Introducing The New-Look PlayStation.Blog

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Introducing The New-Look PlayStation.Blog

PSB_logo
Notice anything different?

Today, we’re quite ecstatic to unveil the new look of the PlayStation.Blog. As the site marches towards its 4th anniversary in June, the patchwork, add-on look of these pages began to resemble the Weasley house. Also, we were tired of being unfavorably compared to our more attractive, cosmopolitan European sister site.

Unlike commercial sites, we didn’t redesign to serve you more ads, or because we have an in-house art staff that we have to justify. We redesigned the PlayStation.Blog with your requests in mind. How do we know what you’re looking for? You’ve been voting with your clicks.

PSB Homepage heat map

Over the past year, we’ve been analyzing where readers click on the site and, as you can see, items like PlayStation Store update posts and recent stories light up like a Christmas tree. If you only decorate your tree with white lights, that is. When we coupled this info with traffic patterns, Google searches, and other data, it was pretty clear what types of things Blog readers like yourself are looking for when you visit. This redesign addresses these needs.

So we’ve added prominent, permanent links to PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Home content. We’ve overhauled the search box with autocomplete. Our biggest recent releases now “live” at the top right of the site. And huge news won’t get pushed down the page nearly as quickly as it used to.

Conversely, with the old design many things weren’t as easy to find as they should have been. You’ll now find it easier to give feedback on posts via Twitter and Facebook (both of which had a fraction of their current userbase when we first launched the site). Related content will appear at the bottom of a post, and a string of features can be found in a scrolling “red box” belt right in the middle of the homepage.

We also know that the average reader owns a wider, higher-resolution monitor than when we first launched in 2007, and so we’re taking advantage of that additional real estate, and you can expect more and better takeovers of the site, like we did with UNCHARTED 3’s launch.

Screen shot 2010-12-08 at 8.00.29 PM

Now, we realize that this new design will take some getting used to, and some of you will probably hate it outright – at least at first. Many of you said as much when we inverted the color palette from black to white last year, though those complaints died out very quickly as we all adjusted.

Still, for those who really loved the old site, if you look closely, you’ll notice the things that *didn’t* change. The font, colors, and sizes are all the same. Comment replies remain an attention-grabbing red. Of course, the PlayStation news content you visit us to view will all still be here – you just won’t have to look as hard.

Over the course of the redesign process, we began to compare the new site to [lady with the hat]. Even if you don’t care for the flashy new hat, the old girl you know and love is still underneath.

Please let us know what you think. As always, we’ll be reading.

Sincerely,
Jeff, Sid, and Rey
Your PlayStation.Blog team

Comments are closed.

623 Comments

18 Author Replies

  • Sleek and a lot faster than before (even after zooming in with Firefox), great improvement!

  • I like it, haters gonna hate though, some people wont, just because change is a big deal for some.

    It definitely looks better, a lot less grey colours, still a bit too much grey in the backgrounds and stuff, but its all good

  • definitely looks great now if someone can fix that awful PlayStation browser

  • Can I get one more box on the front page headlining the Ratchet story please?

    It would be much easier to find if there were 4 boxes containing this story on the front page. See, I am a complete moron and having it on the front page 3 times is not enough! 4 is the magic number if you want me to click on an article. Get 4 linked picture boxes up on the front page that take me to the same story and this web page would be 5 out of 5 stars!

    Your web designers are horrible.

    Your web designers are horrible.

    Your web designers are horrible.

    ^According to your front page, this is how you get people to notice things. dur dur.

  • i think it’s looks great !!

  • Way too much clutter.

    I personally think you guys need to read this book and remember the KISS rule.

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321344758

  • A few suggestions and questions.

    If we could get notifications for when our comments are replied to it would be nice.

    Also I would like to be able to track the comments that I posted easily instead of having to scroll to find if a reply was made.

    Is the PS Rewards program integrated into the blog? Are we recognized when we post comments?

    Android app? I know its coming but when? The suspense is killing me.

    Will there be a blog app on the PS3? An icon that takes us to the Blog and connects to Share, Forums, PS.com ect…?

    Thats all for now. Keep up the excellent work guys. It is very much appreciated by me and my network of family and friends that support Sony and the PS Brand.

  • I’m on the mobile site, I’ll have to wait to get home to see it, but it sounds nice after reading the article. Of course ppl are gonna complain but they’ll just get used to it

  • I like the idea that I can now read news for each console.

  • Will Canada be getting this redesign?

    ;)

  • I’m liking the new layout. Especially the comment box and tweet button.

  • new blog is WINNING! the BLACK IS BACK..and im digging that triangle square X O menus..very creative! keep up the good work SONY BLOG DEVs…although for some reason i cant check my psn profile…when i try to click on my psn name on the top..that would’ve bin a nice feature :/

  • Very swish. :)

  • Far too cluttered. Took me a minute just to realize what I was looking at and what I was looking for.

    Still doesn’t load via Google Chrome. You may not be forgiven for making me load Internet Explorer.

  • Great job on the redesign. I don’t have an iPad but I could see this being marvelous on it. It feels a lot cleaner and things seem much easier to follow. Good UI. Some improvements could be made, like the post rating thing on the right side should be indicated that you can interact with it and its not just for show to rate the post.

    Seems you misplaced the download links for the widgets though which I thought were helpful. I use the OS X widget often. By the way, that could use an update to match the new looks and feel of the site. I’ve already changed the graphics and style myself to get an idea for it but an official update would be welcomed :)

    Great job!

  • @Jeff Rubenstein

    I’m not a fan off change, I suppose it’ll grow on me.

  • I think its a fantastic blog good work guys really shown what you are capable of keep it up!

  • looks nice, kinda hesitant to like it but Ill get used to it, kinda weird how on the home page you have the latest articles in a scrolling panel then immediately again at the bottom posted regularly

  • it looks epic good job

  • @Korbei83

    Funny I’m viewing it just fine in Chrome now. As for being cluttered, really the only way they could make it less cluttered is just put text only on there and no links…its pretty clean man.

  • Thanks for the new background! Shame it isn’t static.

  • Love it, the old on was a bit plan. Thanks so much !! :D

  • Looks nice, but wow–I’m going to have to re-train my eyes to read it. I like the simple, no-nonsense linearity of the previous layout. The side-by-side format makes better use of the screen real estate, but it makes it less clear and makes the chronology more cloudy to me. But I’ll adjust.

  • No stars system?

  • Loving the new look <3

  • As a graphic designer, there are a few things that bothers me. I can write it later some of the details. But the background bothers me a lot because there are so much detail, becomes very distracting.

  • Perhaps you should add a feedback tab to allow for suggestions, or report bugs, such as seen here http://ideascale.com/feedback-tab.html

  • i like the new redesign so far.its easy and intuitive.however, i think that like you said i’m going to have to get used to the re-design :0

  • its ok. but alittle to complex.. This is the same reasonthe playstaionundeground forums numbers are going down from users. While it looks fantastic. it just to dang hard to navigate and and tlk about what you want.. All the jumping out the page and fullscreen is just not my things .

    Its not really needed.. Just like old schoolgames its the nity gritty that counts not the graphics and the ohh lalala. If you could give us a option to go back to the old way blog scheme. I would really be happy, becuase i really dont care for all the colors and oh lala. But it is great work and great look and up to date to some it will brighten there day. Im a simple man i like simple things..

    mcbuttz78-vp of psn legionaire group

  • Not as bad as Kotaku’s change…. but I can’t say I like it.

    Too much crap at the top of the Page when all I really want to do is see what the Blog has to say. This isn’t somehting just limited to the Blog on the PlayStation website, but it was tolerable until it hit the blog too.

    The rest of the changes are fine, but do try to push the actual blog post closer to the top of the page.

  • I really like the new look. I’ll need to spend a bit more time with it, but my initial thoughts are that it’s much easier to consume a larger amount of content.

  • I like it. Loads a lot faster.

  • I’m really liking the color scheme, and the comment box looks pretty cool. My complaints are that things seem too cramped together, like some people said before. And how the news are listed in three different ways there, I think that’s unnecessary.
    I’d like an option to order the posts just vertically again, instead of one next to the other so we get a wider view. I’ll probably adjust, but I do think things need more breathing room.
    I’d also like it if the background image was wider, so it doesn’t cut off for people with higher resolutions.

  • Some more feedback. Playstation Blog Share should have way more realestate then a tiny link in the upper left hand corner. The PS2 has a huge box but Share is practically hidden comparred to what everything else gets?

    I also don’t quite understand why the 3-4 most recent blog posts are in three different places on the page. There’s the “Top Story” the scrolling thing then the actual blog posts lower down. It’s overkill.

    Finally, why do we still have to go hunting for replies to our/everybody elses comments? Back in the day on ebay searching the feedback of users was a chore, you had to go through all of them individually to find the negative and neutral feedback. Now you can just click on Positive, Negative, Neutral, and the time frame(past week, month, year) and it shows you only the feedback of that type.

    You need that here. If I click on “Replies” it should only show me a list of all the red box comments and the posts they were replying to instead of what it does now which is take me to the first comment with a reply.

    Also, somewhere up at the top by my name should be a link that shows me replies to my comments specificly.

  • It looks like too much clutter. I agree with post 59 who said give us an option for the previous blog. Ya know, KISS. (No, you’re not stupid ;)

    Still, it might be easier to find some things with the new one.

    If it loads quick enough and I like it, I’ll return. Barring an option for the previous blog version, if I don’t like it, I won’t read it.

    I think I will get used to it. I hope so anyway and so do you. :)

  • Horribly ugly and cluttered. Its like I fell down the time well to 2001, all you need are some flashing gifs and “Under Construction” banners.

    Clean is the new flashy. This hurts my eyes.

  • Not bad…..not bad at all. I just hope this is mobile phone friendly. I am in class when i am checking for the PS Store update on Tuesdays and would love for it to be viewable on my droid x.

  • Not bad, but a little uncomfortable for eyes. It looks unfinished

  • Hey, I think the re-design is pretty cool. i like the theming and overlays, as well as the color scheme you kept with the black and white base. Seems to make colors pop alot more vividly. It also looks more in line with what your main site changed to, where it seems everything became seemingly larger and in your face. The “shortcuts” you have now to certain categories of posts (like PS+ and Home) are great additions!

    One thing im not sure of is the sectioning though. Seems there is like a featured main post, with a couple underneath, then a vertical list of some more posts beside it to the right, then below the “ticker” under both of those, more posts. Is there a general definition of what kind of posts will mainly be put into these 3 spaces? Seem like duplicates, maybe thats just right now…..

  • EPIC REDESIGN I LOVE IT KEEP THE GOOD WORK GUYS :)

  • The main page has a lot going on. It’s a little overwhelming at first. I will give it some time before saying I like it or not. Lets see how it feels a week from now.

  • Oooh purdy–atleast this change is much more nice than, let’s say, Kotaku’s hehe :-) I like this change….

  • Ha for all the people complaining about it. It stays the same on the ps blog app.

  • Looks amazing. Could we have it for PS3 background maybe?

  • So went are we redesigning the XMB, and i mean a complete redesign. like… maybe… LIVEAREA from the NGP on PS3… anyone with me?

  • Great work guys! Love the new look!

  • Jeff looks lovely and modern for the Blog. Can we have a PlayStation Blog app on the PS3 please.

  • So far the one thing I like better is that my icon is bigger on my comments. ^_^

    Though perhaps I would prefer it be a little more high-res. :p

  • As long as this site is easier to navigate than the Playstation Forums after its overhaul. I used to visit and post on that site every day but its become so convoluted and hard to find my favorite threads that I’ve stopped using them.

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