Please Stop Using Motion Graphics

Question

Overall, I like the look of the preview site but the use of motion graphics will keep me from visiting often. The worst part is on this page

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vbpreview/ee619788.aspx

where the "Featured Videos" uses various motion effects (blur/wipes) to cycle through previews of the available videos.

If you suffer from vertigo, you'll understand why that kind of graphic can literally make you feel ill.

Please leave it to the user to step through sequences of graphics. Put a Play button on for those who like animation.

Thanks,

Ken

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Author: ASP.NET 3.5 For Dummies

Answer 1

Thanks for the feedback, Ken! I'll pass that on to our designers and developers. We'll look at adding a stop animation feature.

Laurie Moloney
MSDN Site Manager

Answer 2

Just don't animate it in the first place. It's like flash intro videos, it's fun for the developers, but for vistors, it's just a pain and we are forced to find the skip intro button. In other words, the feature would be to not animate the content, rather than adding a control to make it stop.

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Adam Kane, Technical Director, ForgeFX, http://www.forgefx.com/

Answer 3

Wow, that "video slider" really is terrible!

Also, I miss being able to see all the video previews next to each other.  Now I'm left with ambiguous, tiny little ellipses that I have to hunt for with my mouse?

Please, MSDN designers and developers, reconsider.  Basic UX principle is to present the information the user wants - in this case, "what videos are available?"  (Or, more specifically, "what new videos are available?")  The video slider fails to do this.

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Lars Kemmann

Answer 4

Well said, Adam.

If there's something moving on a page that I didn't initiate, I'm not likely to stay for long.

The Flash gurus might be having a great time creating all the jazzy effects but their fun is at the expense of visitors.

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Author: ASP.NET 3.5 For Dummies

Answer 5

Hi Ken/all. We have turned off the animation in the video control, and appreciate everyone's input. Also, we are working on the new version of that control, which incorporates discoverability/preview aspects of the previous version. We expect to have this up on the sites very soon.

Chris Dahl
MSDN UX/Design

Answer 6

Hey Chris!

Thanks very much for turning off the animation and even bigger thanks for listening to the user feedback!

Well done.

Ken

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Author: ASP.NET 3.5 For Dummies

Answer 7

Hi,
It's very difficult to work with IE6.Eyes are burning because of the much contrast color.

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Best Regards, C.Gnanadurai ----------------------- Please mark the post as answer if it is helpfull to you

Answer 8

Hi folks - we've decided to turn off the auto-play mode in the Community Activity area, and will reintroduce that option at a later date.

Thanks much for your input.

Chris Dahl
MSDN UX/Design