There appears to have been yet another rework of the front page today.
I really think the blocks are so large that the eye is not drawn to anything they want to emphasize, and it’s difficult to get to what I really consider important things listed ONLY on the front page:
Coming Soon
New Episodes
The “volunteers” are still pretty far down and I still get a link only to the community pull down rather than a top contributors list.
Please reconsider the design in light of the fact this still looks like a 1999 revival from long ago and far away…it does not have to feature wuxia spangles and CGI, just be readable and friendly to invite folks into our site.
Because it is ours, right? As Fans and Volunteers too?
Crouching Dieter, Hidden Donut
Seriously, a dozen virtual KKD to get rid of the BOOOXES!
I’d also like to see some recommendations, but actually based on what I watch. My top picks are 4 dramas I’ve watched on Viki (so the algorithm can tell the episodes are Watched), two dramas I’ve worked on as a volunteer (so the algorithm can tell that in any case I know the drama exists) and Boys Over Flowers which I hate with a burning passion (there should really be a NOT INTERESTED option).
Although I watch neither, I feel offended on behalf of the Defendant and Voice teams, because they are nowhere to be seen on the front page, but I get dramas old enough to attend elementary school (BOF, Heirs, You’re beautiful, Coffee Prince, My love from the star/ yes some are very good and classics but they are from the previous decade) and strawberry/ cream cheese recipes.
Is there any record in history where Viki took into consideration our community’s concerns? Honest question, I really want to know.
Oh, for god’s sake, dear Viki page designers! The only remotely useful thing I found on the front page in the last year was the newly added / top episodes. And now that is way, way down the page.
I’ve got “Trending in Norway” box with 6/8 shows I’ve already seen, “Top picks for you” 7/8 I’ve seen, or all tried at least one episode, “Begin your drama journey” - kinda inappropriate for someone who’s been on the site for 3 years, “Recommended clips for you” - uninteresting. AND THEN I get the interesting stuff (Viki’s and fans’ collections, and new episodes).
It’s been bugging me for a long time. If our viewing profile is supposed to be used to generate a personalized page, then why is not working correctly or is working highly inefficiently?
The front page is so bad that I never go there. I go directly to my inbox and to my other useful places. And at this point I surely don’t need viki to give me recommendations on what to watch.
But it’s a pity, because it could be useful to casual or new visitors.
The front page shows one thing for sure the creator uses big screens while working …
Okay, that’s a guess. Most people I know use smaller devices, while being on the road, so netbooks and tablets or mobiles are pretty common but those huge boxes are just not doing it on the small screen.
I know they want to show diversity but it takes too long to look over the main page.
And about the volunteers spot - well I think, I mentioned it before “they hit rock bottom”.
Dear viki less is sometimes more. And motivation comes from appreciation.
This difficulty has been discussed earlier, perhaps last week, I too mentioned the fusion of several alike titling and boxing which leads to confusion and difficult on the eye, the boxing itself is to steril. Look at the screenshot to see the repetitive “coming soon” in different section which forteits the “coming soon” platform meaning it will air sometime on Viki.
I believe one is for shows currently on air - coming episodes soon - vs coming new dramas soon.
As for the mobile, whoa. I can’t see why anybody would want this mess there.
It’s really bad on a laptop!
(and now back to the T/N on edit of Condor regarding Genghis Khan’s invasion of Khwarezmia…after somebody kills his peace envoy…240,000 Mongols vs 1,000,000…whatever the size of the army, I left it five li outside of Samarkand…)
CD, HD
p.s. where is their fabulous slogan in this too? something about fans and volunteers bringing it all to the world? (SIGH)
The front page is dreadful both on desktop and mobile.
But forget the look for a moment, my biggest complaint is the same. Why are the “Top Volunteers” all the way at the bottom? That just sends a terrible message.
It degraded to something that is “in use”,
rather than something that is “shared”.
Even if it is business, how can viki not take benefit from the image of former viki? I mean it’s pretty much gone by now and I doubt you can revive it to the extant it was before. I mean it was bought for some reason from Rakuten.
But if it was bought only to create something alike Netflix …
Then why bother with volunteers anyway?
Moreover, I just went to the front page before logging in, and still there were “recommendations for you”. When they didn’t know who on earth I am. While the “on air” and “latest episodes” were at the bottom. Hmmm… Even as a stranger coming for the first time it doesn’t work.
No worries at all! Our front page is currently going through several design changes, and we had to temporarily move our Community & Volunteers section to the bottom.
It will not stay this way for long! We’re still working with other teams to feature our Community in the most awesome way possible on the front page. Please stay tuned for more updates.
@anon27228197 thank you, your clarification helps a lot and give us/me hope.
In the meantime I will have positive thoughts that may influence the outcome
I trust you’re aware that this is a most misguided tactic to attract and maintain visitors?
Your front page doesn’t risk angering volunteers. Volunteers are not the ones Viki needs to placate. They are used to how things work around here.
Your front page risks alienating the random visitor, who won’t be patient enough to search for content and won’t stay long enough to become a customer.
Granted there are those who already share your perspective, but there are also a lot of volunteers who did not go through the changeover with Rakuten (raises hand) among other changes here and still would like to believe that Viki does indeed value the work and support of both fans AND volunteers, for we start out as fans and then those who are able sometimes become VOLUNTEERS TOO.
Both populations need the corrections to the front page.
As a fan, I can’t find what I am looking for (on the off-chance that I have a moment to watch a video? other than editing etc?).
As a volunteer, the lack of the slogan specifically showing love to the volunteers and some measure of respect and support for our time, use of our own equipment, talents and all that make us capable of supporting the site gratis is a NECESSARY FIX.
Honor to the Valiant Volunteers.
Thank you, Clara, for the update.
GeNie of the Lamp (muttering about :“flight to safety with vikibugs abroad” POOF!
I agree, but the volunteers have been here before and they know what to look for. Viki should try to capture the attention of the random visitor who chose this website among 1250 billion websites.
I found the soothing words in bold letters quite offensive to be honest. Does Viki think we behave like little whiny children and treats us accordingly?
I think it is good Viki realised this “design” sucks, but honestly who releases temporary stuff? Usually functions get tested on test systems and design also gets evaluated beforehand while still on the test system… Of course not every bug will be found during testing and taste in design also varies, so it’s difficult to satify everyone, but temporary stuff should not be made public.
That’s exactly what I have always thought when Viki released new “features”.
From what I know, it should be common practice to first test everything on a local system find bugs (which is quite difficult, so few bugs are still acceptable, but that’s not generally the case) and then push the changes to the actual website.
It always gets me puzzled when I see new features which are only partially implemented get launched on Viki… I do understand the hard work of the staff, but I think they should change the way they deliver the changes and the timing.
(If what I wrote down doesn’t make sense, it’s because English is not my mother-tongue and I’ve studied all day and my mind is asking for a break)
