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There's a fine line you can cross with minimalist design where it suddenly feels cold, generic, and frail. And I believe Github has crossed this line with this

There's a fine line you can cross with minimalist design where it suddenly feels cold, generic, and frail. And I believe Github has crossed this line with this new homepage. I also echo some other's lamentations that Octocat is gone. It's just not.. fun.

state 14y ago
I always found all of those 'fun' elements of GitHub to be sort of patronizing. It took extra effort for me to get past all of that 'fun' gloss to appreciate what a powerful tool it could be. That's what makes design so challenging. Both you and I want to use the product and have legitimate but different tastes. New homepage looks like an improvement to me.
- squidsoup 14y ago
  I don't know, I was a bit sad when "hardcore forking action" disappeared.
  - gkop 14y ago
    Holy cow, it's gone! I will miss this. Forking seems faster now, at least.
- pdeuchler 14y ago
  This is why I always stare down people who make jokes at work. I'm not getting paid to laugh, I'm here to slave my life away for someone else... brevity be damned!
markdotto 14y ago
The last version of our homepage never had an Octocat on it :).
jlgreco 14y ago
I can't say I understand the octocat. It's a very strange character.. but very good. It makes no sense, but I love it.
notatoad 14y ago
I don't think cold and generic is necessarily a bad thing for github at the current stage of their evolution. They've already got about as good a reputation as they can possibly have among developers, and any logged in user never sees the homepage. They don't need to market to developers anymore. Developers are going to be requesting approval from their bosses or purchasing managers to use github, and what the homepage needs to do is reassure the purchasers that github is a serious business.
mcgwiz 14y ago
generic = corporate/mainstream appeal. they're not marketing to hackers anymore. as a github user, how many times will you be looking at their homepage?

state 14y ago

I always found all of those 'fun' elements of GitHub to be sort of patronizing. It took extra effort for me to get past all of that 'fun' gloss to appreciate what a powerful tool it could be. That's what makes design so challenging. Both you and I want to use the product and have legitimate but different tastes. New homepage looks like an improvement to me.

squidsoup 14y ago
I don't know, I was a bit sad when "hardcore forking action" disappeared.
- gkop 14y ago
  Holy cow, it's gone! I will miss this. Forking seems faster now, at least.
pdeuchler 14y ago
This is why I always stare down people who make jokes at work. I'm not getting paid to laugh, I'm here to slave my life away for someone else... brevity be damned!

markdotto 14y ago

The last version of our homepage never had an Octocat on it :).

jlgreco 14y ago

I can't say I understand the octocat. It's a very strange character.. but very good. It makes no sense, but I love it.

notatoad 14y ago

I don't think cold and generic is necessarily a bad thing for github at the current stage of their evolution. They've already got about as good a reputation as they can possibly have among developers, and any logged in user never sees the homepage. They don't need to market to developers anymore. Developers are going to be requesting approval from their bosses or purchasing managers to use github, and what the homepage needs to do is reassure the purchasers that github is a serious business.

mcgwiz 14y ago

generic = corporate/mainstream appeal. they're not marketing to hackers anymore. as a github user, how many times will you be looking at their homepage?