My 2-Cents on V3

I mostly work with Version 2 but I switch over to V3 to explore it and try to learn it.

I look around, check my games, look at forums, etc. and then consistently can't wait to get back to V2.

I find V2 to have everything I need and it mostly presents it in a way that I can find things. 

V3 has too many moving parts within pages, and the over-use icons is terrible for usability.

Granted that there seem to be some improved "features" but I don't see why they can't be incorporated into V2.

Seems to me that the emphasis is on "design" and not on providing the user with easy access to the features and information that they need. It is a common problem with recent trends in web design. 

Designers need to stop designing to impress other designers and start designing for users.

I find that V2 works well and I would not object to gradual, incremental updating the design, but this complete change in design philosophy does not make sense to me.

So that's my 2-cents worth.

You may just feel like that because you have barely been in v3, but hey, if you stay on v3 for a month or two, you will find where everything is and you will actually start to enjoy. Plus, v3 is much sleeker than v2.

Maybe so. If I decide to stick with Chess.com rather than find another site I expect that eventually I will adapt.

I have been doing web design off and on since the mid 1990s and I have always had usability at the top of my design goals. Especially for a site like this usability and information architecture must come before eye candy. Right now in my opinion, V3 has a long way to go.

I get that the designers want to create an "up to date" look and feel but I hope that in the end, they test it for ease of use.

Yeah, me too. V3 is very far from being completely established. There is still a lot of bugs. I have to say though, did you know they are planning to make live club tourneys?

Live club tourneys probably will not be my cup of tea. But it's not clear to me why they can't do that with V2.