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Roger/Mark - as I commented on Twitter last night, whilst I think that the panels are innovative, I think it actually makes things harder to find. On the old "2012" site, I knew exactly where I needed to, to find news content, video content or comment from external sources. Now, with the rotating panels, it's all merged together in one 'big heap'.

I'm sure that is so that readers (like me) stumble across something that we weren't looking for, but in the traditional "if it ain't broke, why fix it", why make a change which takes the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ away from the clean lines that we are used to?

That said, I can't imagine that any of the comments on here will lead to real change on the revamped site, so is it a case of "learn to love the bomb"?

Tend to agree with 1 this is glitzy but rather messy and not intuitive to use.

As I commented when the main ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ home page was changed to this stupid "rotating panel", it's a triumph of fashion over usability.
It might work fine (and I bet it does) on an iPad - so use this sort of thing for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Mobile site.
For people using a PC and a mouse, it's irritating and counter-intuitive.
Grow up.

If that link at the top is what it's going to be like, I'm going to find a new home page. It's messy above all. As the first commenter said "if it ain't broke don't fix it".
(Additionally I don't care if the Olympics submerge without trace.)

Have to say its horrible. Why try and be clever? It doesn't work. A website should be simple and easy to navigate, this isn't.

Would agree with post 1.

Even for those of us who are genuinely interested in the sport that will be going on, I won't be wasting my time faffing - trying to scroll through rotating panels in order to find the top stories. I'll be ignoring this page just as I ignore the new www.bbc.co.uk homepage by clicking on the tabs at the top.

Tragic roundabout strikes again. It's totally unsuitable for Desktops.

Have the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ thrown away every scroll mouse in the building?

I am only 60 but this is too confusing for me. I have moved my home page away from the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ home page

Well, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ it looks like you have loads of people that love this page doesn't it? Although you are never going to change what you have done to the page, so why bother even asking, I will add my comment.

It's awful, I want clean lines from the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ. Not one big mess of content so I can't find the things I am interested in. So, bloody annoying. Why can't we stick to something that is both functional and easier to use? I'm not bothered about most of the stories that you are trying to get me to read and therefore I won't be reading them. You better no make any of your other sites like this. Especially the sport.

Took a look at this becuase I thought the comments on here must be from a load of grumpy old whatsits, but do you know what? They are right! It's awful.

That went well then didn't it........ :-)

Agree with all the above looked at it for about twenty seconds and then gave up (more than twice the time most people will of course) not only that but it does not even look like the picture above on the mainstream browser I am using. .

Very few marks out of ten for this poor effort.

TMF

Over all I like the new layout, although I have one major gripe and thats the best bit on the old front page was the wier and wonderful section of news that used to lighten up my lunch break now thats gone it takes twice as long to find weird and wonderful news items by trawling the news page.
The advantage of the old homepage you could see the areas you wanted and not others, make it customisable and the above complaints would disappear.

this isn't going to be a popular post but...I Like it!
Ok it takes a little longer to find something I am actually looking for but before that I have found 1 or 2, articles that have caught my eye. It's young and fresh and to be fair the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ site on the whole needed a good shake up...it was far too outdated, now it's catching up with other main news/general interest sites!

Good Move ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ...for once a comment on a blog..that won;t complain because you have done a good job!

Do you plan to use this solely as a portal page to content held elsewhere in bbc websites, eg. News.

Or do you plan to have a second level template for specific '2012 only' content?

It works pretty well as a portal page but the only way back to it is to use the 'back' button and I think that goes against web design best practice.

Well I haven't been back to the homepage since it changed and it looks like I won't be going to the Olympic page either.
A fussy mess, style over substance or a whole host of other well-worn phrases that would fit.

The sliding thing on the top is OK for a highlights idea. However, if the bottom half was clearer. On the old site, I knew where to find blogs, I knew how to find news. Now I just don't, it's all over the place. The amount of links to video has decreased which is odd. So keep the sliding thing, but restructure the area below it to how it used to be.

Whatever you do, don’t forget those of us who are either blind or partially sighted.

Increasing the video content may suit more people but we are just as interested as everyone else and want easy access to the news stories.
I can not see your intentions but if it requires sight to find your way about it may not be possible for me and others like me to use the service.
Please take note.

Looking at the site today it does appear to have been improved since yesterday in terms of the layout of some of the content on the carousel, or maybe it's just the removal of that hideous blue graphic. I can't help thinking that the 'Around the' section would look better if in that section there were three columns instead of two very wide ones. The new site feels as if it's lacking in content compared to the old one though.

Well that's just done it for me....I'll now use another site for my Olympic news, not bbc.co.uk

Hi. I am trying a comment here as all previous emails to Auntie have had no response. I have for years used the Gardener's desktop calendar.Not any more, as the "NEW LOOK" website has frozen in time at December 2011. Apart from my irritation it is a poor image for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ to invite users to download the latest calendar, only to find it is for last year. With less than half of January left I am just beginning to despair. Anyone there?

Here we go again. As if the Hollyoaks ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖpage were not enough this nonsensical design format is devouring the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ online presence like a digital cancer. I'm sure you don't really want critical comments so I will only say what so many have said before - the design is a triumph of dubious style over proven content; the 'rotating panel' simply does not work very well on a desktop and it is often difficult to actually get to the content one wants. Customisation is also not part of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ agenda. All of these things make the pages designed this way not at all user friendly. Already moved my homepage and will look for Olympic content elsewhere as well. I am not alone in this and the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ online presence is rapidly becoming an irrelevance.

@Roger in #21: yes, the content brings us here, but we've got to be able to find the content on the page to read it. Currently, that's quite hard with the "new look".

Given the horrendous reaction to the main ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ site redesign, what on Earth possessed you to use that same design on the 2012 site? This is the same confused mess as the main site.

@21 Roger

I think you have missed the point completely.

If the design is liked or not is irrelevant if the site is not functionally clear and easy to use. Will "Mark and the Team" actually be using their creation on a daily basis?

I doubt it...

Take care

TMF

OK, I'm confused, i this already launched? I don't see any difference, the website id the same as it was. Somethin like the picture I see here I don't have when I click on the link.
Have you taken the new site offline again or is it only being released in the UK at the moment? I am in Germany...
Personally I still miss the old site where I could tailor it to my preferences...

Personally, I don't like the new look as much. As has been pointed out here and on the posts concerning the main ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖpage launch, the new design is difficult to use for computer users and frequently hides content that is too difficult to scroll through.

However, on a different point, the heading at the top of the page. Firstly, will the 2012 portal be added to the 'More' section throughout the site once the games gets closer (eradicating the constant need of a back button) and secondly, is this new white taskbar going to be rolled out throughout the site?

One nice improvement on this carousel is that you can use the keyboard arrow keys to scroll, compared to on the main home page. I'm not sure if I prefer the page numbers to square blocks though.

@28: It would appear the new master head is planned to be rolled out, looks like it's version 3.5. Interestingly it can also be black and (semi) transparent, with variations changing to a white background on mouseover.

Oh dear, when will the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ learn that we don't like the 'tragic roundabout' [carousel].

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

I really find this new template absolutely unusable. I will find elsewhere for 2012 content. It is very sad. The style makes finding content unappealing. Content is presented as large pictures in a messy structure making a quick look overview impossible. The page moves constantly, either due to the carousel twitch, or drop down appearance/disappearance and colour changes, making reading almost impossible. It is like trying to read a book on a North Sea ferry. And strangest of all, the new style reduces the amount of content visible at first land. Click throughs are required even to find the main stories. As with the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖpage, the designers have apparently forgotten that reading requires the text to be static. Also there needs to be content visible to make visiting a site worthwhile. This design template reduces the amount of visible content on a the page. I do not get why you are spreading such poor design, low functionality and lack of content across the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ websites.

Got to say I don't like this either. The central rotating Panel is awkward, oversized and messily overpopulated, and it means that you don't see all the top stories at once on the main portal, but have to rotate through to see them.

I trust that this is experimentatl and isn;t intended to be a preview of the format of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport (or the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Website more widely) in future, as it is definitely a real off-putter.

Like many traditional users I like to be able to see my page laid out in order of priority from the top down, rather than from side to side (something that is also annoying about the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport homepage, in that the audio-visual and feature stuff takes up far too much room top right for my liking), and with distictive lines between items.