Forum:The new transmats

Opening post
Hello everyone,

So, this discussion is continuing on from both:
 * Forum:Temporary forums/Updating the main page & theme
 * Talk:Doctor Who Wiki

However, those discussions have got quite knotty and difficult to follow, so I'll summarise things as best I can:


 * A redesign of the main page is being discussed. This includes a new version of the 'transmats' - if you somehow don't know already, the transmats are a special graphic that link to various topics (and to 'transmat pages', specifically). This is what the current transmat graphic looks like (it displays much larger on the front page, of course):


 * I, TheGreatGabester, have been developing a concept for a new version of the transmats. This is the current draft - it focuses on media, rather than in-universe elements:
 * I'm also putting together a 'transmat kit', containing the isolated aspects of the design, a scaling grid (for the hexagonical pattern), etc. This will allow the graphic to be adjusted with relative ease.


 * However, there is a lack of clear consensus for how this project can be progressed.
 * Some people have signalled their approval for my design, and want to see it implemented.
 * Some people like my design, but want to see some adjustments - it mostly seems like these people take issue with the transmats' content, rather than the overall design.
 * Some people want a completely different transmat design.
 * Some people are doubting the necessity of transmats, and even think they should be scrapped entirely.

I believe this issue should receive its own dedicated thread - on the previous discussions pertaining to the entire main page redesign, the conversation became somewhat scattershot and fragmented, and as I said, difficult to keep track of. So it's my opinion that we should address the main page redesign one element at a time, rather than trying to discuss every aspect all at once. If admins wish to overrule this, or change this thread to be about the entire main page (or delete it), that's fine. But, it's my view that this will be a more effective approach to take.

So yes, I'd appreciate if contributors to this thread made their current perspectives and thoughts as clear and easy to follow as possible. That way, new contributors can pitch in, without needing to wade through all the earlier discussions. Cheers TheGreatGabester ☎  14:17, 24 May 2023 (UTC)

Discussion
Okay, so I want to start off here by giving a bit of context as per my end. I have been one of the people recommending that we have the transmat image focus on in-universe topics. This is because I have my own test design for a landing concept. You can see my two variants here and here.

In my designs, this is what I suggested for the spinoffs:


 * Torchwood Spinoff.png  SJA spinoff.png   K9 spinoff.png   Class Spinoff.png





I believe this is more intuitive design than the big transmat wildly linking to every spin-off, both live action and EU. I also think it is the most healthy in terms of being evergreen, as it will not be a stress to update this whenever we officially know about future spin-offs. OS25🤙☎️ 19:20, 24 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I think I prefer OS25's design; it seems a lot more intuitive, and I think that it's actually much easier to see what things are what, as here, instead of linking by company, we are linking by series, which to me is much more intuitive. Aquanafrahudy ☎  19:29, 24 May 2023 (UTC)


 * The ability to easily swap out elements is appealing, for sure. It's a solid option. The main aspect I'm personally not so keen on, however, is the mismash of colour palettes between all these images. Some of these images individually contain a lot of strong colours, let alone when they're all put together. Functionally, this concept works well, but on an aesthetic level, I think there's more refinement that would have to be done. That's just me though, maybe other people aren't so bothered by the clashing colour palettes. TheGreatGabester ☎  22:11, 24 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Maybe I'm simply biased, but I am very very tired of the whole "everything must be blue or gold" thing on the home page. So the color palate doesn't bother me. I also want to emphasize that I think a transmat directory for in-universe stuff is still needed. OS25🤙☎️ 22:27, 24 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Doom's Day is not a spinoff in its own right, it just doesn't belong, even if we adopt OS25's approach.


 * But there's a more fundamental issue here, and it's that for newer users there's just too much being thrown at them. Imagine you're a new user coming to the franchise for the first time, you've already heard about the show, you know that it's been on since 2005, maybe you're vaguely aware that it had an older series back in 60s-80s, but you're already worried about 13 seasons of content to get through on the new show and you're not sure where to start. You come to our front page and you see that. A wave of colors wash over you and you see that there are four other TV shows?!!? And what's all that further down?! How much of this do you have to understand?


 * The legacy of the show is already intimidating to new viewers, and OS25's graphic only makes the problem worse. It is actively harmful to the onboarding experience of users most likely to harmed by hostile site design on the main page. Moreover, there's just no reason to do it. There was a previous thread that had consensus for the transmat design in the OP, and there's been no reason given to change it out. (I will note to the one concern about linking to company rather than series - the transmat graphic doesn't link to the normal pages that are in the regular namespace, it links to specially curated landing pads called transmats that explain the basics of the thing discussed, providing context for those interested.) Najawin ☎  22:52, 24 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Once again, Najawin and I have one major disagreement about new editors coming to our website. Najawin believes that the majority of new users who will visit our site in the next few years will be former viewers who are now adults and are only coming to read content about the current run of episodes. People who stopped watching after Tennant or Smith and now only want to read about the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors.


 * Whereas I believe, from solid experience, that users who come to our website are often brand new viewers who are furthermorenot terrified of the expanded universe. They are instead people who want to learn more about parts of the show and universe inaccessible to them. They want to know what the Sarah Jane Adventures is, they want to read more about the Third Doctor and Frobisher and the like.


 * Look at it like this. The ultimate peak in popularity for the franchise was during the Matt Smith era, probably around series 6. Imagine if you discovered the show during that era and you looked for a fan wiki... And the landing said something like


 * FACTS ABOUT THE DOCTOR. THE DOCTOR THINKS BOWTIES ARE COOL. THE DOCTOR WEARS FEZES AND OTHER HATS. THE DOCTOR SAYS JERONIMO. THESE ARE ALL THE FACTS ABOUT THE DOCTOR. THIS CONCLUDES THE TARDIS WIKI LANDING PAGE.


 * Doesn't that feel under-stimulating? And even if we do agree that new users are often returning from not watching the show for several years, who's to say they won't want to find out info about the eras they missed? We simply can not undermine our readers by presuming they don't have an interest in the obscure and fascinating. OS25🤙☎️ 23:08, 24 May 2023 (UTC)

But this isn't what I think? I think that there are going to be returning users, new users, and current fans all coming to the wiki! What I said was the following:
 * There are four groups to consider when talking about people who come to the wiki. Enfranchised users who are coming to the wiki already using it and comfortable with it. Users who haven't yet been to the wiki, but when they do won't be scared off by our basic design decisions/organizing principles in any way. Users who are committed to the show but have the potential to be put off by our basic design decisions/organizing principles and so are less likely to use the wiki. Users who are not committed to the show and have the potential to be put off of the show by our basic design decisions and organizing principles. (Theoretically there's a fifth, those who will come back to the wiki but not the show, and you can fine grain this to consider returning users rather than first time, but it's ultimately not a super important distinction.)

Users of the first type aren't people we should care about with our changes here - they're competent enough in navigating the wiki that our front page changes won't effect their usage. Users of the second type are, by definition, people we shouldn't care about either. This leaves us only with users of the third and fourth type. Your contention previously was that new users will be predominately of the third type, that is to say, people who were in the fandom but didn't necessarily use the wiki, and you provided some anecdotes in support of this. I took very strong objection to this.

Indeed, you seem to be suggesting something similar still, but making an additional conflation, which is that type four users are necessarily returning. I don't think this; I think returning viewers vs first time viewers is irrelevant to my analysis. I'm worried about the users that we are potentially scaring off by making hostile design decisions, be them returning or entirely brand new. (And, indeed, the hypothetical I constructed above assumes the person is a completely brand new viewer, so I'm not certain why you're suggesting I think most people will be returning. I think most people in November will be returning, but I don't think that necessarily holds for S14.)

This brings us to a question. Why do you think most users will be type 3? Easy answer, you're a heavily enfranchised fan, and so you're going to gravitate towards the spheres of fan discussion where people are more invested from the get go and are really interested in the topic. Nothing wrong with this, we all are. But we need to account for our own biases, we need to consider people who aren't yet in the fan communities you interact with or simply never will be. Are there people we can scare off from the show all together with our design choices? I think the answer is yes - even the BBC Wales series is intimidating to a new viewer that hasn't watched anything and wants to know where to start. And I think we need to be cognizant of that fact. Najawin ☎  23:40, 24 May 2023 (UTC)


 * I like OS25's design, although I'd like to point out that on mobile it becomes a long line down, with each circle beneath the previous one. That probably needs fixing. Oh, and uh yeah people go to the wiki to find new stuff, not what they already know. Cousin Ettolrahc ☎  05:22, 25 May 2023 (UTC)


 * It's not that important that the feature works on mobile - it's pretty easy to set it up so it just doesn't show up.


 * I think Najawin is still massively overthinking the whole user base thing. Users are mostly driven by curiosity when they visit fan wikis.


 * So OS25, when you say there's still a need for a transmat directory, what would that look like?


 * Even if not blue and gold, some kind of colour scheme needs to be considered. This is why I like the original transmats: because they are a well-designed, aesthetically pleasing visual, which all feels 'of one piece'. And having it all be in a limited colour palette contributes to that. Basically, these images need to work as icons - the simpler, the better. In my view, the Big Finish and Iris Wildthyme images are just way too visually busy - too many visual elements, and too many colours. TheGreatGabester ☎  06:49, 25 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Of course people coming to a wiki are here because of curiosity - to learn new things rather than what they already know. Nobody here is disputing this. The issue is rather what they're curious about, and if throwing them in the deep end might put them off of either the wiki or the franchise. (Or, alternatively, if not giving them large amounts of EU lore on the first page they see will put them off of the wiki or the franchise. - There will be sidebars that discuss more obscure EU stuff ostensibly anyhow, yes? The facts that OS25 is talking about. If we do these properly I think these concerns are just misplaced.) Najawin ☎  07:12, 25 May 2023 (UTC)