Dilbert.com Redesign

Recently we redesigned the Dilbert.com web site and added a ton of features, such as animation, deeper archives, mash ups, and more. The reaction from readers has been fascinating.

www.dilbert.com

Let me get this out of the way: I realize the Beta version of the web site has lots of issues. It’s overloaded with Flash, slower than it needs to be, and the navigation is confusing. We’re fixing most of that over the next few weeks. I apologize for the inconvenience.

The fascinating thing about the responses is that it revealed three distinct types of Dilbert readers:

The first group is the ultra-techies who have an almost romantic relationship with technology. For them, the new site felt like getting dumped by a lover. Their high-end technology (generally Linux) and security settings made much of the site inconvenient. Moreover, the use of Flash offended them on some deep emotional level.

The second group objected to the new level of color and complexity, and the associated slowness. They like their Dilbert comics simple, fast, and in two colors. Anything more is like putting pants on a cat.

The third group uses technology as nothing more than a tool, and subscribes to the philosophy that more free stuff is better than less free stuff. That group has embraced the new features on the site and spiked the traffic stats.

For you first two groups, if you promise to keep it to yourselves, we created a stripped-down Dilbert page with just the comic, some text navigation, and the archive: www.dilbert.com/fast. This alternate site is a minor secret, mentioned only here and in the text footnote to the regular site as “Linux/Unix.”

The main site will be getting a Flash diet that will make it speedier soon, so check back in a few weeks. That’s where all the fun will be.

Enjoy.

Comments

[simplicity is key]

Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS).

I want to KISS Dilbert.com

By that I mean:
The purpose of the site is the comic strip and the archive.
So, I want to be able to see the strip easily, and have a forward and backward arrow next to the strip to browse through the archive (possibly even a calendar).

That's is all you really need, when the other features of the site interfer with it's basic function, the designer got carried away.

[hans glib]

[quote]I am sorry you ended up with a flash-fan web designer[/quote]

LOL - no designer would produce something like this.

Have another look - now most of the stupid flash is gone, what is left? A load of static (over-compressed - gotta speed the site up, see) images splattered about with no structure, order or anything.

It's a total mess.

Scott, Scott, you need to get a professional in - Dogbert's design skills are as good as his consulting abilities.

Start from the beginning - Why will people be visiting the site?
I'd wager the answer is:
All: for the Strip
Some: for the Blog
A few: for other "cool" (ahem) stuff - mess-ups etc

So the strip appears on the home page. Maybe with an ability to set a cookie for "colour" or "mono" so people get the strip delivered the way they want.

And a nav bar with three buttons: "Archive", "Blog" & "Cool Stuff".

Use CSS to reduce the need for so many image buttons. Break the webmonkey's photoshop hand to stop him doing needlessly complex stuff "because I can".

Et voila! The site would be simpler, run much faster, would be true to Dilbert's ideals and make you more attractive to other sentient life forms.

You could also have some google ads there somewhere (I'll allow you to make some money!)

[Mihai]

ok, I suppose this is useless but I'll give my 2c anyway.

The sloweness it's not associated with the colors but with flash. Most of the people hate flash not because some esoteric reason but because the trouble with flash is that it's files want to load a lot of crap before showing anything and they introduce non-standard controls. You can't put this through any diet to fix it and you can't fix the navigation.
I am sorry you ended up with a flash-fan web designer. Sorry for me, not for you, I am sure you're happy with the new looks and usability is not your problem, it's mine.
Anyway you might consult an usability expert just to check what your web designer is doing and to make sure your page views are not affected by the new flash controls - you won't get the same pageviews if the page is not reloading.
Anyways, I don't really care which way it goes, I will still check your comics everyday, I just hate to see stupid people (flash site designers) win again against common sense.

[Douglas Spencer]

... and STILL the sunday strip isn't working in /fast and in the official feed.

In the OFFICIAL feed, it's still not working.

Still.

Every Sunday.

...

Officially.

[Venky]

For those old timers, who are color blind and prefer ONLY black and white and cannot get used to dilbert in color,
http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20080502.html

[teh]

... it was just a bad dream... all the black and flashy thingings gone. But, please dump the "Flash diet" too and go back to the original version. I can get only worse...

[Joggs]

Isn't the comic strip working with google reader ?
Just get Loading...
Never had that with another feed before

[d00d]

Ok, I now get my proper black and white daily Dilbert comic at http://news.yahoo.com/comics/dilbert, thus bypassing the flash garbage (and the /fast color).
However, the Sunday one at yahoo.com is too small.
Has anyone found a way to get the full size version without registering at dilbert.com?
Thanks.

[Aidan]

Thank you for the fast version - the slow one was driving me nuts!!!

[cMAD]

The new site has something of the "new Coca-Cola" recipe ... good that you also made the "classic" fast site available.

[DrLex]

I can't agree more with the comment made by Shrink.

I noticed that the size of the comics in the flash version has been increased. Why are the comics on the fast page still the smaller size? Also, why do the Sunday comics need to be the same width as the weekday comics? It makes the text hard to read.

[BTTFVGO]

I'm going to hate to see this blog go...

It's hard enough trying to accept the new site, but the possibility of the blog also being taken away (replaced, rather) is hard to imagine...

[Mauro Cicognini]

Sorry Scott, the fun will continue to be exclusively in your strips, and not in any website design or gadget (amusing as it may be) so I'll get my share of fun no matter what ;-)

Also, being in Italy, your website is the only way I can get my daily Dilbert fix.

[hans glib]

You couldn't make this up!

Dilbert hoist by his own petard - pwned by the very people he was lampooning!

The new site is hideous, overly complex visually (I suppose you need all the ads to pay for the redesign) and overloaded with stuff that has no real value at all! Animation? WTF - who cares? Mash-ups? Pur-lease - some lame attempt by a marketing bozo to "Web 2.0" Dilbert and try to make it some social networking site.

And don't get me started on the widget - so many clicks to see a strip - jeez, who's bright idea was that? I used it twice and binned it.

But there was no escape - the stupid content heavy emails started arriving (gotta keep the branding consistent, see).

Who knows how much the redesign has cost, and now everyone is using the /fast site. And even that has fallen to the "MUST... HAVE... COLOUR..." zombies

DUH...

And I thought Dilbert was a well aimed riposte against this sort of stupidity... but as you've clearly been taken over by the buzzword/acronym junkies may I remind you of one...

KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid

[Konrad Garus]

Scott, thanks so much for the /fast site! Not only it's usable in Linux - it's even better than the old design, and has the archive.

By the way, http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20080430.html is updated sooner. :-)

[Andy Coulter]

wow talk about the asshole factor

[Mike Michaelson]

www.dilbert.com/fast is better :) Way to go!

[Rack]

I'm part of the third group but decided that the time cost of the new site is way higher than the value I get out of it. Thanks for the fast version.

[Paul Dove]

You are completely wrong about the third group. Those of us who use technology as nothing more than a tool usually don't have the latest and greatest hardware and fastest broadband speeds. And from my perspective everyone who has embraced the new site features must by definiton be an ultra-techie because, to be able to use the new features, you have to own a fairly new computer.

But even that's not the whole story because I can't see the flash site at work, even though I have a brand new PC on my desk, but at home using a five year old PC I can. The difference is that at home I control what's installed on my PC but at work I have not control. But, even at home, I have no desire to embrace the new site because it loads far too slowly.

Thanks for the new fast link, I'll use that from now on. It will be interesting to see how much traffic leaves the new site and hits the fast site instead.

[S@ns.S@nity]

Another vote for the fast site!! Great job from your web design team on that one Scott. And I don't mind the colour version, I mean the heart of the comic lies in the text, and not the drawing (as you yourself have pointed out many times, you are not the best artist in the world)

And although the new flash site is very busy and difficult to navigate, I must say I really liked two things about it. First that you can now load many strips at once, and dont need to have too many tabs open. And second, the mash-ups bit - thats a nice idea, letting people write their own punchlines easily (Many of us use Photoshop or Fireworks to do it anyway...) Read some of the mash-ups, and about 1 in 5 are extremely funny.

But I guess a little bit of a warning might have been useful, something to remember the next time you are overhauling something

[eli edm...]

I dig the changes, and the flash is fun, I totally want to do this with my comic someday...

[Ken]

Great - now I can once more read the Sunday strips properly.

Unfortunately there seems to be a problem with quite a few Sundays - eg 7th & 14th Jan 2001, 11th & 18th Jan 2004.

Had you noticed that you almost have time to read the strip on the new site before it goes blank? You then have to wait for the 'flashy' version to load.

[jm]

thanks for the fast site. i work for the govt. our computers couldn't handle the fancy site.

[Bud]

The fast site is the best Dilbert site yet! I'll be going there from now on. Thanks for all your work!

[Scott (Not Adams)]

> http://www.dilbert.com/fast

Excellent. Greasemonkey script updated.