[OSM-talk] The new OpenStreetMap.org design

[malenki]

On  03.12.2013 16:52, John Firebaugh wrote:

> The goal of the redesign was to make the site more inviting for
> newcomers, [...] to clean it up and refresh its looks, 

That was quite successful. Also thanks for the quick implementing of
the [x] button after the new design went live.

> - A better experience for veterans. There's now more space for the map
> and a sidebar that functions efficiently for the task at hand, whether
> it be searching for a location, browsing data, or reviewing changes.
> There's no longer a needless distinction between "browsing" a feature
> and "viewing it on the map". And navigating between features and
> changesets is fluid, fast, and preserves more context.
>[...]
> - A modern look and feel. While there is no doubt design is to some
> degree subjective, the fact is that any design communicates a message.
> In short, the old design looked dated, haphazard, and uncoordinated.

regarding "uncoordinated":
In the new style the "export" feature now is split in two parts as of
one is the [Export] button which exports just OSM data.
The second part shows up on the "share" menu - where I am not sure
how a "Download" button could help share something.

> The goal of the redesign was to make the site [...] more efficient for
> veterans, to clean it up and refresh its looks, 
> [...]
> - Bug fixes and usability improvements.

I'd say "veterans" knew the site inside out and had set up their
efficient workflow.

A regression is the inability to browse the changesets of users
efficiently. 
Example: From time to time I need to have a look at what I mapped e.g.
about two years ago. Until now I could skip several pages of my edit
history by clicking the according links [page 1 2 3 ...11] or editing
the url like it is still used on nodes and ways of changeset.
Now browsing the distant history of edits is a pita. [Load more]period

Another thing not too helpful are the low contrast navigation buttons.
Thin bright green on white background is not the best readable UI.

> - User profiles, diaries, messaging, and other interior pages have
> seen only minimal changes

The user's profile image on the top right when logged in (at the button
of the dropdown menu) is scaled without keeping the aspect ratio.
 
> This redesign is a leap forward, but not the end-all be-all. There is
> most definitely room for improvement, and constructive feedback and
> hands-on help is always welcome. If you'd like to get coding on
> OpenStreetMap and you'd like a hand, please hit me up on IRC. If
> you're looking to file an issue
> https://github.com/openstreetmap/openstreetmap-website/issues

What is the matter with trac.osm.org? Too much bugtracking in one place?

Deprecated features should be marked so. It would be no nice experience
if one signed up to a platform like github to commit stuff and after a
pull request gets told: <s> haha, this is just a joke</s> This is
readonly, the real platform is elsewhere.¹²

That the [History] is an unusable mess still is a fact due to the
still increasing number of worldwide changesets. Better than allowing
new users this non-experience the button could imho get removed until
the history from http://owl.apis.dev.openstreetmap.org is working and
deployed.

Best regards
Thomas

¹ https://github.com/openstreetmap/josm/pull/7

² http://josm.openstreetmap.de/ticket/8434
" Pull requests won't be merged since JOSM uses SVN, but will be
committed to SVN manually."