I don't understand Kinja web design

"Bandit" (2bandit)
08/27/2020 at 09:21 • Filed to: kinja

Here is my version of the Jalopnik front page with all my custom filters enabled - it basically keeps Jalopnik’s layout at the early-Kinja format that was fairly readable. The only thing cluttering up my FP now are Shilling’s awful takes.

Here is Kotaku this morning with no filters enabled except the standard ad blocking. How is this a user friendly layout? What am I suppose to read? What’s the newest article? Why is a video game block feature posting about basketball and social issues? I use to pop over there maybe once a week to read up on some games I was interested in, but now it’s too cluttered and painful to visit. Who hired these web designers?!

Thanks for listening to my rant.

DISCUSSION (16)

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > Bandit
08/27/2020 at 09:36

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

ttyymmnn > Bandit
08/27/2020 at 09:42

On all of those newly designed sites, look for the Latest link, and that takes you to the page that looks like the traditional Kinja and has the most recent articles. There’s also a Latest link at the top of the page.

Kinja'd!!!

pip bip - choose Corrour > Bandit
08/27/2020 at 09:42

even Kinja developers don’t understand Kinja web design.

For Sweden > Bandit
08/27/2020 at 09:55

Ernie has forsaken us. We now wander blind in the wilderness

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > Bandit
08/27/2020 at 09:57

Stick to Oppo.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Bandit
08/27/2020 at 09:57

I *just* said the same thing in a comment thread with the same screenshot.

It is such an unholy abomination, and if you scroll down they then break off into sections of articles related to one topic or another based on what’s popular. I think.

WilliamsSW > Bandit
08/27/2020 at 10:01

I suggest doing a lot of meth and LSD simultaneously. Then maybe the web design will start to make sense.

sony1492 > Bandit
08/27/2020 at 10:02

Kinja'd!!!

facw > Bandit
08/27/2020 at 10:03

So when ArsTechnica moved to something like that (but much less messy) several years ago, their rationale was that less frequent readers (including people who maybe just found the site linked to from something else) would miss a lot of good content if they were just the “blog” presentation. A more varied splash screen lets such users see a whole bunch of interesting things, which maybe keeps them on the site.

Kinja'd!!!

(I use the list view though)

I think there might be a bunch of “magazine envy” as well. Of course I think what they’ve done for Kotaku and elsewhere doesn’t really accomplish that, as instead of a list of articles of varying quality, you just have articles of varying quality barfed up all over your screen. If they wanted to make this layout work, they would need a more curated approach.

And you could compare to something like The Atlantic:

Kinja'd!!!

This features a bunch of articles, but all are relatively new (though occasionally they’ll bring back an older relevant piece), and then immediate breakdowns to see authors your like, new stories, and the most popular content. And of course it’s not trying to put every article published in the past year on the front page (there may be an SEO reason for that, but it makes for a messy site).

user314 > Bandit
08/27/2020 at 10:03

I’ve stopped visiting the sites that pull that bullshit, even if there’s a “Latest” link that undoes it. They build it that way for The Clicks™, so I deny them clicks.