Folks have been noticing (and asking about) the new slideshow format we've been using occasionally on the blog — here's an example — and I wanted to share a few thoughts here in hopes that we can keep the discussion from spamming the comments. (Futile, probably, but still worth trying.)
So, a few thoughts from my end:
So what are we seeing? Folks are reading these a lot more than they did the old ones. The numbers don't lie. And the anecdotal experience lines up with that, I think. I get it when folks immediately say "I don't like it," but you're going to have to give me better feedback than that. Because the fact is it's a much faster, better-looking experience than our old crappy pagination.
That doesn't mean we're done. We'll continue to improve it and work on things. But I, for one, and happy and even excited about it. Faster pages? Amen. Better design? Hallelujah.
And we're just getting started ...
So, a few thoughts from my end:
- It's not (all) about page views: I get how it's easy to immediately think "PAGE VIEW GRAB!" when you see a slide show. That's because there are so many horrible ones out there. But the simple fact is what we're using now is about 100 times faster than any other page you'll load on Android Central. Go on, try it. It's a night-and-day experience.
- In fact, the page itself doesn't reload. Just the part you're reading. And the two ads, and the analytics tools so we can see if any of this is actually making a difference. (Spoiler: It is!)
- When you go from one page to another in this new format, it's a hell of a lot faster than scrolling down our laggy legacy pages.
- While we're definitely going to tweak the format and design for longer pieces, it's a nice way to section things out. And, again, you're not reloading the entire page when you go from one to another.
- A more sophisticated design. Period.
So what are we seeing? Folks are reading these a lot more than they did the old ones. The numbers don't lie. And the anecdotal experience lines up with that, I think. I get it when folks immediately say "I don't like it," but you're going to have to give me better feedback than that. Because the fact is it's a much faster, better-looking experience than our old crappy pagination.
That doesn't mean we're done. We'll continue to improve it and work on things. But I, for one, and happy and even excited about it. Faster pages? Amen. Better design? Hallelujah.
And we're just getting started ...
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