It always amazes me that about 95% of “new and exciting” website layouts make things worse rather than better. OK, people, including me, are resistant to change — but that’s no excuse for taking something that is functioning quite well and changing into something that loses a lot of useful functionality.
My very first professional computer program was a rewrite of an existing program, based on someone else’s spec. Mostly people loved the new program, but the loudest complaints were for the one feature that had been removed. I took that lesson to heart and for the next 3 and half decades did my best to not remove functionality when I reworked any program.
It seems however that web designers have yet to digest this point. And the new DailyKos layout is no exception. What’s lost?
o A quick summary beyond the headline of what the story is about.
o The ability to put your cursor over a story and get a summary if there wasn’t one below the headline.
I understand — DailyKos wants to go mainstream (er, lamestream?) I won’t comment on weather or not that is a good idea, all I can say is do a better job of whatever you are trying to accomplish with these changes. Maybe have a look at Reuters or BBC. Surely a bunch of smart people can do a better job than this!