).

Why? Because they’re relevant. They’re focused on me. They concern products I already use or plan to check out. They’re sometimes funny and quirky (remember that clever Putin one?).

Most of all, they’re subtle. No music playing loud, no videos moving, no striking colours or silly “click on me” tricks. Just a logo, two or three words and that’s it. I consider it the triumph of awesome copywriting and advertising subtlety.

Granted, they’re too “quiet” or “invisible” or whatever, but who needs more shouting in such a noisy place as the Web?

So that’s why The DECK works for me, as a consumer. It actually helps me find cool stuff, instead of just getting in the way between me and the content.

Congrats!

P.S. Wow, two advertising posts in 3 days, I must be on fire or something.

advertising, banners, the deck, twitterrific