Second Life Forums Archive - Second Life: Testing a new home page this week

Rhonan Morrisey

Registered User

Join date: 31 May 2008

Posts: 108

12-23-2008 17:50

Kat,you said, and I quote "* Business friendliness – this iteration of the new user home page has two pods dedicated to education and virtual meetings, but our next task will be to make sure that people who are focused on the business uses of Second Life can find the information they need rapidly."

So yeah great, wait one, hangon, I dont see any business specific stuff, all I see is dance, shop, play, learn, flirt, build. Sounds like a gimmick to me, if i were a new user. It really looks like a fad.

Second point. Theres no link to a non flash version VISIBLE immediately. A big nogo for me.

Third point. Loading speed. Even with a very powerful computer and 20mb internet, there is still at least a two second delay on any flash microvideos playing, and it all feels very cumbersome and heavy and bogged down.

Fourth Point. If I were a new user, the flash site tells me nothing at all about the platform and its capabilities, I mean, these "videos" are useless quite frankly, to prove this, I showed the website to a good friend of mine, and I asked them to tell me about what it was, after 2 minutes of using the website, and all that came out was a big "what?"

that starts us off anyway

Katt Linden

Senior Member

Join date: 31 Mar 2008

Posts: 256

12-23-2008 22:34

From: Rhonan Morrisey

that starts us off anyway

It does!

I replied in the other thread: /352/fe/299327/1.html#post2265696

thanks!
-- Katt

AWM Mars

Scarey Dude :¬)

Join date: 10 Apr 2004

Posts: 3,398

12-23-2008 22:38

In case you thought you might have missed this /352/fe/299327/1.html#post2265873

Waste of time posting here anymore.. the ship has sailed.

_____________________

*** Politeness is priceless when received, cost nothing to own or give, yet many cannot afford -

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Ellen Spark

Registered User

Join date: 29 Oct 2006

Posts: 4

Looks like a photostream

12-24-2008 00:58

Hi, please dont use this new design. It looks like a photostream with pictures that make SL look like its a really poor quality virtual world and can be too confuseing for a new person signing up.The page should be more info oriented and simple and streamlined along the lines of what made Google the top search engine for the internet, the reason Google became the top search engine was because when you first go to Google to search, you get a streamlined simple uncluttered page that loads quickly, easy to navigate not full of unnecessary distracting clutter, they also have links there to quickly get you to the catagory of your interest. This page design is a bit of an overload for a person that has not signed up yet. I think your activity stats for this page may be way off, the increase you are seeing is most likely curiousity of current users rather than new people that are not currently residents, I do hope you keep monitoring the stats for this new page to see what the real response is , after the hype settles down. You allready have a good page now, why change it ?

AWM Mars

Scarey Dude :¬)

Join date: 10 Apr 2004

Posts: 3,398

12-24-2008 10:28

Given the time of year.. a sprig or two of holly and a splattering of berries, peeking out of the snow might be in order..

Seasonal Greetings Everyone

_____________________

*** Politeness is priceless when received, cost nothing to own or give, yet many cannot afford -

Why do you only see typo's AFTER you have clicked submit? **
http://www.wba-advertising.com
http://www.nex-core-mm.com
http://www.eml-entertainments.com
http://www.v-innovate.com

Jacob Cagney

Registered User

Join date: 19 Dec 2006

Posts: 3

12-26-2008 15:31

Where is the "Skip Intro" link for the flash content on the homepage?

I have all flash disabled and I absolutely refuse to enable it for anyone for any reason and I am unable to locate the link to skip it.

Flew Voom

Registered User

Join date: 8 Apr 2008

Posts: 23

12-26-2008 16:17

Hi

I did not read through this discussion, but i was just at my parents place and i was talking about SL so i showed them the website. This was the first time i saw the new design and i must say that i do not like it. First of all, all the black does not look very inviting, i like the white and SL blue colours, its more pleasing to the eye. 2nd, I basicly only saw pictures, no text to tell my mother in this case what SL is all about, the pics alone dont say that much...or not enough for someone that never heard of secondlife. 3th, it took me a little while before i found the " join " link.

If you really want to continue with this new design, atleast ad some colours and good visible (coloured) links..especialy the join button.

Jasmine Digital

Registered User

Join date: 9 Dec 2006

Posts: 7

Some Features I'd Like Added

01-02-2009 20:30

As a store owner, I return to the "Transactions History" page several times each day. One feature I've been wanting to suggest is to add a couple of buttons next to "select date range" that say "today" & "yesterday". That would make it so much easier for us folks who like to see how our stores did yesterday without having to adjust the drop downs every time.

OK, and since we're on that subject, adding some simple accounting tools to your web site would be very helpful! Such as a simple charting tool to show our sales over the last day, week, month, year. How they compare to the SL economy, the time of day sales peak, etc. Google already has a finance tool in beta form and it would be great to incorporate some of these same features for SL business owners.

Jasmine Digital

Registered User

Join date: 9 Dec 2006

Posts: 7

I agree with Flew Voom

01-02-2009 20:43

I really hope you don't get rid of the white background with the Second Life sun and sky on the top banner. That image brings back wonderful memories of when I fell in love with SL way back in 2006. The simplistic look of the home page is very romantic in a way. Please don't change that.

Soap Clawtooth

Registered User

Join date: 13 Feb 2008

Posts: 200

01-03-2009 01:26

From: Katt Linden

As you may have read on the blog last week, we’ve been testing a redesigned home page for new visitors, those who have never logged in to Second Life. The goal of the new homepage is to show off the breadth and richness of the Second Life experience. Test results show the new page performed well, so we’re going live this week. For Second Life Residents, the current homepage will remain the same for now.

Over the past week we’ve been comparing the core metrics (traffic, registrations, logins, economic and inworld activity) of the new page with our existing new user home page. The data is encouraging: the new design performed better in almost all aspects, so we are moving full steam ahead with launching the redesigned page.

We’ve been paying attention to the conversations on this topic in the forums, and we’d like to address some of the great questions Residents have posed:

Ongoing improvements and considerations include:

* Flash – a very small number of people who come through the new user home page either have flash disabled or not installed, so we have provided an alternate, non-Flash experience for them.

* Accessibility – the header and footer are CSS/HTML, so the global navigation will quickly get folks with screen readers to the content they need.

* Business friendliness – this iteration of the new user home page has two pods dedicated to education and virtual meetings, but our next task will be to make sure that people who are focused on the business uses of Second Life can find the information they need rapidly.

In the next two weeks, we will keep a close eye on the metrics to make sure that the page is performing as we expect. As we noted in the last post, this is just the first of several changes that we will be rolling out to improve the new user experience and to increase registrations.

Thank you to all the Residents who have contributed great feedback and ideas. When the page is live, let us know your thoughts in the forums.

Please stay tuned for future developments!

See the Blog Post:
http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/12/23/redesigned-second-life-homepage-for-new-visitors-going-live/

New Forum Thread:
/352/fe/299327/1.html

I've pretty much given up on feedback, unfortunately, Katt. Linden Lab has proved to me it's selective deafness is impenetrable. The Lab is always saying how it is going to improve communication with Residents, it has been saying this for the previous two years and I have not seen any results. I'm fairly certain you'll keep the website because of the 'money issues' and, similarly, am fairly certain it wont do the job.

Good luck anyway.

Second Life: Testing a new home page this week
Rhonan Morrisey Registered User Join date: 31 May 2008 Posts: 108	12-23-2008 17:50 Kat,you said, and I quote "* Business friendliness – this iteration of the new user home page has two pods dedicated to education and virtual meetings, but our next task will be to make sure that people who are focused on the business uses of Second Life can find the information they need rapidly." So yeah great, wait one, hangon, I dont see any business specific stuff, all I see is dance, shop, play, learn, flirt, build. Sounds like a gimmick to me, if i were a new user. It really looks like a fad. Second point. Theres no link to a non flash version VISIBLE immediately. A big nogo for me. Third point. Loading speed. Even with a very powerful computer and 20mb internet, there is still at least a two second delay on any flash microvideos playing, and it all feels very cumbersome and heavy and bogged down. Fourth Point. If I were a new user, the flash site tells me nothing at all about the platform and its capabilities, I mean, these "videos" are useless quite frankly, to prove this, I showed the website to a good friend of mine, and I asked them to tell me about what it was, after 2 minutes of using the website, and all that came out was a big "what?" that starts us off anyway
Katt Linden Senior Member Join date: 31 Mar 2008 Posts: 256	12-23-2008 22:34 From: Rhonan Morrisey that starts us off anyway It does! I replied in the other thread: /352/fe/299327/1.html#post2265696 thanks! -- Katt
AWM Mars Scarey Dude :¬) Join date: 10 Apr 2004 Posts: 3,398	12-23-2008 22:38 In case you thought you might have missed this /352/fe/299327/1.html#post2265873 Waste of time posting here anymore.. the ship has sailed. _____________________ * Politeness is priceless when received, cost nothing to own or give, yet many cannot afford - Why do you only see typo's AFTER you have clicked submit? http://www.wba-advertising.com http://www.nex-core-mm.com http://www.eml-entertainments.com http://www.v-innovate.com
Ellen Spark Registered User Join date: 29 Oct 2006 Posts: 4	Looks like a photostream 12-24-2008 00:58 Hi, please dont use this new design. It looks like a photostream with pictures that make SL look like its a really poor quality virtual world and can be too confuseing for a new person signing up.The page should be more info oriented and simple and streamlined along the lines of what made Google the top search engine for the internet, the reason Google became the top search engine was because when you first go to Google to search, you get a streamlined simple uncluttered page that loads quickly, easy to navigate not full of unnecessary distracting clutter, they also have links there to quickly get you to the catagory of your interest. This page design is a bit of an overload for a person that has not signed up yet. I think your activity stats for this page may be way off, the increase you are seeing is most likely curiousity of current users rather than new people that are not currently residents, I do hope you keep monitoring the stats for this new page to see what the real response is , after the hype settles down. You allready have a good page now, why change it ?
AWM Mars Scarey Dude :¬) Join date: 10 Apr 2004 Posts: 3,398	12-24-2008 10:28 Given the time of year.. a sprig or two of holly and a splattering of berries, peeking out of the snow might be in order.. Seasonal Greetings Everyone _____________________ * Politeness is priceless when received, cost nothing to own or give, yet many cannot afford - Why do you only see typo's AFTER you have clicked submit? http://www.wba-advertising.com http://www.nex-core-mm.com http://www.eml-entertainments.com http://www.v-innovate.com
Jacob Cagney Registered User Join date: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 3	12-26-2008 15:31 Where is the "Skip Intro" link for the flash content on the homepage? I have all flash disabled and I absolutely refuse to enable it for anyone for any reason and I am unable to locate the link to skip it.
Flew Voom Registered User Join date: 8 Apr 2008 Posts: 23	12-26-2008 16:17 Hi I did not read through this discussion, but i was just at my parents place and i was talking about SL so i showed them the website. This was the first time i saw the new design and i must say that i do not like it. First of all, all the black does not look very inviting, i like the white and SL blue colours, its more pleasing to the eye. 2nd, I basicly only saw pictures, no text to tell my mother in this case what SL is all about, the pics alone dont say that much...or not enough for someone that never heard of secondlife. 3th, it took me a little while before i found the " join " link. If you really want to continue with this new design, atleast ad some colours and good visible (coloured) links..especialy the join button.
Jasmine Digital Registered User Join date: 9 Dec 2006 Posts: 7	Some Features I'd Like Added 01-02-2009 20:30 As a store owner, I return to the "Transactions History" page several times each day. One feature I've been wanting to suggest is to add a couple of buttons next to "select date range" that say "today" & "yesterday". That would make it so much easier for us folks who like to see how our stores did yesterday without having to adjust the drop downs every time. OK, and since we're on that subject, adding some simple accounting tools to your web site would be very helpful! Such as a simple charting tool to show our sales over the last day, week, month, year. How they compare to the SL economy, the time of day sales peak, etc. Google already has a finance tool in beta form and it would be great to incorporate some of these same features for SL business owners.
Jasmine Digital Registered User Join date: 9 Dec 2006 Posts: 7	I agree with Flew Voom 01-02-2009 20:43 I really hope you don't get rid of the white background with the Second Life sun and sky on the top banner. That image brings back wonderful memories of when I fell in love with SL way back in 2006. The simplistic look of the home page is very romantic in a way. Please don't change that.
Soap Clawtooth Registered User Join date: 13 Feb 2008 Posts: 200	01-03-2009 01:26 From: Katt Linden As you may have read on the blog last week, we’ve been testing a redesigned home page for new visitors, those who have never logged in to Second Life. The goal of the new homepage is to show off the breadth and richness of the Second Life experience. Test results show the new page performed well, so we’re going live this week. For Second Life Residents, the current homepage will remain the same for now. Over the past week we’ve been comparing the core metrics (traffic, registrations, logins, economic and inworld activity) of the new page with our existing new user home page. The data is encouraging: the new design performed better in almost all aspects, so we are moving full steam ahead with launching the redesigned page. We’ve been paying attention to the conversations on this topic in the forums, and we’d like to address some of the great questions Residents have posed: Ongoing improvements and considerations include: * Flash – a very small number of people who come through the new user home page either have flash disabled or not installed, so we have provided an alternate, non-Flash experience for them. * Accessibility – the header and footer are CSS/HTML, so the global navigation will quickly get folks with screen readers to the content they need. * Business friendliness – this iteration of the new user home page has two pods dedicated to education and virtual meetings, but our next task will be to make sure that people who are focused on the business uses of Second Life can find the information they need rapidly. In the next two weeks, we will keep a close eye on the metrics to make sure that the page is performing as we expect. As we noted in the last post, this is just the first of several changes that we will be rolling out to improve the new user experience and to increase registrations. Thank you to all the Residents who have contributed great feedback and ideas. When the page is live, let us know your thoughts in the forums. Please stay tuned for future developments! See the Blog Post: http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/12/23/redesigned-second-life-homepage-for-new-visitors-going-live/ New Forum Thread: /352/fe/299327/1.html I've pretty much given up on feedback, unfortunately, Katt. Linden Lab has proved to me it's selective deafness is impenetrable. The Lab is always saying how it is going to improve communication with Residents, it has been saying this for the previous two years and I have not seen any results. I'm fairly certain you'll keep the website because of the 'money issues' and, similarly, am fairly certain it wont do the job. Good luck anyway.

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