Revamped Title Information Page

[k177105]

allowing us more space to display and organize information.

Although I have been a user of Criticker for a little bit of time now, and have always supported the way Criticker is run, I have to say that I am completely disappointed by this new title page. Although the Criticker guys say they have listened to feedback, I beg to differ: how many people offering feedback have said that what they want is "more space to display and organize information", and how many have said that the new page spaces everything out in a way that makes it much more difficult and more complicated to access information?

Yes, the functionality is still there, but all the functions are less functional. I have spoken to many users, and they all have the same complaints about this new title page, and they are the complaints that have been given by many users in the threads concerning these changes. These complaints have not been addressed in any way in the version that has now been implemented across the board.

As I've said before, Criticker can attract all the users in the world, but that's not its problem. Its problem is that many users try it and leave very quickly. Which users stay? I'd say: the kind that are attracted to the functionality of the site and the way it uses and displays information. The changes being made on the title page will not attract more of those kinds of users. And they won't keep the other kind either.

From my perspective, it's a big mistake.

Completely agreed. Now when I reach a title information page, I have to scroll down to be able to see rating and reviews, and scroll down further to see Cast & Info, instead of getting them all at my very first sight of the page. And it gets even worse when I use the site on my phone. Having mini pictures of the actors and actresses doesn't help me a bit since there's no way I can see them clearly, but being able to get all the important information at my very first sight of a title page has been super useful for me, and truly one thing that makes Criticker more attractive to me than so many other well-known and unknown film rating sites out there. "More space to display and organize information" doesn't and will never get me use IMDb more, and "less space" never made me think of using Criticker less: exactly the opposite.

I sincerely hope the change is not going in the same direction for the profile page, especially not for the mobile version, which I've always wished could be redesigned a bit exactly for making the page more compact to save some scrolling for my fingers. I'm sure there are many ways for Criticker to evolve in a more aesthetc and visually appealing direction without having to sacrifice the functionality.

[neven94]

I have to agree with the rest here aswell. Been a devoted Criticker fan and member for years, and the new format just doesnt look too good imho.. Some numbers of ratings are suddenly false aswell (check out 12 Angry Men, only hundred ratings or so?). Also, the average percentile is almost invisible at the bottom of the page, and I think is very important for moviegoers and should be bolded on top, together with the number of ratings. The comment section was more accessible and better before, too. Hope the old format will be restored again and back. Thanks

[AFlickering]

i will say that the design does seem rather IMDB-based, when the influence should really be coming more from letterboxd. that's the site with the ultra sleek modern aesthetic that's beautiful to use, imdb's always been pretty damn clunky and outdated IMO. that's not to say i want this site to turn into letterboxd of course because i don't at all, but it has some aesthetic choices that i think could be universally adopted at this point.

[Moribunny]

The new statistics feature is awesome, it's an extremely welcome addition and I'm grateful for it. Statistics about a user's own ratings would be great to have in the future (the site movielens has that, for instance). I don't know how I feel about the "similar" feature yet, I'm pretty sure I'll never give it another look (I don't on other sites), but both of these features are fine as extra tabs.
Other than that, the new UI has problems.

Now I know I've been using Criticker since 2006 and you might say I'm too decrepit to accept new ideas.

What sets Criticker apart from other movie databases was always its focus on ratings. That is why I've been so loyal to it. The immediacy of information was its greatest selling point - I wanted to be able to scroll through all my TCIs (not just reviews) with the overview/summary of the movie still in front of me the whole time. With everything crucial condensed like that, I was never forced to rummage around. It saved time and even allowed me to keep a page open while I'm offline for some reason and still have everything viewable.

Now I have to scroll way down on the main page of the movie to see a full overview, and "all ratings" are another two clicks away and tedious to scroll due to the humungous spacing between the lines. Before, I was able to glance back and forth between the ratings/reviews and the overview/summary. Now I have to click and load the pages back and forth, or open another browser tab. It's the same with collections etc, where the obscene spaces between the lines force needless scrolling.

[mpowell]

The new movie page shows ratings by accounts I have blocked. This is true for both the Overview page and the Ratings & Reviews page, and for both Detailed ratings view and Compact ratings view.

This should be fixed now! Thanks again for letting us know!

[djross]

It would have been a major mistake to alienate our most loyal group. At the same time, we're glad you recognize the need for the site to evolve... Criticker just can't remain static, looking forever the same as it did in 2010

The redesign actively impedes my enjoyment of pretty much everything I enjoy about the site. In addition to what TychoCelchuu pointed out (I don't need to see tiny little barely-visible-anyway pictures of filmmakers at the expense of so much more actual information), kumpel ratings seem to have taken a huge step back in accessibility, from seeing all easily browsable/scrollable to having to click through five or six or more different pages for very popular films (in addition to the extra click to "see all", after you've already clicked "just kumpels").

The main thing for me is that it's all too big and spaced out, especially the ratings section. I'd make it smaller and have it back in a box on the right of the page like before. It was perfect that way. No need to change it.

Overall it seems like functionality is down - it was really great being able to easily scroll through dozens of reviews on a film’s page without having to do any clicking to load up more - seeing only ten on the updated page is definitely too few in my opinion. Reviews are the main attraction for me on the site.

For the record, I love the “dated” 2010 look - too many sites keep updating away from that and becoming so much more annoying to use - IMDb case in point.

I found the old version much more pleasing, as I had all the pieces of the puzzle gathered together in one place, so I could take in the entire scene at once.

The visual aesthetics are nice, but ultimately, the inflated layout is simply more work for the user.

Yeah, I think most people in the thread agree that the layout takes too much space.

I personally found the old format to be more aesthetically pleasing and focused on what features I use this platform for. I'm sure there are many who will love the new features, but for me this change was a bit saddening.

Not a fan of this change. I see much less of the information I want to see on a single page view and I have to scroll much more or open new pages to see the information.

I like the old one better. It was a lot more information dense. And you didn't have to click on the (see more) button to see everything

How do I get the old, useful, site back?

Now when I reach a title information page, I have to scroll down to be able to see rating and reviews, and scroll down further to see Cast & Info, instead of getting them all at my very first sight of the page. And it gets even worse when I use the site on my phone. Having mini pictures of the actors and actresses doesn't help me a bit since there's no way I can see them clearly, but being able to get all the important information at my very first sight of a title page has been super useful for me, and truly one thing that makes Criticker more attractive to me than so many other well-known and unknown film rating sites out there.

The immediacy of information was its greatest selling point - I wanted to be able to scroll through all my TCIs (not just reviews) with the overview/summary of the movie still in front of me the whole time. With everything crucial condensed like that, I was never forced to rummage around. It saved time and even allowed me to keep a page open while I'm offline for some reason and still have everything viewable.

Now I have to scroll way down on the main page of the movie to see a full overview, and "all ratings" are another two clicks away and tedious to scroll due to the humungous spacing between the lines. Before, I was able to glance back and forth between the ratings/reviews and the overview/summary. Now I have to click and load the pages back and forth, or open another browser tab. It's the same with collections etc, where the obscene spaces between the lines force needless scrolling.

mpowell, you do yourself a disservice: Criticker never just “remained static”. What it did was change in incremental ways that improved functionality, and because of that, it was able to keep loyal users for many years, users who continued to rate many movies, write reviews, and browse the site for information.

You say that it would be a mistake to alienate that loyal group. From what I can see, those loyal users are sending a message that has an awful lot of consistency about what’s wrong with the current approach. The question is whether you are really willing to listen to that group, or just want to forge ahead on the grounds that it can’t “remain static”. Again, that’s a false alternative: the question is not whether to change, but whether or not to introduce a change that consistently produces the same complaints from the users who use the site the most and form that “loyal group” that you’ve admitted it would be a mistake to alienate. I sincerely hope that this consistent expression of opinion offered to you over the past six weeks by long-term users will prevent you from making that mistake.

[karamazov.]

Haven't payed for a sponsorship for a while, so maybe my opinion doesn't matter, but I just wanted to throw it out there that I have no interest whatsoever in "modernization progress" and will be exclusively using the Switch to Old Version option for as long as it remains available. The "dated" look has never been a problem for me, and If I wanted something that looked hip and "modern" I would switch to Letterboxd (and I very much hope not to have to do that).

[neven94]

Can anyone help me where on screen exactly can I find "switch to the old version" option? Been looking for it for days here. Thanks..

[mpowell]

Can anyone help me where on screen exactly can I find "switch to the old version" option? Been looking for it for days here. Thanks..

It's on the lefthand sidebar:

[mpowell]

Hey there!

I just wanted to let you all know that we’ve been reading every single post made on the forums these past few days, even if we’ve not been responding to them all. We care a ton about the concerns of our longest-term users, and apologize that this has probably seemed otherwise.

I’d like to share some facts and some background. Firstly, the idea that we’re not listening to user input is patently false (and honestly a little hurtful). We’ve never engaged the community more in a new feature or redesign, and for months have been actively implementing a whole host of bugs and improvements suggested by the community, various groups of whom have been brought in for feedback at varying times. Literally 96 bugs and improvements have been addressed in the past few months, the vast majority suggested by users.

Just as an example: One of the most persistent complaints was that there was too much spacing in the reviews, and people wanted to see ratings in a more compact way. We delivered a solution to that last Friday. Is it perfect? Probably not. But at the very least it’s proof that we’re listening, that we care about what you all think, and that we’re working on the things you care about.

We also did some testing with people who were brand new to Criticker — meaning people who’d never seen the old page OR the new page. And when asked to compare both, their preference was overwhelming (and very nearly unanimous). Users who aren’t already accustomed to the old version of the Title Information Page responded massively better to the new one. Just yesterday, we had a higher number of new (and verified) registrations than we've seen in months. Things are looking up, and it's really exciting.

I hear you thinking, “Great, all they care about is new users.” But honestly, if you’ve been with the site for any amount of time, you know how untrue that is. How much we care about the community and about building a place that feels like home. How slow to change we are. But you also know that Criticker, as it exists, has not grown in 15 years, and has actually been slowly atrophying. We can’t continue like this. If Criticker doesn’t modernize, it will go away.

By reading the posts in this forum, it might feel as though the community is coalescing around a narrative… that the design was a mistake, that people hate it, that we’re not listening. But this is not borne out by the stats. Of all the users active in the last 30 days (including sponsors who have had access to the new TIP since June 1st), only 4.09% have switched back to the old version. Emails we’ve been receiving have been far more positive than the sentiments on the forum. And the reaction of our partners and collaborators is 100% enthusiastic about the direction in which Criticker looks to be headed.

I’m not pointing all this out in an effort to diminish the influence of our long-term forum users. The sentiments of new users and partners are important. But you are the life-blood of Criticker, and we are committed to keeping you happy. We have been making notes on all the conversations going on here, and although it’s often difficult to read, we appreciate the honesty. But again, we simply cannot allow Criticker to remain mostly static with only small incremental changes for the rest of time, and won’t be regressing to a layout that was constantly (and correctly) derided as outdated and ugly. We hope that you all understand that.

As I said, we’ve got loads of improvements and bug fixes coming up, and can’t wait to get to work on them — almost all of them originating from the feedback you’ve been giving us. Keep letting us know when you think we’re off track, but also please understand that we’re trying to grow the site into something bigger than it has been. There are going to be a lot of changes along the path towards Criticker reaching its true potential, and we've just started.