I want to introduce you to the new look ChinesePod (’Version 3′) to be released in the coming weeks. The new design here on the blog today gives you a flavor of that. Meanwhile, here’s a what the new home page will look like.
We approached the design from the belief that form should follow function. In terms of function, there were two main objectives:
* to enhance the learning experience as much as possible
* to make the service easier and more intuitive to use
‘Enhancing’ the learning didn’t mean throwing out ever more features, of course. Rather it involved hard decisions about how key features should integrate for consistency and the best experience. This meant that the two objectives were co-dependent. We took the elements that enabled the most learning, built upon them, and stripped away the rest. The challenge was to integrate them into a design that was manageable and intuitive. Hank was wont to quote St Exupery in this regard:
You know you’ve achieved perfection in design, not when you have nothing more to add, but when you have nothing more to take away.
I would make no claims for perfection of course, but we did try to follow Exupery’s principle. One of the consequences was to reduce the number of actions that the user could take at any point. (The number of links on any given page are now almost certainly less than on it’s V2 counterpart.) This is an example of function over form - in this case, helping the learner to stay focused on the learning by eliminating diversions.
It was from here that the form, or the ‘look’, emerged: cleaner, leaner, more assertive about the learning. Aesthetically I guess it also has that ‘web 2.0′ feel to it. ChinesePod is a product of its time.
The ‘promise’ of the ChinesePod brand hasn’t changed. We’ve tried to create a service that is confident but flexible, and that allows you to learn Mandarin on your terms. If this design allows you to learn more and to fit the learning into your lifestyle, then we will have met our objectives. (I can promise you it was our best shot.)
As to the logo, the idea was simply to represent a stylized, ecstatic learner. We hope that’s you when you take a test run.
Ken Carroll
中文 Chinese
海宁 / Henning Says:
March 13th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
Hi Ken,
but if you are serious with teaching Chinese contemporary culture, you should also prepare URL with a more Chinesese look&feel:
http://blogs.chinesepod.com/20.....versities/
So build a page that maximizes the number of actions per page, cram in as many links as possible on a 100 square-pixel unit and please, please do not forget to add some blinking banners (flying over the page!!). And of course flash animations with sounds (90th-ringtone-style). 开玩笑
kmk Says:
March 13th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
It’s funny how the red-step new logo makes me inevitably think of the Manneke pis (Brussels most famous statue).
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi.....pt2005.jpg
Art Kho 许冠俊 Says:
March 13th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
What does 無阿彌 mean? My Mac’s Chinese input hinted that 阿彌 are the first two characters for Amitabha Buddha. What’s the significance of Chinesepod 3.0 not having Amitabha?
Charles Says:
March 13th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
Not bad, not bad at all. But I think there isn’t enough contrast things like the link back to the link back to the previous post. Also can we get a comment link at the bottom of the post as well… Doesn’t really work with the usability Improvements if I read a post then have to go back to the top to comment on it. Nice Ajax search.
Charles Says:
March 13th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
oh and when I do click on the 4 comments part it takes me to the very end of the post So at the bottom of the page I have 4 Responses to “Brand new look” which really should come up at the top of the page with the comments under it.
Oh and the blog doesn’t have a favicon anymore.
hanyu_xuesheng Says:
March 13th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
無阿彌? No idea… But simplified it would be 无阿弥…
Can we expect that CP from now on favors traditional characters?
I would prefer them.
Jazz Says:
March 13th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
It looks very smart, but I’ve got to say I’ll be sorry to lose the current logo.. There was something exotic, and mysterious, and friendly, and a bit off the wall, and, well, Chinese and Podular, about the old one (to this ecstatic learner, anyway). This one looks a bit corporate and cold to me. Still, the shiny red pod will endure on my coffee mug! And I expect I’ll get used to it; I’m not going anywhere, after all.
goulnik (郭力毅) Says:
March 13th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
Interesting quote from Saint-Exupery La perfection est atteinte non quand il ne reste rien à ajouter, mais quand il ne reste rien à enlever. in Terre des Hommes.
That’s also my philosophy and very suited to Japanese design actually, but he was actually refering to writing style I think. Food for thought re: some looong posts on this blog
Yv
Diana Says:
March 13th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
While I somewhat agree with the eliminating diversions idea, it would be good to not have to backtrack several pages or have to do a search for a specific thing…though I’m sure you’ve taken that into consideration. It would be good to have non-distracting links to the broad categories, like lessons, forums etc. (which in turn link to the specifics), on every page.
Are there plans to link to blogs, forums, learning center, etc. from the front page, or further in? It seems that the homepage redesign is geared towards those new to the site, which has good and bad points. Previous/frequent users just have to dig a little deeper, or bookmark their favorite spots.
Jemini Says:
March 13th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
Word press is a great product, and probably the best, for running sites like this one. Though, there’s something about the narrow width of it that makes it look cheap. It’s like those sites that people throw up in a few hours that have that, “get rich quick” feel to them; and is usually for that purpose.
I prefer the other look and color scheme.
Ron in DC Says:
March 13th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
I love it.
First, I just love new things and hate clutter. Seeing the same day every day bores me.
My favorite is the logo. I hated the old one- the big ‘Pod’? I hated the idea of wearing that shirt around (so I never got one), imagining the ‘what’s Pod mean?’ question. And it was way too red. Now people can ask ‘what’s chinese pod?’ Big difference.
The home page now doesn’t throw a bunch of lists at you, but allows access to a lesson right off. Nice. Now, if we can just crop out that guy in the photo with Jennie……
rb
Ken Carroll Says:
March 13th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
Ron,
I fully agre with you about that guy in the photo. I say, ‘Get rid of him’.
Ken Carroll
Bazza 白锐 Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 12:02 am
Ron, you’re right about the t-shirt, I got called ‘Pod’.
Bazza 白锐 Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 12:03 am
I like the logos on this page:
http://chinesepod.com/contact.php
I put one on my myspace page.
Tom Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 12:19 am
In the comments list on the right a flurry of new comments on one topic can knock all the other topics off the list. My preference would be to do something like display only the most recent comment per topic with maybe a heat icon showing how hot the topic is.
Bazza 白锐 Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 2:54 am
On my blog the comments are grouped by topics. I’m sure if one topic can knocked all the others off though, I haven’t had enough comments yet hehe.
Diana Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 5:51 am
Yeah…right now “Brand New Look” dominates, even though other topics have gotten a lot more comments. I guess that’s how older (and by “old” I mean 1 or 2 days) topics get buried, even though they’re still very relevant.
Clever Dick Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 6:54 am
I really don’t enjoy change, especially if it is just for cosmetic reasons. For example, you’ve added a new logo and changed the wording to “Learn Chinese on your Terms” (which is a mistake in my opinion because we really want to learn Mandarin). But essentially, nothing else has changed. And so I cannot see how that “enhances the learning experience or makes the service easier to use”.
Please don’t dispose of the old Chinesepod format. It became like an old friend I could trust and depend on. Now, with the release of Version 3.0, its as if that old friend has been transformed into something foreign and alien, its like starting all over from scratch. BTW, the new logo looks evil, something like a fighting weapon in martial arts. Plus its not too gender specific. Perhaps have two anatomically correct character shapes.
Dima, Chief Apricot Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 8:03 am
Ken,
I am huge fan of your service - since the very beginning. Your podcasts and website has evolved greatly. I totally admire what you have already done and I am sure you will achieve much much more.
Now, besides being a student of Chinese, I am a web professional with a particular passion on usability and a fellow entrepreneur.
So I had a few ideas regarding your website redesign:
- It looks like the homepage is way oversimplified. New visitors will have hard time grasping the breadth and depth of your offering and services. There is usability philosophy I subscribe to that homepage should be more like a directory of your site - clearly and quickly present all important areas/functions.
- Search box is overweighted. Maybe your web analytics suggest this is the most requested function but my gut feel disagrees. At least suggest listing a bunch of popular topics right there
- I think you have a lot of numbers you can add to the homepage to ‘impress’ visitors: how many podcasts you have; your community size etc.
- prominently feature all great aspects of the service: podcasts; transcripts; exercises etc - so people can ‘get’ it right away, without clicking
- List and explain different levels you have
- Do not be shy to boast about all the press you guys got!
- Highlight free trial offer for premium service; explain differences
I hope this is helpful and wish you ongoing success!
G Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 8:34 am
I don’t think I like the new logo too much, let alone the new homepage:( Maybe I’m resistant to change, but I always like the oval w/ the zhong character and the word POD. Like someone else said, it might look wierd on a t shirt, but maybe use 2 logos? And I also didn’t notice until someone else pointed out how “Mandarin” changed to “Chinese” in the whole “Learn Mandarin/Chinese on YOUR terms” deal. I guess I’m just so used to it saying Mandarin…plus, no matter how much ChinesePod I listen to, I’ll never be able to understand what my Cantonese friends are saying… To keep from being too negative, I actually kind of like the different pictures on the homepage. It’d be cool if they changed every so often or a different one popped up when you refreshed or everytime you came back. But I prefer the lesson list to the whole “sample today’s lesson” deal.
Well, there’s my 2 cents.
Busy ChinesePod | Sinosplice: Life in China Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 9:53 am
[...] Now the fabulous news is coming to light. Ken and Hank are blogging about it. The latest is: Brand new look. So if I’ve told you “I’m really busy at work” recently, this is why. (Also [...]
Hotpot Mike Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 10:17 am
Dima, awesome points. Strongly agree with all except the last one.
金平 Tsin_Ping Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 10:40 am
Hi Ken!!! I love the podcast since August 2006…
Okay, let me start with the picture of the new homepage you inserted. Wow! It’s so massive and cute and very modern for 2007!!! What I don’t like about it is the picture of you and Jenny… Guys, you look so serious (Especially, Jenny… Hi Jenny!), I feel it’s a picture of two reporters of a news program, saying like “We’re the number one news program in Shanghai, China” or “I’m Jenny (And I’m Ken) and this is News 101, bring fresh updates blah blah)… hehe… OR, it’s like a picture of an album of two singers having a duet… hehe… when’s the worldwide release in iTunes?
So, guys, smile! smile, baby! I like your smiles here a lot better:
http://flickr.com/photos/chinesepod/309374534/
But it’s kinda blurred…
So, guys, smile! Smile like you have the reason to be the greatest podcast in the world (And it is indeed)…
The new logo… For me, (Yeah, from my perspective), I think it resembles a logo for a Sporting Event (Not Beijing 2008), if not a Humanitarian Campaign like “Make Poverty History” or “Let’s Fight Aids”, if not a Music Records Company or a Movie Studio Company, and so on…
Or better yet, you might as well put the picture of THE CORE FIVE (Aric, Jenny, Ken, Colleen, John) instead…
Second, yeah, I’ll gonna for G… I still like the old logo (Old habit dies hard, you know?)…
The old logo still rocks for me because it has a ‘pod’ in it that makes a podcast a podcast… (The new logo makes me feel that ChinesePod is not a podcast anymore…)
Third, I’ll gonna go for hanyu_xuesheng that not only simplified characters to be added in the ‘lyrics’ of the podcast but traditional characters also… (Because others, like me, might be familiar with traditional more than the simplified… So, when I download ChinesePod lessons from iTunes and take a look at the lyrics, it’s Simplified. So, I need to go to this website that has SIMPLIFIED > TRADITIONAL converter…)
Fourth, (my own suggestion), have special pages for each stages, WOS, and for the Saturday Show… I mean, for example for newbie lessons, when the visitor clicked the lesson, he/she will be directed to the newbie page where there is a picture of the hosts (That’s Ken and Jenny… while Intermediates are John and Jenny) posing like saying: “Welcome to the newbie stage”… And for the Saturday Show, (I super-duper love this), have like a kick-a** page and very rocking page… And of course, have pictures of the three hosts…
That’s it!!! All in all, yeah, it’s time to bring the new ChinesePod for the year 2007 that’s ready for global challenges and ready to take ‘Poddies’ to its newest level… Great job, guys!
It’s my first comment here in the blogs section of ChinesePod…
Oh yeah, you might change your tagline (Learn mandarin…) to something new and awesome-er as well…
L.L. ChinesePod!!!
Micah Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 10:45 am
First impression:
Micah Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 10:45 am
No images in comments? Well, I meant to post this one:
http://www.gdusa.com/issue_200.....ngular.gif
Jeff L. Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 10:59 am
I think the new page looks nice, but I think you’ve let form overcome function. I like that you can go to the current website and access at least this week’s lessons. Now we’ll have to go through several, I don’t know how many, clicks to get to yesterday’s lesson. Even now getting to old lessons requires several clicks. If you’re that picky about it couldn’t you just have 3 lessons on the main page?
Also I think the logo is extremely cliched. It says nothing about the company and looks too similar to a certain cell phone company in the US. Also why is the leg red? Did that “ecstatic learner” come back from a brutal fight?
That’s what I think.
Jeff L. Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 11:07 am
Oh i just looked at the other blog posting. It looks like users will have a personalized homepage. Great!
I still don’t like the logo though
敦禮 Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
I am on Dima’s Apricot wagon:)
JONESON Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
南無阿彌陀彿
南无阿弥陀佛是梵音翻过来的，“南无”读作“拿摩”，就是皈依、敬礼的意思,“阿”翻作“无”，“弥陀”翻作“量”，“佛”是智慧、觉悟的意思（含义无限深广），阿弥陀是无量的意思
chinesepod Says:
March 14th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
Dima,
I think your points are all well considered and smart. In the end, however, much of this is a judgment call based on the philosophy, the objectives, and the character of who we are.
I guess the design philosophy we applied is best expressed by Steve Krug in his books Don’t Make Me Think. As to the philosophy, we wanted to get straight into the learning, with nary a pause for anything else. Personally I like a site that allows me to try for myself, rather out rather than telling me how good it is.
Perhaps we’re over-confident but we’ve never really tried to use the (pretty incredible)PR we received in the last year or so.
Ken Carroll
Sandra Says:
March 15th, 2007 at 10:18 am
I agree with Dima and Jeff L–function is crucial on a Web home page. Absolutely essential. So is identifying who you are (smaller photos, perhaps, and more explanation?). Dima’s right about the numbers–over four hundred lessons divided into four levels: Newbie is what it says; Elementary…
I also hate the logo. It’s about as distinctive (and Chinese) as, as, as…oh, something that’s generic. I liked the old logo but did think that the design of the pages was barely functional. I also understand why you want you guys to appear to be our friends. But an about page or link would do that just as well and you could use the space taken up by the photos for something else.
If this design is set in stone, so be it. It has some merits–doesn’t look cluttered, for one. But this doesn’t look like a website loaded with content.
Oh, and I hate home pages that don’t include the sign-on box right there up front. It was inconvenient on the previous design and it will be inconvenient on this one. Or, perhaps you’re trying not to intimidate newbies and figure that the dedicated c-poddies will put up with it?
For what it’s worth.
Sandra
G Says:
March 15th, 2007 at 10:52 am
Has anyone here ever gotten the feeling that you’ve seen something before but can’t pinpoint exactly where?? (of course you have!) Well that’s the feeling I got when I saw the new logo (and what an irritating feeling it is!!) but then Micah (thank you, Micah) posted the picture of the little cingular (right?) guy/star thingy and my frustration was over:D
The new logo looks like, I guess, a pointier, slightly more stylish cingular guy who can speak Mandarin.
Like Tsin_Ping said, “old habits die hard.”
Clever Dick Says:
March 15th, 2007 at 11:15 am
Yeah, the concept for the new logo seems to be based on this item from the Sinosplice blog:
http://www.sinosplice.com/life.....tal-virgin
JRUK Says:
March 16th, 2007 at 5:56 am
I also hate the new logo. It is nowhere near as distinctive as the current logo and bears no relationship to the actual purpose of the website. If you were to replace the weird person thing with the current “pod” logo, it would already make the new design far better. You can still keep the Chinese Pod text next to it and in t-shirts so people still know what it is.
As for the new design itself, it is very simple. Too simple for my liking as there are so few links. I am a big fan of the current design and one of the things that I really like about it is that I can listen to any podcast from the previous week without having to move away from the homepage making it very quick and convenient. If I want to look at the expansion section or the comments for a recent lesson then those are only one click away. The new design is counter-productive in that it seems to make accessing the site’s content less convenient than before.
Also, where are the links to the forum and the blogs going to go?
Bob Mrotek Says:
March 16th, 2007 at 9:12 am
金平 Tsin_Ping,
I just wanted to deviate from the blog for a minute to tell you that I admire your enthusiasm. Don’t ever lose it. In fact, if you ever figure out a way to sell it I would like to buy a lifetime supply. Good luck in everything you do!
Switcher Says:
March 16th, 2007 at 9:14 am
Agreed about the new logo…. it screams “Novell” or “Humana” and makes me feel sort of like our favorite website got eaten by a health insurance conglomerate.
Love the Diner/Deco feel of the original a lot more.
Did I see some mention of a mouseover dictionary being incorporated into one of the new modules?
Switcher Says:
March 16th, 2007 at 9:20 am
Oops…. forgot my footer…
PAY THE POD, NOT THE STONE!
Rosetta Stone Sucks
Sorry, it’s a hate-based thing I need to work out.
Joachim Müller Says:
March 19th, 2007 at 12:31 am
Hi,
we have started discussing the logo and it’s use on t-shirts and thong on the .
The t-shirts at http://www.cafepress.com/chinesepod look quite dull and non-chinese related with the new logo. The thong is a weird thing in itself, but even that would benefit from a spicier logo - err.
(You know: We do want everyone around to stare at us in awe that we are trying to master or have actually mastered those weird chinese characters. Thus, we’d like to have ‘em on such a t-shirt. It’s like with the Maxwell equations on t-shirts of physics students. Click here for a pic: http://www.twobarkingdogs.com/.....bd_115.jpg - oops, that was a long aside. Sorry)
How about voting for a new logo or a contest or such like?
Ole Sass Says:
March 19th, 2007 at 4:26 am
Hi Ken,
the new logo looks like that logo at : http://www.ititt.com/
Ole
Colleen Says:
March 19th, 2007 at 10:38 am
Hi Joachim,
I was just kindof kidding around putting the thong up there, almost as a test to see if anyone ever checked our cafepress site! I guess they do…
I’ll take it down later ~~ sorry to shock:)
Colleen
Joachim Says:
March 20th, 2007 at 2:48 am
Hi Colleen,
the thong is still there and I beg you to let it be!
I am curious under which circumstances such a thong will make its wearer proud or whatever…
The thing I am worried about is the logo. The connection with CHINESEpod is quite minimal and it’s not very unique.
Although the *old* logo wasn’t that unique either (viz http://www.welz.de/logo_welz.gif). At least it had some chineseness to it.
goulnik (郭力毅) Says:
March 20th, 2007 at 3:06 am
yeah, there’s all kind of things one could say about the logo and typeface, like why red head and black typeface for “Pod” rather than “Chinese”, or star-like with 4 not being quite auspicious in Chinese. I’d be interested to know what principles presided over this rebranding exercise, what message you were trying to get across (assessing quite a number of those at work everyday the result isn’t clear).
I don’t really believe in collective logo design, but a contest with attractive award might have been an idea
Yv
kmk Says:
March 22nd, 2007 at 6:48 am
The new logo looks like that logo of CCTV5 on new the sport DVD :
http://images.dangdang.com/images/9270343.jpg
AuntySue Says:
March 24th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
I too prefer the original logo, but it seems the people who work with it don’t, and it’s their logo. I think the new logo uses a very 1980s style, a style which didn’t allow a lot of variation and died out when they all started looking the same. Since a lot of us were long in the tooth in the 80s and the youngsters weren’t around yet, perhaps that’s appropriate. I don’t like it much, but it’s their choice.
As for saying Chinese instead of Mandarin, whooppee, that means I’m going to expect some Cantonese lessons now!
Mashhood Says:
March 25th, 2007 at 6:42 am
我比較喜歡以前的標誌！
Lantian Says:
March 25th, 2007 at 11:22 am
Ole Sass,
Thanks for finding the look-alike logo at:
http://www.ititt.com/
I have been frustrated looking for it myself, I knew I had seen something VERY similar before. I think also some of the Chinese shoe brands also have similar ’stars’, or a tv station. Or some HR company.
It’s been about a week now and the new logo has grown on me, although I still don’t think it’s very ‘hip’.
goulnik (郭力毅) Says:
May 3rd, 2007 at 9:01 pm
here’s another look alike logo typeface