Dynasty Warriors 8: Extreme Legends

Where are we at with the redesign?

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Hey, it's been a while so thought I should better let all you good folks know what's happening in regards to our site redesign.

We started off with all of the survey results which I covered in a previous post. These turned up a lot of interesting and useful ideas, some pet peeves and lots of suggestions for the future. There was definitely plenty to go through and we thank every single one of the current 26,577 people for all the time and effort that you put into these.

Next up was finding a suitable UX/UI Designer to help with the translation of all this data and begin to think about how people interact with the site. We posted up the role a while back and got a large number of very suitable applicants, I went through each and every one that led me to eventually get a short list that I could liaise with Robin on. Due to the ability of the people in this list we needed some way of seeing their vision so we asked for them to produce a quick sketch of how they could see the front page of the Nexus. We once again got some incredible results, but one person stood out due to the detail that they put into their submission - that person is Phill Collins.

Phill has joined us on a contract basis to help shape the Nexus. His role is to make things more modern, more intuitive, more powerful and he brought with him a ton of experience to do exactly that.

He has hit the ground running and has bombarded both Robin and I with a ton of questions, ideas and suggestions. Phill took it upon himself to complete the unenviable task of reading through all of the survey results and once he’d done that he went over some of the different pages within the site (roughly 36 of them) with a fine tooth comb and made several hundred comments asking for reasons things had been done a certain way and offering advice left, right and centre.

To say this is the beginning of an exciting time is (to me anyway) an understatement.

So what’s next I hear you ask?

Well we’re still in the discovery and concept part of a UCD, this means that we are working out how everyone uses the site, what they use it for and how they navigate. With the amount of users that we have and the possible navigation flows this is a fairly long procedure as people use the site for all manner of reasons. For some it is primarily a social community and their first port of call is the forums, whereas for others they come on to find the latest mods, others may be here to look at images or videos and some may be here to try and find some golden nugget of a mod buried deep down within the site. We are looking at process flows to see how we can bring all of this to the surface with just a few clicks.

We need to look at the site from all angles and from all eyes, so we create what are known as personas. Imagine the character creation section of Skyrim and all the various possibilities of person you can choose, each one having a very different range of skills and abilities, history and beliefs. Well, there you have it! We create ‘people’ from different ages, backgrounds, livelihoods etc. and with that we begin to see what they use the site for. We then look at the site from this users perspective, making comments and approaching each page with a different mentality. This will hopefully allow us to see the site differently and approach pages for various reasons.

Competitors are another major part of the redesign. We need to look at lots of other gaming sites and see what we think they are doing right and where they too could be improved. You can learn a lot from other sites and I find myself navigating other sites purely to see how it all fits together. Within the survey, one of the questions was “Please enter one of your favourite websites in terms of look and functionality”, this has proven useful to see where people believe a good user experience and interface lies.

So we’re onto wireframes and design, which is where we would like to begin thinking about introducing our focus group. The idea being that these people will be the first to see the wireframes, mockups and process flows etc for the site and offer feedback. I would like people who are able to offer constructive criticism and who want to shape the face of the Nexus. edit: 28 Oct 15 -  The focus group is now full!. I’m going to limit this to 25 people at first - this might not sound like a lot, but when you need to go through all the submitted comments it certainly is time consuming. This may or may not expand in the future but for now it will be a random pick from the emails I receive.

Cheers all

124 comments

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  1. bschwartz525
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    Can you just fix the submit button on the Files page, so that an Enter keypress submits the form? That has been broken for months.
  2. TESChest
    TESChest
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    I don't know if this has been addressed, but regardless, will the option to have tracked mods removed from searches at will be implemented? It would make exploring unused or unknown mods much easier.
  3. morpheas768
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    Here's the thing: Most people dont like change, especially when it comes to big changes happening fast, and on things that they are well used to/accustomed to.
    This is why Google/YouTube introduce their little changes one at a time. Of course YT has gone through some major changes in the past, they generally follow this little rule.

    Now, having said that, I am obliged to say that I hate all sorts of change, and in this case even more, since Nexus has one of the best, coziest, user-friendly UI's I've ever seen.
    Seriously, visiting your website is a delight, and the ads arent very bad, compared to other sites.
    The color scheme is great and fits each game nicely, and the buttons for all important functions are clearly visible and good looking.

    What I'm trying to say is, you dont need a redesign from an UI perspective, but since you are aiming for one, please at least try to keep things looking (visually) similar to what you have right now.
    And if you are going to introduce major changes to how the sites look, then do them one step at a time, making sure us change-haters sort of ease into it.

    Thank you.
    1. DoradusMaximus
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      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
      NEXUS!!!!! LISTEN TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!
    2. DoradusMaximus
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      If you are to make the site Mobile-Friendly, know this:

      - The buttons do not need to be any larger than a user's finger-tip
      - Buttons that are too big take up space for other information
      - There is always the option of simply making a Nexus Mods App with a mobile-friendly interface.
      - As for an interface schematic, I would try to go with something close to the interfaces of the Amazon or Ebay mobile apps - but only instead of buying real-life things your downloading mods (and potentially donating to the mod developer if you like the mod)
      - Do not go over-board in trying to simplify the interface - Keep the information, just put it somewhere more convenient
    3. DoradusMaximus
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      By Making a mobile-app version of the site and keeping the PC/non-mobile-browser version the same, you can please both parties, without loosing support from your loyal fanbase.
    4. SammySahm
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      Doradus is right: mobile sites are a$$. My experience is that apps are the best for ease of use on phones, but phones in general are fast enough these days to make browsing a normal website feasible. I personally like being able to go from the app to the normal website depending on my needs, and I find mobile sites to be a half-measure that doesn't manage to incorporate the strengths of either apps or normal websites.

      I also agree with morpheas.
  4. BurtFreeman
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    i come across few time in unmotivated post delete.
    looking at the term of service, i think a regulation must be done by forum administrator/regulator, for offence and bad beaviour, instead of giving the ability at the modder to hiding even a constructive comment.
    this is almost an improper use of the forum, and what it represent since the very first days of it appereance.
    in other word, i do not see any motivation to collaborate posting, if my belive can be deleted without any reason.
    so in the future redesign of the site you may want to keep in mind this report.
    lot of reguards
    1. rockerfahis
      rockerfahis
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      you should learn english before you go criticizing the nexus' rules about things.
    2. DuesExMachina301
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      how does his lack of perfect grammar invalidate what he is saying?
    3. frenzy69
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      i want to hug you :'D
  5. meerkat218
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    I think it's a great idea to rework how space on this site is used. Redesign sounds good to me as long as you don't water it down or over-modernize it in an attempt to make it "mobile friendly." I do think scaling changes would work well; just look at this skinny little comment section that takes only 1/4 of the page yet is 100% of the content.
  6. Doon1
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    Hello Guys. Love this place. I am looking into building a new player abode. Unfortunately The category search under the files drop-down is gone. I use that feature to search or browse files regularly. Will the category's feature be returning or is it gone forever.

    EDIT: Wow that was fast. 30 seconds and it's back. You guys rock!!!
  7. bben46
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    @Doradus. Here's your hat.  tinfoil.gif
     
  8. Arethiel
    Arethiel
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    If it ain't broke, better mess with it.
    1. Dark0ne
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      That sort of thinking is what ensured we moved past the Bronze age/Silver age/Iron age/Dark age/Insert other age of man here.

      The point isn't to fix, the point is to innovate and improve with modern times, technology and needs.
    2. Arethiel
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      There's nothing that needs to be changed about the site to meet "modern needs" though. Maybe a couple things here and there but an entire site redesign is unwarranted. On top of that, people who have been around awhile may in fact have more difficulty navigating a new site thus frustrating them if the redesign is as "modern" as Windows 8 was.

      Now maybe the back end of the site needs a redesign due to poor coding or coding that simply was designed with fewer users in mind, but I wouldn't say that it needs to be modernized, probably just fixed (though since I can't see the back end code it's a lot of speculation). I mean, hell, look at C++, that language is old as dirt but it's still the backbone of a lot of back end math engines and is still used quite a bit in the business field. I mean, COBOL is still used by Scott and White Hospital where I live and that came out in the 60s.

      With all that said, as a professional programmer and amateur web admin I simply don't see the need here to mess with the user interface since code optimizations can generally be done without affecting the UI or the user at all, other then maybe faster site load times, or functions working more consistently.

      Edit: It is also entirely possible I'll change my mind once we see the new site.
    3. DrUlreich
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      ^this
      My greatest fear is thet they make it all white with the 'flat'' design-trend you see nowadays.
      Nexusmods' ui is already so cozy
    4. reportagain
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      it is kinda broke though, if you do a quick search you will see how many fucking glitches and bugs there are by doing certain things. especially after/before loging in.
    5. Linebarrel33
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      "That sort of thinking is what ensured we moved past the Bronze age/Silver age/Iron age/Dark age/Insert other age of man here."

      No offense of course but that's such a faulty/irrelevant comparison :/ He's just worried that the redesign will ultimately be unintuitive and/or more hampering than what the site is now when it ultimately works already at the end of the day.
    6. TheTokenGeek
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      The thing is, we are a little broken... Did you know that this site was originally coded to fit a 1024x768 screen which back in the day was fine, but with over 90% of our users now using at least a 1680px width screen we look very dated with our content as a strip in the middle of the screen.

      Did you know that Google now adds weight to sites that are mobile optimised with their latest search algorithm release?

      Did you know that some of the biggest responses we got on the surveys was that the site doesn't scale, or that we don't use tags very well to find content, that search is under-utilised and broken? We can address all of these and so much more with new web innovations, optimised code and some love and affection put towards a responsive design.

      The survey results, our analytics and our users tell us a lot...

      We are and will continue to try our hardest to provide you with a site that will help you find the mods that you are after, be they huge campaigns or little graphical tweaks, additional missions or a complete overhaul.

      We are working to the ethos of: intuitive, functional, visual.

      The site will be a long time in development, this is not an overnight project and will be released alongside the current site to enable people to report anything they find and get used to it. I have every faith in our team and users to help us achieve all our goals.
    7. morpheas768
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      @Dark0ne:
      Yes, because advancing through entire civilizations and technologies = the same as a web-redesign of a site. /sarcasm
      This little phrase of the Ages can be used to justify any sort of change, be it small or massive.

      But in any case, this analogy of yours is very very poor. Mostly because the "innovations" that you are implying are not true innovations, its things that have already been done by other websites, and the technology that you mentioned is already tried and tested.

      Also, the Dark Ages were horrible times that humanity wishes it never happened since it brought us back in the past, for a while, it did not move us forward.

      P.S. Not trying to bash on you guys, its just that this analogy is very poor indeed.
    8. Halleytes3
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      The site as it is now is pretty ugly. There's a lot of unused space, it's slow to navigate (it could be a lot better), changing pages is glitching, whenever I load the next page it doesn't scroll me back up, the menus are ugly, the font family is bad, a Calibri or a Helvetica, or a Gibson or Lucida Sans would be a lot nicer. Anyway, this Trebuchet MS has to be changed. The navbar is outdated too, and I think that the space could be used a lot more efficiently. And to finish it, the website is heavy. A lot. I don't know if it's the server-side's fault, but I think it needs better writing anyway.
      And as he said, renovate to meet modern times it's not the looks only, but the structure as well. WebDesign has evolved, HTML5 and CSS3 is here and it's always improving, JavaScript is a lot more powerful too. The new tools are here but aren't being used. Why is that important? Cause it can make everything faster and prettier. So yes, I does need a complete redesign.
      Regarding Windows 8. The problem never was that it's hard to use, but that it was different. Elder people who never used any of system for a long time always found Win8+ easier to use. It seemed "hard" to old win7 users cause they pretty much lived in that, and then they got something different.
    9. Dark0ne
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      The analogy was simply making the point that if we just remained content with the status quo and how things were, without evening thinking to improve, we'd be no where. It wasn't particularly hard, though I have enjoyed the pedantic responses to a simple analogy.
    10. 95f890be
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      > but with over 90% of our users now using at least a 1680px width screen

      Are you saying you're tracking us?
      Javascript is evil.
    11. Halleytes3
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      Google analytics for example, mate. :PP
    12. Nadimos
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      i must say im quite happy with the site/admin/owner. i really dont know what can be improved other then maybe let us sort our tracked mods or let us make a mod collection on the site. but if you try to make this project happen, good luck.

      and i probably dont need to say this, but if you really wanna make this try to share the design process with us. maybe put up some votes and screenshots. after that dev, site demo and then switch.
    13. DoradusMaximus
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      What if nobody likes the new design and the old design is ultimately better?
    14. DoradusMaximus
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      Dark0ne, You do realize that Arethiel was being sarcastic, right???
    15. DoradusMaximus
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      The real saying is: If it isn't broken, then don't fix it - Changing things that don't need to be changed creates only confusion, particularly amongst the more experienced advocates.
    16. DoradusMaximus
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      What spaces are unused? Where are these "problems" you speak of? I occasionally have some slowness due to high traffic, but high traffic has nothing to do with the design of the website interface - it's simply the web servers!
    17. DoradusMaximus
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      There is NO NEED for a change in interface re-design - doing so would just be annoying to anyone who has used the site before and would need to re-learn how to simply navigate the website.
    18. DoradusMaximus
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      I really hope you people aren't being stupid just to get our attention: There are more profitable, more long-term solutions to getting more attention other than making a fool out of yourself
    19. DoradusMaximus
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      Just PLEASE for the love of god do not do a windows 8 on us and completely f*#@ up the whole interface!
    20. DoradusMaximus
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      PLEASE:
      - No windows 8 box fetish
      - Keep the color!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      - Keep navigation generally the same
      - ADD WHAT IS NEEDED BUT DO NOT TAKE AWAY WHAT IS NOT BROKEN
      - Test your new code for glitches
  9. Sebiale
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    Bit late to this party so I'm not sure if anyone will answer--are there any plans with the new site to alter the structure so that you don't need to log into the Mod and Forum sections separately? It's not a major desire, just something I'm curious about.
     
    Otherwise I'm glad to see that this is progressing.
  10. Geofferic
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    Unless the redesign includes not harassing those of us that pay for the site to then pay for each and every damned mod we download, the redesign is a failure.

    That is the single most obnoxious thing this site does and if another site had the content and didn't harass me for *more money*, then I'd leave immediately.

    Such bad form.
    1. Nadimos
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      mods require time and effort to make by real people.

      maybe you should get an idea what it takes by making a simple chair in a 3d prog and then try to uv it properly. i bet you gonna hate it. but these guys are at it for hours and all we do is simply clickedy click click click.

      nvm trying to make a nice armor, which would include weight painting it and then having to fiddle around with the bones to look for any poke throughs.

      truly its not a cookie cutter job.
    2. LucHighwalker
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      what Nadimos said ^^. Though it would be nice to disable it somehow. Some of us are simply too broke to donate, as much as we would like to.