New market layout and recent predictions window (Yuck)

Hey just noticed that you took away the comma on the dollar figures. I wonder what the hell is going on at Hubdub.

Comma is now fixed. Thanks for letting us know.

On the new page, we actually did do a fair bit of testing on it to try to get it right. However I recognise it is a big change and there are parts of it that aren't quite right. One problem with the old look was it was very flat and didn't convey the activity that was going on behind the scenes. Also, settlement details which are very important in some markets, where getting buried.

Please do offer your suggestions on how to improve the current design. Additionally, you might find it useful to try the new design for a while to see if it grows on you. That way any suggestions can combine the best of the new and the old.

Finally, while this feature came out first we are working on 'super user' functionality in parallel (in general Tom works on the front end dev, Chris works on back end). It is a more difficult feature to get right so it is taking slightly longer to get out.

Oh, last one: Punditwatch. That is a new marketing feature we are launching next week. We are going to use it to track predictions of A-list pundits to see how they get on. We'll add an icon to it (and the other PW user id's). More details early next week.

There seems to be about 20 people who frequent these getsatisfaction threads, and they are for the most part some of the most active users on Hubdub. It would seem that if you were testing a new look these people would be asked for feedback. The one thing we aren't shy with is input.
On the front end side I have asked for as have others, a more functional home page, the ability to select what you want to appear on there. As far as the new page, I am now forced to select the graph tab if i want to see movement, which before was very easy to see. The new page seems to take longer to load than old page. The old page conveyed all the information that was relevant. It seems that most of the effort is to make site more social, instead of more functional. There are buttons everywhere to share questions, notify people, see what people wagered, but as far as it working better, I don't see any improvements.
I think a first impression is important, we are talking about layout, how does it feel, I know it doesn't work as easily, I have to make extra click to see a graph, and starting odds. If we are going to be redesigning things how about adding some extra buttons, like a button to wager 500 or 1000 on question. Instead of seeing what others predicted on the main page (hide that info in the prediction tab), why not put the wagering selections there. So I don't have to go to another screen for it.

Comma - good.
Pundit - curious
Power users - soooo ready!!
Layout - still hate it.

I will use it for a couple of days and then come back here and tell you again how much I don't like it... In the meantime, here are more of my "initial" thoughts.

I like having access to the recent predictions information -- I've seen that in many other prediction markets and it seems fun. However, at the moment that feels like the main "point" of the page. It should be in a tab or on a side panel. Maybe like the "New questions in this category" used to be.

Also, the sidebar seems to have gotten significantly bigger. It should remain a side bar and not such a major part of the screen. I think you want to keep your focus on the actual question which includes the graph (bring that back please) and the market options which shouldn't be so small compared to everything else on the page.

I have no problems with the social networking buttons on the page. Although again, they are taking up MORE real estate than the actual market options. Some simple resizing/layout changes will make me a lot happier.

I do think it was a good idea to pull the settlement details to the front page.

Just a final thought - I've checked out several other prediction markets and always come back to hubdub because I think the layout is so much clearer and easier to use. Be careful in trying to be more like them -- I don't think that's a good goal.

I am completely in agreement with all your observations jenni. I was thinking what I would like on a question screen, and only thing I can think is that I wish they had more mainstream news articles, seems the links are to obscure sites.

*Sighs in satisfaction*

Much better.

I still hope this isn't the "final" iteration -- I think the sidebar is still a little too big for instance -- but its SOOOOO much better than yesterday that I'm willing to live with it for a while now.

I haven't studied web design layout (I'm positive others here have, please correct me if I'm wrong) but it seems like placing the social networking bar above the market box would be more noticable.

Hi Jenni, glad that you find this layout a little better, as you say there's still some work to do on it. We'll leave it for a bit now and see how people get on with it as well as do some usability trials. If anyone has any more thoughts please drop them into this thread.

It seems that what is making users happy is returning the page to what it normally looked like. It seems that even though this is in beta phase, rolling out changes this drastic would have been discussed before being rolled out. Why not ask the users what changes we want and DONT want.
I still dont like the predictions of others appearing on the main page. Wish that the graph was larger. I wish the sidebar was smaller and filled with information on the user who wrote question and other questions that might relate to this. I would love to have a way to bookmark a question. And maybe it is just me but why would I want to challenge others to compete on a certain question? It is not like there is a way to track who does better, so basically I am just telling others to wager on a market. I would rather see a way of rating a question.

And while we are suggesting changes, can we discuss what leaderboard is the default when choosing the leaderboard tab. I would like mine default to be the quarterly gain amongst all users. The weekly leaderboard among just my friends seems like a weird leaderboard to have as the default.

Hey one more thing... can we get back the graph where we can slide the bars and zoom in on a certain portion.