Iterating on our redesign (Forum update April 2023)

By Sarah Cheng @ 2023-04-01T04:00 (+79)

Thank you to everyone who gave us feedback on our recent redesign of the Forum! We’ve looked closely at your feedback and our findings from interviews with new users. 

Two clear themes emerged:

  1. New users found the site too serious and intimidating
  2. Experienced users missed the amount of “character” in the original design

 

After careful consideration, we’ve decided to change our sans-serif font from Inter to Comic Sans. We believe that this friendly and distinctive font will address the concerns of both new and experienced users, and keep users engaged for longer.[1]

We’re confident that all of our users will be happy with this font change. We welcome you to contact us with your praise, or post it in the comments below.

However, we realize that we made this change without any heads-up, and that can feel jarring. If you’d like to ease the transition, we’ve added an option in your account settings to switch back to Inter for today only.

  1. ^

    📈

dsj @ 2023-04-01T05:34 (+74)

I’m calling for a six month pause on new font faces more powerful than Comic Sans.

David Mears @ 2023-04-01T09:23 (+18)

A six month pause? No, longer is needed.

Robi Rahman @ 2023-04-01T11:03 (+12)

Immediate airstrikes are needed on any rogue nation that won't cooperate. Comic Sans must be enforced at all costs. The future of humanity depends on it.

Marcel D @ 2023-04-01T13:37 (+5)

“And this is a quote: ‘literally everyone on earth will die.’ … would you agree that doesn’t sound good?”

Tobias Häberli @ 2023-04-01T14:24 (+13)

There is a comprehensive process in place... it is a cohesive approach to aligning font, but thank you for the drama!

Luke Freeman @ 2023-04-01T04:09 (+39)

I suddenly feel like I can think clearly. Like a haze has been lifted. Thank you Forum team for so accurately predicting my needs and preferences. I hope your brier scores were accurately updated by in accordance with this accurate prediction.

NicholasKross @ 2023-04-01T04:03 (+20)

This font is coursing through my veins and increasing my IQ thank you

Ben Millwood @ 2023-04-01T09:52 (+16)

as someone who was not a huge fan of how the forum used sans serif before, I have decided I am a font accelerationist and will praise anything that makes the sans-serif font worse, as bringing forward its inevitable downfall and glorious replacement.

Good work, folks!

Arvin @ 2023-04-01T16:37 (+3)

*mindlessly typed eaforum
"wth, why comic sans"
"oh, haha funny"  
*try find more funny in the community tab
*sees Nathan's post about the new time article
*sad, confused, dizzy huhu
*comic sans softened the blow though
"ty online team." 
"drama curfew when?"
 

Ben_West @ 2023-04-01T05:08 (+3)

(In case anyone else is confused like I was, the new thing only shows up on April 1st of your local time zone.)

Michael_PJ @ 2023-04-01T16:47 (+2)

Comic sans is a great font that is very readable even at small font sizes. Surely a community which cares about effectiveness over image will embrace this change.

NickLaing @ 2023-04-01T14:33 (+2)

Your Iterating is titillating