Patriots web site blows

[Skree]

I have brought my work comp home but never connected it to my home network.

It's really kind of a minor inconvenience since most of the stuff is on NFL.com...but I'd like to watch some of the podcasts in the upcoming week. I'll give it a shot.

If you want to watch the podcasts - download them with iTunes. The Pats upload them to Apple and they are available the same day usually.

I don't like the way the Pats website is designed either and I just use iTunes instead.

 

[PantsB]

It works fine for me. Loads quickly enough, has plenty of information and the ads aren't intrusive.

For those complaining... do you have an ancient computer, Internet Explorer, or a phone modem?

 

[RayClay]

It works fine for me. Loads quickly enough, has plenty of information and the ads aren't intrusive.

For those complaining... do you have an ancient computer, Internet Explorer, or a phone modem?

Firefox and their design sucks.

It is a matter of preference, however. For example, I prefer reading text horizontally, not vertically as on their front page.

 

[NYPatsFan]

It's quite clear to me that the current iteration of Patriots.com is supposed to be a multimedia hub of Patriots stuff, not a static website built on text (although there is plenty of that too).

If you love the tight multimedia experience, I think you will rate the site fairly well. If you are looking for a more static experience (articles) then you will rate the site poorly.

I haven't had any of the problems that people here have described. I am running a 4-year old Dell desktop machine with Windows Vista and IE7 and FireFox 2. The site loads fine every time. There are, however, too many ads on the page but no one ever accused Kraft of being a bad business man.

 

[PantsB]

Firefox and their design sucks.

It is a matter of preference, however. For example, I prefer reading text horizontally, not vertically as on their front page.

Not to get into a flame war, but you might be the first person I've ever heard actually think that IE was better than Firefox. And as a software developer, if you're talking about design as in software design, you are very wrong.

Is the gif supposed to be about the webpage or about Firefox? The patriots.com only has a couple secondary labels that are sideways, and the gif is about a MS product not FF...

 

[RayClay]

Not to get into a flame war, but you might be the first person I've ever heard actually think that IE was better than Firefox. And as a software developer, if you're talking about design as in software design, you are very wrong.

Is the gif supposed to be about the webpage or about Firefox? The patriots.com only has a couple secondary labels that are sideways, and the gif is about a MS product not FF...

Sorry, should have read.

(I use) Firefox, and their (patriots.com) design sucks.

I hate IE about as much as I hate the Pats web site.

When looking at the main page you see 2 blue screens with sideways words between them.

Then the screens animate with a bunch of crap I didn't ask to see.

I don't watch TV except for football games so having a lot of busy crap on multiple screens probably annoys me more than most people.

 

[RayClay]

It's quite clear to me that the current iteration of Patriots.com is supposed to be a multimedia hub of Patriots stuff, not a static website built on text (although there is plenty of that too).

If you love the tight multimedia experience, I think you will rate the site fairly well. If you are looking for a more static experience (articles) then you will rate the site poorly.

I haven't had any of the problems that people here have described. I am running a 4-year old Dell desktop machine with Windows Vista and IE7 and FireFox 2. The site loads fine every time. There are, however, too many ads on the page but no one ever accused Kraft of being a bad business man.

I would agree with your assessment. Some people like 8 TV screens blaring with the stereo on at the same time.

I like to watch one program. I like a web site that shows what I request and nothing I don't ask for.

 

[FrontSeven]

I'm not talking about the content, but the design.

As you mentioned, the concept of a pre-home-page is ridiculous and confusing. It shows that whomever is designing the site is confused about the user experience.

The Flash Player stuff doesn't bother me, but an over-reliance on it leads to a distracting, visual caucauphony. To put that up in a place where you're supposed to be READING is ridiculous. It shows that designers are more interesting in squeezing more "cool stuff" onto a page that shows how smart they are than creating a medium that gets the content across.

Designers today are guided by the principle of "more must be better" and this is the failure of TV (especially the NFL) as well. More of certain things can be better, and that's why we want more. What we need to learn is that once you pull that trick a few times, your just repeating a pattern that no longer applies. Today's pages are so overburdened with garbage that it's hard to get to read anything or figure out how to navigate.

One of the problems is that we have too many page designers sitting around with nothing to do. So they create a need for more and more garbage on the screen and the belief that your site isn't as cool as my site if you don't have the 150 visually confusing (but cool) things going on.

Clean presentation counts too, but we're lost now.

No site is a good site unless it's clean and unless its content is obviously available. I don't care how high-tech it is. Some sites are so high-tech that they've forgotten the reason that they are there as designers in the first place. It's not to wow us, dudes. It's to get us the data!

 

[pheenix11]

The biggest POS site is NFL.com. It is slower than shyt after they redesigned it. It takes forever to get a depth chart or some stats.

 

[neuronet]

There is a Solution - for any website that has excessive ads or
just images you don't want to see.

Get Firefox browser and get the add on Add Bock Plus from
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/recommended

Then add to the block filter list: http://ads.thekraftgroup.com

Works great - no ads just the good stuff.

That...is...awesome!!!'

Thanks.

 

[neuronet]

Yeah and even them it plays for about 15-20 seconds, stops, and then 5 minutes later you can watch another 15-20 seconds...rinse, repeat. I've been forced to go to NFL.com to get highlights and interviews.

That is so bloody annoying it drives me nuts.

 

[neuronet]

Sparks has a good point about this obviously not being a site designed with web principles and information distribution as the main principle, but selling jerseys too.

However this is a mistake. A site gets more readers (customers), customers that come back more, if the site follows principles of good web design. People want to revisit and stay longer at a well designed site. This is the key variable, and the one that gets you money. As is, I dread going to that site and only do so if there is no other alternative. It is

This is all true if the primary goal of the site is usability and information retrieval. Alas, it is not necessarily true if the primary goal of the site is to get you to buy a jersey. Anyway...

I do agree that Patriots.com is unnecessarily fussy, but it also packs in much more information than most team sites. Anybody have an example of a great NFL team site they'd like the Pats to mimic?

All of the NFL teams use a similar flash template.

I used the Dolphins site as an example of a better site, but overall it still blows. They don't have the creeping ad of death, for instance, and use a different video player.

 

[neuronet]

It works fine for me. Loads quickly enough, has plenty of information and the ads aren't intrusive.

The ad that covers the video isn't intrusive?

As I said, there is good information there but finding it is often a chore, as someone here noted.

Someone could write a paper on all the design flaws with their site.

 

[RayClay]

The biggest POS site is NFL.com. It is slower than shyt after they redesigned it. It takes forever to get a depth chart or some stats.

Been mentioned, but I agree. Worse than before in every way.

I love the "full screen" option in adobe that leaves a huge "press esc." button in front of the content for a looooong time, then expands to about 2/3 of the screen

 

[QuiGon]

The Dolphins have a better site. The DOLPHINS. Yes, the same crappy flash (they all use this awful format probably NFL hired one company and they used the same crappy-design infrastructure for all of them). But the video is better, no creeping black plague ads.

Well.... I'll take the crappy website for great team over the great website for crappy team combo any day of the week (and twice on Sunday).

 

[neuronet]

Well.... I'll take the crappy website for great team over the great website for crappy team combo any day of the week (and twice on Sunday).

No way, man. Belichick needs to get his priorities straight. Why hasn't he said anything about the Patriots web site? Reporters, ask him about it. I'm sure he'll appreciate the question.

 

[patsox23]

PATRIOTS.com is not perfect but it is about 500% better than all other NFL websites. Its content is fantastic. I don't know what you people want.

 

[neuronet]

PATRIOTS.com is not perfect but it is about 500% better than all other NFL websites. Its content is fantastic. I don't know what you people want.

This thread is not about the content, but the design, which sucks.

 

[RayClay]

This thread is not about the content, but the design, which sucks.

I don't think the content is different than before.

You used to be able to find it, however, and find it without getting a headache.

 

[pats1]

There is a Solution - for any website that has excessive ads or
just images you don't want to see.

Get Firefox browser and get the add on Add Bock Plus from
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/recommended

Then add to the block filter list: http://ads.thekraftgroup.com

Works great - no ads just the good stuff.

if you see other images you wish to block ... no problem.

AdBlock Plus will block the videos from playing though.