10/05/2011
NEWS STORY
There's been a mixed reaction to the first phase of our re-launch... to put it mildly.
Before I go any further, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people that made the new look possible.
The basic design is the work of my old mate Ewan Smith at Wangbar - not forgetting Formula Dumb - a man of almost limitless creativity and talent.
As for the technical side of things, Chris Berry and Phil Gunhouse at Sysexcel have worked tirelessly to get this all up and running. Despite our extremely restricted budget, time, and unrelenting harassment, threats and strops from yours truly, Chris and Phil, have come up with a new look site of which they, and I, are justifiably proud.
Finally, there is my long-suffering wife Gillian, who can justifiably describe herself not as an F1 widow but a Pitpass widow.
There is much, much more to come, including a total revamp of our forum, the ability to post comments in reaction to news stories and features - providing we agree with them of course ;-) - and various other tweaks aimed at improving your Pitpass experience.
To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln; "You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not please all of the people all of the time."
While we did not expect everyone to fall head over heels with the new look, we didn't expect such a mixed reaction, some of it quite extreme.
To give you an idea, here are some of the comments we have received over the course of the last couple of days.
"Sorry guys and gals but this new site maybe good for the marketing and PR bods but it is awful for the user. It so user unfriendly and over complicated for the quick browser."
"Awesome!"
"I want to see a list of news headlines on the opening page. THAT IS WHY WE COME TO YOUR SITE... FOR THE NEWS! Now I have to click on news to actually get the bloody news, because now there are only 6 items on the opening page. NFGE = Not f*%#n good enough! Where are your editorial articles? We LOVE Mike Lawrence's writings and those with Chris Sylt, and the other contributors. Not f*%#n good enough!"
"Looks great. Especially with my w****d out eyes ! Bigger, clearer, all of the above! Well done!!!!!!"
"The new website is great and well worth the wait."
"WOW! That's nice. Looks very good. Congratulations."
"The sober Pitpass layout was a trademark and got the job done. It also gave you space for advertising. The new site is a mess. Harder accessibility of content and the appearance of a warez website. Advertising everywhere and a bit of text in the middle. I'm glad you gave it a go, but do go back to the old layout, please."
"The new site looks fantastic!"
"I think the redesigned website is very good. Clean new look, and I find it easier to navigate."
"The site redesign looks great! It does a much better job of highlighting your top stories and makes good use of F1's exciting visuals. It's also easier to find new stories. Well done."
"Congratulations on your redesign. Working in the web industry as a major web publisher in Canada, I understand all the efforts in time and dollars (or Pounds in your case). That is what a leader in their publishing field has to do. This probably is a good sign of Pitpass's health (It isn't - Ed) and I can only be delighted as an F1 fan but especially as a diligent Pitpass reader."
"Frankly, it's ghastly. The old one gave far more information and quicker access to all the current news stories. This one is dire and the flashing changing "headlines" on the home page are deeply irritating."
"Like the new look. Long overdue! Keep the news and critical comment coming."
"As a long (and I do mean long) time follower of Pitpass, I understand you can't stand still and have to move forward but I must say I do not like the new look format of the site. You seem to lose the authroritive news element and it has more the feel of other (sorry to say) standard F1 sites."
As you can see, quite a mixed reaction. However, the fact is that the redesign, which is costing Pitpass money it can ill afford, has not been done to frustrate readers, as some appear to feel, but to improve their experience. The intention was to improve the Pitpass experience not go out of our way to annoy people.
While some people take time to adapt to change, the fact is that the new look has only been running for just over 72 hours, give it some time.
Other than (hopefully) looking more professional, the new look is aimed at making it easier to navigate and user friendly. Every aspect of the redesign has been focussed on what we believe our readers want from Pitpass.
As for losing the "authoratitive news element", utter nonsense, the team behind Pitpass remains the same and our fully independent stance and the quality of our news and features remains.
Yes, we do want to make ourselves attractive to advertisers and sponsors - how many of our rivals exist for altruistic reasons - but rest assured, everything we have done, and are doing, is with our readers in mind. After all, without you, our loyal readers, the advertisers won't be interested.
For those of you who, after just over 72 hours, still hanker for the old look, might I just borrow a comment from Chris Berry: "I don't care if it has an internal combustion engine, can carry four people and can get me there five times as quick I want my bloody horse back!"