I saw some discussion posts earlier talking about a LessWrong redesign, and now that things look different, I guess that it's been implemented. I'm always slightly annoyed for a while when a site I use gets redesigned because I have to relearn where everything is, but it eventually wears off once I'm used to the changes.
My initial impressions:
"Hmmm... it seems like the category menus have been replaced by dropdown menus. It's not like I used many of them anyway."
"Okay, I've clicked my name to see my recently posted comments. Now, where's the link to see it in context? Oh, I guess I have to click that icon in the lower right corner. For some reason I was looking for something at the upper right of the comment box."
"Well, that worked. Now how do I click to the parent comment? Oh, wait, it's probably one of those new icons in the lower right corner. I'll just mouseover them to see what they do..."
On the main page, it is not clear whether the up/down/save/hide icons belong to the post above or below it. I would suggest removing the line above these links.
I would like a link to the article or to the comments at the bottom of the article, but I suppose this has been mentioned already.
Give me back my text links instead of icons, I liked the simple look it gave the side, and it is easier to understand. The vote up/down buttons are easy enough to understand, but the other icons are not. When I want the permalink, I don't immediately know what to look for. Also, the pop-up balloons are annoying, and would be unnecessary if text links were used.
Also, it is not immediately obvious if an up/down vote icon has been clicked. It turns green, but there is already lots of green on the page.
Why are the text input fields in ugly blurry gray? I would prefer a crisp edge.
Why is the text of buttons gray on a gray background? I would suggest using black text for a better contrast.
The green border for new comments is a bit much. I would prefer it if it just said "new" somewhere. Or with an icon if you are so inclined.
I saw some discussion posts earlier talking about a LessWrong redesign, and now that things look different, I guess that it's been implemented. I'm always slightly annoyed for a while when a site I use gets redesigned because I have to relearn where everything is, but it eventually wears off once I'm used to the changes.
My initial impressions:
"Hmmm... it seems like the category menus have been replaced by dropdown menus. It's not like I used many of them anyway."
"Okay, I've clicked my name to see my recently posted comments. Now, where's the link to see it in context? Oh, I guess I have to click that icon in the lower right corner. For some reason I was looking for something at the upper right of the comment box."
"Well, that worked. Now how do I click to the parent comment? Oh, wait, it's probably one of those new icons in the lower right corner. I'll just mouseover them to see what they do..."
::realization sets in::
"AAUGH! LESSWRONG IS USING MYSTERY MEAT NAVIGATION!!!"
So, what does everyone else think of the new redesign?