For most Plurkers, they will never see the Plurk home page after first signing up and logging in. I know for me, the only time I see it is when I log out as Mike Templeton and log in as Plurkular.
The people who do see the home page are new users and onlookers thinking about joining the service. When someone recommends Plurk or posts a link on another site, those users make their way over and immediately form their first impressions.
The Old Home Page
Up until today, Plurk had been using an orange-dominated page that included their bonehead logo, a list of interesting Plurkers, a unique form of signing up (by clicking the Plurk button) and the interesting tagline, “Plurk is a place that lets you publish and share your thoughts, emo-ness, #^@%!*%(& and loves.”
Everyone who came to the site was first intrigued by the logo, everyone trying to figure out what it was and why Plurk was using it. It was unlike anything other Web 2.0 and microblogging sites were using. Aside from the simple graphics and call to action, there wasn’t much on the page. It was a clean design that left users with one option, to begin plurking.
The New Home Page
Today, Plurk released a new design for the home page and there are lots of mixed feelings. I responded to ZenElements‘ question about the new home page, as did several others.
Following up on my response to ZenElements, I just can’t find the new home page attractive. Unless you count the first timeline screenshot, they’ve completely abandoned their color scheme, they’ve changed their slogan to “Plurk is a social journal for your life” and they’ve stripped the page entirely of their logo.
The Colors
In my opinion, the new colors are hideous. The original oranges were fairly unique, and though they took some time to adjust to, that orange color became part of Plurk’s brand. Now they are using a hot fuschia backgroud with a rainbow trout page gradient.
The Graphics
The strange creature graphics, also a seemingly iconic part of Plurk’s brand, are now absent from the page. If you look hard enough you will spot them in the timeline screenshot background, but they are definitely not front and center as before.
I think including screenshots of the timeline was a good move, but that’s the only improvement I can note in terms of the new graphical design.
The Message
With this visual redesign, Plurk has also forcefully changed the message they are portraying. Where before Plurk was essentially described as a place to share your thoughts, ideas and conversations, now they are ‘a social journal for your life”. For me, I would actually rather see the mass of ‘lifestream’ Plurks decrease rather than increase. Using Plurk as a ’social journal’ also seems much more one-sided and less conversational, as opposed to a place where people ask questions and participate in discussions.
Also, a subhead to the main slogan was also added. When the page was first released, it read “Tired of Stupid Social Networks?”, but was quickly met with objections from Plurkers saying it made Plurk seem childish, so they quickly adapted it to read “Tired of other Social Networks?”.
When I read the new subheading, I felt like Plurk was trying to hard to make themselves seem legit. “Use us because we are cooler” it seemed to be saying to me. I believe that if you have a good product and respond to the users who support you, the masses will come. You don’t have to sell that to them.
The Call to Action
The new design includes a revised sign up button, now simply stating ‘Sign Up Now’ instead of the unique registration process from before. This new take on registering looks like every other site out there. Maybe its because it works, but there’s also something to be said about being unique.
I do like the new login bar at the top for existing users, as the old version made you click into a secondary page that allowed you to log in to the site.
The Verdict
If you haven’t realized it by now, I am completely against the new home page for Plurk. I feel that the A-Team took something that worked well and represented their brand and twisted it into something complete different and distant.
The other thing I wonder about is whether or not this new design will get carried through the rest of the Plurk site, as currently everything else still follows the old format.
My Questions for Plurk and the A-Team
In hope that someone will respond, I have a few questions:
- What drove this decision to redesign the home page?
- Was it the Plurkosphere and the users?
- What benefits does the new design bring?
- Why should we support it?
- Will you listen to the masses (as you have before), or will you stand by your decision for change?
If you have questions of your own about the new design, please include them here in the comments. Hopefully we will get a few members of the A-Team to respond.
July 12, 2008 at 12:15 pm
No wonder I thought the new homepage smelled fishy. It’s that rainbow trout gradient! And they say subliminal messages don’t work…
July 12, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Well, it’s a little too slick for me and seems to get away from their brand. I don’t think “social journal” works at all. Like many have said, there is conversation, idea exchange, people exchanging witty jokes and silliness and there is networking going on where people exchange ideas and even make referrals. So to try and capture what it does in the term “social journal” seems to limit their audience, but that’s just me.
July 12, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I dug the orange and the weird little animals. They were part of Plurk’s brand. Even though people said the beheaded dog was sick and twisted, they were talking about it and they recognized it as part of Plurk. The switch doesn’t make sense to me. I wish they’d kept the old page and simply added a screen shot of the timeline (I agree that was a good move). The hot pink and blue are just not doin’ it for me. I miss the originality and spunk of the old Plurk.
July 12, 2008 at 8:45 pm
[feels] this was writen d^mn well, Mike! You captured accurately how I felt anyway, upon my first encounter with the new Plurk front page and I agree whole heartily with your overall verdict.
In terms of aesthetics, there is just nothing I like about the new design and I’m greatly missing the old orange that I think many (…or ‘most’) have come to love. I agree too that the orange, along with the Plurk-Pupp as I called him, was a brand of Plurk and I’m not sure why the decision was taken to change that.
The message ‘a Social Journal for your life’ actually put me off a little and confused me as to how I have come to know Plurk. This is of not of course to say I will stop using Plurk as I’m way to far past the front page for that but I just don’t think this is an accurate or well chosen message for the future.
As for functionality, as you mentioned, the top login area is a nice improvement. I feel it is the one element of the new front page that I like and agree with but that just begs the question for me: Why was this just not incorporated into the previous, well branded and widely loved design? …I do not know.
July 13, 2008 at 5:13 am
I have to say the new front page looks crap and very amateurish whereas the old one had style and a sense of uniqueness.
July 13, 2008 at 11:13 am
We like to experiment, try new things out and see what works and what doesn’t. The new homepage is less graphical and can easier be translated to other languages - it’s also less confusing.
Right now we will stand by our decision, but we have heard your feedback.
July 13, 2008 at 11:20 am
But who is it less confusing to? To the Plurk A-Team? Or to your users?
I can understand reworking a site design to make it easier for users to navigate, but unless you are talking to and asking the users, I don’t think you can just assume that it is.
Also, I think the main thing that people are concerned with is the apparent uprooting of the original Plurk brand and its forceful reconfiguration into something that it is not.
I wonder how many people would have signed up originally had this been the page they had seen?
Personally, I had questions about it before I finally clicked the button, but it was just quirky enough for me to take the plunge. If I were to hit this new page talking about “a social journal” and “other stupid social networks”, it seems more like childish banter.
If the A-Team stands behind their decision, that’s fine, but I’d just like to know that the users were consulted with before such a change is made.
July 13, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Well…to be honest I don’t care for either but have grown accustomed (fond?) of the quirky original Homepage…oh and I like that soulcreates referenced it as the “front page” because, to me, the “homepage” is where I plurk! That’s my home and where all the action happens!
My fondest wish is to see more options for the design of my own “homepage” and I have a hard time “chasing” the plurks as they stream by in the time line…bit of a frustrating time waster…other than that I’m good.
I was one of those who was initially vehemently turned off by plurk…now I use it almost exclusively!
Anyway…change is always a growth tool…and I look forward to seeing where plurk goes…thanks guys for creating a great place for social exchange!
July 13, 2008 at 12:39 pm
The old Plurk home stood apart. This new home page makes Plurk become part of the blur of the social networking bandwagon, which plurking is not!
I completely agree with Mike that the new brand does not express the true feeling of the site. People are having conversations, supporting each other, milling about and saying hi! Journaling implies one-way messaging.
July 13, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Mike,
This is a great post, and does tell us how it looked before, and how it looks now in great detail. However, I do feel that this argument is a bit one sided i.e previous home page looked much better than the current one.
I think Split Testing’s what A team’s doing right now, i.e comparing the performance of the old one to the new one. Sure some of us may hate the new one, but who knows majority could like it. They could get more sign ups. They may test it with more designs, and see which one works the best.
However, I do feel that changing the slogan was something very extreme. But again, their previous one (if it was a slogan) was a bit too lengthy. A cool thing would be if A team conducted a poll or something about the slogan, or may be have option to change the home page to previous version, and have polls or something.
This would further help them with taking their decision. Personally, its no big deal to me, since I barely care about how home page looks as of now, as once you login -> you’re in the main area. But excellent read nevertheless.