V3 Honest Feedback

I think if V3 (with V3 bug fixes and feature complete) replaced V2 there would be a massive negative response.

V3 has the same issues Windows 8 has. We just do not need a mobile website for the PC. IMO V2 is superior to V3 (and its not because V3 is not feature complete). It might be best that V3 could be a mobile site that pops up as an option on a mobile device (is that what V3 is supposed to be?).

Its our jobs as testers to give honest feedback (and to NOT share that feedback anywhere but here).

Whats your honest feedback? (We need to hear it!)

Opinions will surely vary, but I think v3 is gorgeous. Can't wait for live chess to become functional....

Personally, I quite like it, but I almost never use the desktop version of either 2 or 3. The iPad app will be make or break for me. So long as they deliver on the increased functionality with that, it'll be a winner.

chess.com are obviously wanting to produce a product with the same look and feel no matter what device you experience it from.  It makes sense that the mobile and desktop versions share many attributes, as code can then be reused across the different platforms thus making it easier to manage and update later.

The Android app is excellent and already has the v3 look and feel.  I cannot wait for the iOS v3 to be released, v2 is so clunky in comparison.  The regular desktop website on v3 certainly looks more modern, and fits for today.  Add in the remaining features (eg videos, chess mentor etc) then it will be very nice indeed.

My only gripe is the amount of time it is taking to get the old site transferred to the new layout, but alas I doubt that the old version was following todays clever coding and templating practices.

LIM, that's exactly what I was thinking.

But if I'm completely honest, I must say I prefer V2 muuuch more than this trial verson. Why? Here are my points:

• Everything is at hand, handful. For example, games, notes, friends, options, it's compact.
• In my opinion it looks like mobile app on a very big screen, therefore every section is relatively big and kind of in the way sometimes. SIte has to be easily accessible.
• Dunno about comments. Looks like a forum you see on the internet (and you "hate" to read). I mean, I don't feel like I'm in a group of people discussing something, but more like expression your opinion on the subject without feedback (may sounds strange, but can't express it properly ;))

In my opinion V3 is terrible and is the equivalent of Windows 8. V3 is trying to ruin the browsing experiance on desktops at the expense of mobile platforms. And so far its unusable on mobile platforms. If it was feature complete now and released more then half of premium members would likely cancel. Main issues is its not a normal website design. V2 has a lot to build on and like. 

This was appropriate description. It's perfect for mobiles, but quite clumsy like W8 tiles.

All they need to do is put bigger buttons to click on (for mobile) with V2 and we would be fine.

Ugh... Navigating around V3 is a nightmare for the few things that are barely functional. 

I have come back to V3 several times over the past few weeks and I could not be more disenchanted.

V3 looks like a couple of teenagers are trying to build their first website as an after school project.

I am shocked that chess.com management has not pulled the plug on these guys and brought in competent website developers.

Enough already -- Stop throwing good money after bad by continuing with these amateur developers.

While there is room for incremental improvement of the classic browser site, it is rich with features, stable and very usable.

Please do not botch the V3 browser version of the site by turning it into some kind of goofy Windows 8 Metro abomination.

If production version of V3 is anything remotely like the sketchy prototype as of November 24, 2014, I will not be renewing the three premium accounts for my family.

when is V3 out ? can anyone try the beta version ?

Sorry, don't really like it. V2 looks much better. 

The themed background coming through inbetween sections is very distracting/unappealing. 

I'm hoping it's nowhere finished and what we see now is nothing like what we will see when it's finally completed. 

Darpot's first paragraph is spot on - most big companies want this feel of sameness that makes navigation easier. I think there are some things that could be improved, but overall I respectfully disagree with Chess-kebabs and the others - the site is easier to navigate, and if chess.com fixes the sight issues ("gray blob" and such), it will be easier to navigate. The iOS app looks very similar, and while I think it's missing a few features you have on the desktop, it's very clean on mobile phones. It shouldn't be scrapped, just reworked to be more desktop-y on desktops and more mobile friendly on mobile devices...but the actual content doesn't have to change nor does the layout.

"chess.com are obviously wanting to produce a product with the same look and feel no matter what device you experience it from.  It makes sense that the mobile and desktop versions share many attributes, as code can then be reused across the different platforms thus making it easier to manage and update later."

This is the exact logic that lead to windows 8 that was/is such a disaster for users. There is no need to have the desktop and mobile versions the same. That way leads to terrible design decisions.

More features is not equal to better.

Personally, I like V3.  It's cleaner, simpler, and modern.  It feels fresh and enjoyable to use.

The themed backgrounds showing through inbetween sections is not cleaner. It's very cluttering. But if you're not using a themed background you wouldn't notice that. In V2, you only see the themed backgrounds on the surrounds of the main content, not 'through' it. 

I don't use Windows, am on Mac OSX, but I have colleagues who are trying to change from Windows 8 back to Windows 7. They hate Windows 8. I can see a general consensus of the same opinion forming. 

Change is  definitely not always for the better. 

But they are still working on V3 here, so would rather reserve my final judgement to when it's finished and fully launched.  

Change will always be met with a negative response.  This site has seen it every-time something has been changed.  You can't please everyone, and the displeased are far more likely to be vocal.

While I like what's being attempted with this update I tend to agree with the points made above by MSC157.

In V2 the menus that opened simply by hovering over them meant that everything was one click away.  Now, just to get to my posted topics I have to load two pages (never-mind the clicks...).  First order retrieval is best, this is a big step backwards as far as user experience goes in my opinion.

The comment about this looking like a mobile app on the desktop is spot on.  On my wide screen monitor there is so much wasted screen real-estate.  V2 isn't immune from this problem either though (in fact, I'm pretty sure I flagged it in my V2 feedback at that time).

I just logged onto the site via my phone (thinking that the mobile look and feel was done to benefit the mobile experience) and the site is completely useless.  The navigation panel on the left is simply not present and the site simply cannot be used.

Also, the "Hamburger Menu" icon that doesn't do anything (and I think is mean to indicate that the panel it is on contains a list of some kind) is a really poor user interface choice given the established standard for icons that look like this (i.e. that they contain a menu).

I'd post an image if it were possible, but I'm not going to jump through the hoops of hosting it somewhere, so there's that as well....

You can see an example on the "Notes" in this group, which by the way I can't figure out how to post to.

This is a bit of a mess.

 Oh, never mind, I found it.  this time the hamburger menu actually is a hamburger menu.