A couple of weeks ago, I started spending a great deal of my spare time working on a replacement for CoasterBuzz. I started it with a great deal of energy, in fact. Then things started to slow down. Over the last week, I count six hours I spent working on the coaster submission page, and it's still not done. Obviously I didn't actually spend all of the time in those six hours actually doing anything.
The weather turned nice, and I just couldn't work on it. Still, I have been spending a lot of time thinking about user interface design, in the general sense. I really enjoy it, and I try to think more critically about it. I've always considered myself somewhat inept around design, but I probably don't give myself enough credit.
We're definitely in a less-is-more trend right now, and I think that's a good thing. When I rewrote the forum, and continue to refine it, I find myself constantly asking if something is necessary at all. I recently visited a forum that uses vBulletin, which used to be the gold standard of forum software, and couldn't believe how awful it was. It's really terrible, filled with buttons no one will ever use (have you ever used a "clear form" button?), and a ton of extraneous crap that doesn't facilitate the goal of a forum, specifically, discussion.
The new hotness is mobile, which offers even more focus and constraint, because phones are not exactly overflowing with screen space.
I have a feeling that a lot of people will hate the new CoasterBuzz when it's eventually done, because whatever I end up with will undoubtedly be underdesigned. If I could get rid of the ads, I would. Generally I hope to get completely away from gradients, rounded corners, reflections and all of the other stuff of questionable value. Yes, the Metro influence has gotten to me.
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