Welcome to Quartz(qz.com)
qz.com
Welcome to Quartz
http://qz.com/welcome-to-quartz
It's great to see someone taking a new approach to news. They really seem to get how people consume content.
18 comments
This is UI madness, things hides, moves and pop around with no obvious relation with my input.
The main news timeline is promising though, but greatly needs visual codes for differentiating and qualifying content.
It's great to focus on the content while not putting technology asides, but your publishing tool is also of strategical importance. It's great to have rethought the general way of showing information, but this is, to me, clearly half baked.
Comparing that with your submission title (for whatever it means, it evokes technology), makes me think you have a problem here.
The main news timeline is promising though, but greatly needs visual codes for differentiating and qualifying content.
It's great to focus on the content while not putting technology asides, but your publishing tool is also of strategical importance. It's great to have rethought the general way of showing information, but this is, to me, clearly half baked.
Comparing that with your submission title (for whatever it means, it evokes technology), makes me think you have a problem here.
First, I just stumbled on this and am not affiliated with it.
Second, I agree that some parts of the UI are overkill. Keep in mind that it has been designed for tablets and phones though: "(...) built primarily for the devices closest at hand: tablets and mobile phones."
The title of this post is taken from the text the link points to. From the text itself: "Developers and journalists, sometimes one-and-the-same, sit next to each other in the Quartz newsroom as we continually iterate and experiment."
I'm simply happy to see someone trying something new.
Second, I agree that some parts of the UI are overkill. Keep in mind that it has been designed for tablets and phones though: "(...) built primarily for the devices closest at hand: tablets and mobile phones."
The title of this post is taken from the text the link points to. From the text itself: "Developers and journalists, sometimes one-and-the-same, sit next to each other in the Quartz newsroom as we continually iterate and experiment."
I'm simply happy to see someone trying something new.
Keep in mind it has been designed for tablets and phones though
This actually highlights one of my pet peeves: that web pages need special "mobile enhanced" versions. 90% of the time, a "mobile web page" is just worse than the original. I have to ask: do the guys designing these "mobile" web pages actually use tablets or smartphones? Because what part of "mobile" means "ruin the usability and make sure a lot of awkward javascript-emulated touch gestures are involved"?
This actually highlights one of my pet peeves: that web pages need special "mobile enhanced" versions. 90% of the time, a "mobile web page" is just worse than the original. I have to ask: do the guys designing these "mobile" web pages actually use tablets or smartphones? Because what part of "mobile" means "ruin the usability and make sure a lot of awkward javascript-emulated touch gestures are involved"?
These mobile and tablet optimized UI's are really annoying for those of us who still use a regular computer from time to time (i.e nearly everyone). I mean how hard is it to support two UI paradigms? one for mobile/tablet and one for desktop/laptop. Isn't easy separation of content and presentation one of the core benefits of web frameworks?
Another news site that's gone full tilt tablet UI is pandodaily, but at least their site renders correctly and is mostly usable (both not optimally so) for a desktop/laptop user.
Are the costs just too high to support two presentation layers such that shops will bet on mobile/tablet users over all others?
Another news site that's gone full tilt tablet UI is pandodaily, but at least their site renders correctly and is mostly usable (both not optimally so) for a desktop/laptop user.
Are the costs just too high to support two presentation layers such that shops will bet on mobile/tablet users over all others?
Yea I kinda feel bad for them. They have all these smart looking people on the about page, but the UI is so terrible.
qz.com is the only site that made it to my router's "block sites" list just because of their awful and random UI.
The animation that makes the header disappear is kind of weird, but what other UI madness are you referring to?
The most annoying is that scrolling can change the article without warning, and scrolling in the opposite direction may or may not return you to the article you actually wanted to read. Maybe it depends on the browser, but I have the same behavior on the Android browser and desktop Firefox.
Doesn't it just load the next article when you've finished the current one, infinite scroll-like?
Looks like iPad-ish UI. Tab bar on the left, pull to refresh etc.
The only full-screen responsive layout for articles that I like so far is smashing magazine... They know not to have all these fancy floating nav bars, or to have this crazy "scroll to the next article" thing. Pages should be treated as pages. http://www.smashingmagazine.com/
Agree, it's awful.
The future of news has nothing to do with code. That's just "when all you have is a hammer" talk. We're already trending towards Facebook-ized/Twitter-ized news, and I don't think anyone is impressed. The problem with the news is content, and the people, and I don't think technology is going to help with either.
As an aside, I just bought a subscription to Bloomberg Businessweek on my iPad (first newspaper subscription ever) and I have to say I'm impressed. Quality long-form writing, covering business and Wall Street without the conservative slant of fellatious tone of the WSJ. Very recommended.
As an aside, I just bought a subscription to Bloomberg Businessweek on my iPad (first newspaper subscription ever) and I have to say I'm impressed. Quality long-form writing, covering business and Wall Street without the conservative slant of fellatious tone of the WSJ. Very recommended.
The first time I have seen the word "fellatious" in the wild - thank you for bringing this gem to my attention :)
I hope it's not written in the same code these guys are using!
OK, that was a bit snarky, but this site's design definitely feels too "clever" and, weirdly, looks like something that might have escaped from a time tunnel to 2006. Since then, everyone has got into the whole minimalism thing, and web design has generally been better for it.
OK, that was a bit snarky, but this site's design definitely feels too "clever" and, weirdly, looks like something that might have escaped from a time tunnel to 2006. Since then, everyone has got into the whole minimalism thing, and web design has generally been better for it.
We publish bracingly creative and intelligent journalism with a broad worldview
The financial crisis that recently engulfed much of the world wasn’t just a cyclical decline or a correction or even a bubble bursting. It was a breaking point. And its shockwaves exposed a fundamentally changed economic order with new leaders and ways of doing business.
Our coverage of this new global economy is rooted in a set of defining obsessions: core topics and knotty questions of seismic importance to business professionals.
I hope the writing in their articles is more straightforward.
The financial crisis that recently engulfed much of the world wasn’t just a cyclical decline or a correction or even a bubble bursting. It was a breaking point. And its shockwaves exposed a fundamentally changed economic order with new leaders and ways of doing business.
Our coverage of this new global economy is rooted in a set of defining obsessions: core topics and knotty questions of seismic importance to business professionals.
I hope the writing in their articles is more straightforward.
Reading a manifesto is probably not a good introduction to the site — it's a bit "tell" instead of "show".
Submitted to news.ycombinator about ten hours ago, the qz.com "Check your US tax rate for 2012-and every year since 1913" might show a little bit more of the kind of interactive blah responsive blah storytelling multifluidic blah they aim to do: http://qz.com/37639/check-your-us-tax-rate-for-2012-and-ever...
Submitted to news.ycombinator about ten hours ago, the qz.com "Check your US tax rate for 2012-and every year since 1913" might show a little bit more of the kind of interactive blah responsive blah storytelling multifluidic blah they aim to do: http://qz.com/37639/check-your-us-tax-rate-for-2012-and-ever...
That article is a way better intro to the site and frankly sold me on qz.
The content is good - and not content I’d seen anywhere else. More of this will keep me coming back.
---
Link to the hn thread on that article: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4946820
The content is good - and not content I’d seen anywhere else. More of this will keep me coming back.
---
Link to the hn thread on that article: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4946820
I'm failing to see what all the fuss is about regarding the UI on this site. It's relatively minimalistic, easy to navigate, and the header condensing to a smaller version was slightly unexpected but I wouldn't call it "jarring" or a deal-breaker by any means. Someone mentioned that Mashable has a great UI and I'm going to have to strongly disagree. Mashable's UI is horribly cluttered and much harder to decipher, while I had no problem whatsoever navigating and understanding the Quartz site.
I did notice, however, that the header will drop back down when choosing another link or scrolling back up to the top of an article regardless of whether it's the top of the scroll area. This seems more like a bug than anything, not something intentional to the UI.
I did notice, however, that the header will drop back down when choosing another link or scrolling back up to the top of an article regardless of whether it's the top of the scroll area. This seems more like a bug than anything, not something intentional to the UI.
The future of news certainly is not UI code. Code is definitely important for reporting, but much more so for analysis and much less so for delivery. If the NY Times (or anyone else) uses code to crunch through millions of records and finds an important story out of it, I will read that story in whatever format they publish in. If it's not some whiz bang "tablet optimized" CMS, I don't care at all. If I am readying your tablet optimized news site and you don't have the important stories, I will stop reading.
tl;dr it's the content, stupid.
tl;dr it's the content, stupid.
I think the UI needs a lot of work. When I think of the future of news, I think of something like Mashable's latest UI (which I personally think is quite beautiful).
One comment - when I look at the top bar (side note: the automatic slide is jarring and unnatural IMO), I see titles like "Low Interest Rates". That makes me think of spam/advertisements.
Another one: "The Next Crisis"? Again, makes me think of spam.
I honestly just don't know what I'm looking at on this site. However, I think with some work, this could be interesting.
One comment - when I look at the top bar (side note: the automatic slide is jarring and unnatural IMO), I see titles like "Low Interest Rates". That makes me think of spam/advertisements.
Another one: "The Next Crisis"? Again, makes me think of spam.
I honestly just don't know what I'm looking at on this site. However, I think with some work, this could be interesting.
I don't really see how Mashable's UI is in any way new or different. The same sidebar overdose and jumble of unrelated content thrown together on a page. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part, but eventually I think publishers will figure out that simpler is better. (Also see http://dashes.com/anil/2012/08/stop-publishing-web-pages.htm...) And Quartz, although there's a couple of kinks in their app, is a step in that direction.
Also, you're probably not their target audience. For someone who reads business news, those "spammy" topic titles you talk about are all things e.g. a Wall Street Journal reader is familiar with and cares about.
Also, you're probably not their target audience. For someone who reads business news, those "spammy" topic titles you talk about are all things e.g. a Wall Street Journal reader is familiar with and cares about.
I'm not far off from their target audience. I am a frequent reader of WSJ and other similar publications, and when I see a "low interests rate" title (especially without additional context), I still think of the crappy spam ads you see on msnbc.com or cnn.com.
RE: mashable, to each their own, I personally like the layout; I thought it was pretty simple. 3 columns, more detail as you go left to right.
Though I do agree on the sidebar overdose. I dislike that.
RE: mashable, to each their own, I personally like the layout; I thought it was pretty simple. 3 columns, more detail as you go left to right.
Though I do agree on the sidebar overdose. I dislike that.
I think better examples might be:
http://usatoday.com
and
http://app.ft.com
http://usatoday.com
and
http://app.ft.com
An overreaching, irrelevant slogan title that says nothing. I'd assumed I'd be taken to an interesting article, not a page of links to About Us type info.
I hope that the future UI of articles online is not scroll based; not on computers and especially not on mobile devices. I much prefer the "several pages of columns of text" layout, where I can swipe left/right or up/down to read the previous/next pages. That way, I don't get completely lost when scrolling.
I think a lot of the criticism in these comments is overblown. If anything, I would expect more constructive criticism and feedback from fellow HNers.
Quartz is a fairly new site with a small dev team. The site has had some kinks, but it is slowly coming together, and I think it has a lot of potential.
Quartz is a fairly new site with a small dev team. The site has had some kinks, but it is slowly coming together, and I think it has a lot of potential.
The bar of different categories is really confusing but I appreciate the idea behind this.
Does not work with Javascript disabled. Temporarily allow qz.com, still broken. Lots of overly generic and/or suspicious tracking domains blocked. Tab closed.
I've seen and read about Quartz and qz.com so many times... I still don't really know what they are or what they're for.
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am I the only person who gets a loading icon and no content? (Chrome 23.0.1271.97 m)
Same.
I've seen a bunch of Quartz articles coming up in the variety of aggregators I use. Unfortunately, they don't load.
Pro-tip: You're trying to get me to spend time reading your content. If I have to mess with my browsing setup to do so, I'm going to skip your articles. And I do.
I've seen a bunch of Quartz articles coming up in the variety of aggregators I use. Unfortunately, they don't load.
Pro-tip: You're trying to get me to spend time reading your content. If I have to mess with my browsing setup to do so, I'm going to skip your articles. And I do.
I had the same result with chrome. Ghostery was the cause, but like another comment pointed out just delete the overlay.
I get the same in IE 8.
right click, inspect element, delete
Nope: the future of news will be written in plain text.
Code might help it get some data, evaluate them, present them in addition to the gist of the story.
But without the plain text, and without emphasis on the plain text, it's not news: it's a lightshow.
Code might help it get some data, evaluate them, present them in addition to the gist of the story.
But without the plain text, and without emphasis on the plain text, it's not news: it's a lightshow.