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Community Manager
Dave ECommunity Manager
Community Manager
May 30, 2013
Question

Thoughts on the site re-design from the Kuler team

  • May 30, 2013
  • 47 replies
  • 40262 views

Today we're launching the new site and making Kuler available on the App Store for iOS.  We've worked really hard to make Kuler easier to work with and accessible on all your devices.  And, we have a lot more planned.  So, let us know what you think. 

If you are an active Kuler user, you may notice a few pages and features missing from the new Kuler website.  I’m writing to explain what’s missing, why it’s missing, and what you can expect to see in the coming weeks and months. Here's an overview of what you won't find on the new site:

Create a theme from an image: We know many users really like the “Create from an Image” feature.  Unfortunately, this feature was not ready for the new site launch.  So, rather than launching a buggy or half-baked feature, we decided to take a bit more time to get it right.

We intend to add this feature to the site as soon as it’s ready.  Until then, you can use the free iPhone app to create themes from images.

Color space “slider” controls: We talked to a lot of Kuler users about the slider controls.  Some users like them and others don’t.  The main complaint we heard was that the sliders add unnecessary complexity and take up too much space.

So, we opted to not add the sliders and err on the side of making the creation experience simple.  Though, we decided to keep the “brightness” slider control since some colors spaces don’t have a brightness variable.   We'd love to know what you think.  You can voice your opinion here on the forum.

Change the order of colors: In our research, we found most users did not know you could re-order colors on the old Kuler site.  And, it’s actually quite a bit of work to build this feature.  So, rather than re-building a feature many users don’t know about or use, we wanted to hear from you first.  I created an idea for this feature on the forum.  Please add your vote if you think this feature should be worked on immediately.

Avatar:  Most of the users we talked with about Kuler avatars were indifferent.  In fact, they asked us to focus on other features first.  So, that’s what we’re doing--we're focusing on some of the most requested features first. 

Community spotlight and Pulse:  The Community Spotlight and Pulse were beta features that never really gained any traction.  So, we opted to not continue with these features.

API: We're working to rebuild the Kuler API to offer more robust capababilities.  Until then, we're no longer issuing new API keys.  If you already have a key and are using the API, your service will not be interupted (your key will continue to work).

We’re always looking for feedback and would love to hear what you think about any of these topics—please join the discussion here on the forum.

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    47 replies

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    pratthomer
    Participant
    May 30, 2013

    I agree with captenaj, the slider controls were extremely useful. Could you make these available in an expandable tab, as with the carat for color spaces? I also agree with almost everyone that the color wheel is totally in the way! I understand you're working to make this cross-platform, but couldn't some of these features be more usable in a desktop version? Thanks for working on the photo upload app--sooner the better!

    J
    Jonna7301474
    Participating Frequently
    May 30, 2013

    First, the colorwheel really is in the way of the colorscheme.

    Second, I'm a relative new user and I was very fond of Kuler just because of all the possibilities. Other colorsites are too simple, only Kuler treated me like a thinking person. The sliders, the different color spaces, the ability to reschedule the colors, it was a relief to see a site like this... Probably you can add a fold button for those options, if the main reason is that it takes too much space.

    Third. I was editing a theme and saved it under a different name. This used to create a new theme, but not now! My original theme was replaced by the new theme. I hope this is a bug and not a feature...

    D
    Community Manager
    Dave ECommunity ManagerAuthor
    Community Manager
    May 30, 2013

    Jonna,

    Thanks for the input.  I underestand your feedback about the colorwheel being in the way of the colorscheme. 

    Regarding the color spaces (your second point), I want to clarify.  All the color spaces are still accessible.  You just need to click on the little caret symbol to see all of them.  We plan to remember your most used color space so that's always at the top.  So, the only functional difference is that we don't have slider controls for all color space values. 

    I understand your point about rescheduling colors. 

    I'll pass your feedback about editing a theme and saving.  Seems like you want to see a "would you like to overwrite or save a copy" notice.  That makes sense.

    R
    randygazette70
    Participant
    May 30, 2013

    The InDesign CS4 palette was the only feature I used in Adobe Kuler. By uploading an image from my layout and letting Kuler automatically pull color mixtures then converting to CMYK and then refresh InDesign Kuler palette to have swatches was great, simple and FAST. Not sure yet how my work process will go now. Looks as if you've abandoned the palette.

    D
    Community Manager
    Dave ECommunity ManagerAuthor
    Community Manager
    May 30, 2013

    Randygazette70 & Wink-Van-

    I assure you we are working on the "create from an image" feature.  I hope we can restore your workflow very soon.   

    @Randygazette70:

    Would be great if you could help me underestand your workflow a bit better.  I want to make sure I understand what you are doing so we can think about this with future updates. Do you mind sending me a PM with details about what you are trying to accomplish?  Seems like you are trying to convert colors in your design to CMYK?  Thx.

    R
    randygazette70
    Participant
    May 30, 2013

    I would be glad to send details of process. How do I send PM?

    L
    Lindsay_Perk
    Participant
    May 30, 2013

    I really do not like the redesign at all. It was so much better before. The new design is to "in your face" big and cluttered. The old design was perfect, asthetically pleasing and easy to use. The phrase "If its not broke don't fix it" comes to mind. Please change it back!!

      M
      Merry_focus157F
      Participant
      May 30, 2013

      Hi,

      I'm not very positive about the redesign., The feature I have used most is the one where you are able to upload a photo and pull colours from it. I don't see how to do that in this new design. At the very least, it is not intuitive how to get to the place you need to go to upload the photo. I hope you do something about that!

      Bill

      C
      captenaj
      Participant
      May 30, 2013

      The Slider controls were one of the best things about Kuler. This simplified version of Kuler goes too far.  It looks more like a child's toy now, not a tool for color manipulation.

      C
      Casamia
      Known Participant
      June 2, 2013

      About the slider controls for the team:

      One of the nice things about the slider controls is that it allows a designer to experiment with color. For example, a designer could edit another color scheme by sliding only the hue slider for example, leaving all the other values the same. Or changing only the saturation. Having to type in numbers to do that means it is unlikely anyone will want to do that.

      Adding a feature that would allow users to control ALL the sliders at once on a custom theme would be AWESOME. Maybe a little lock feature would allow a custom theme to behave like a standard one. ???

      Tabbing from one value to the next:

      I'm not sure how the old system worked because I always used HSB which was on the top, but you should be able to tab to the next value in the color picker you are using. Right now tabbing through HSB sends me to HEX and then to CMYK.

      Please put back the ability to create a new theme from an old one simply by changing the name or alternatively, add a duplicate button to start a new theme from an old one.

      Definitely lose the black borders around all the themes.

      It was probably not a good idea to release this new version without the ability to create schemes from photos. I'm willing to bet that your hits dropped when you did that. It was probably the most popular way of creating schemes - and not just for designers either. Why not wait until everything was ready? Or release a beta version at another address? As it is, maybe you can put the old one back at another address...

      If you want to add functionality rather than subtract it - a color tester would be a nice feature. For example testing on a sample web page would be a very useful tool. I do something like this using Illustrator's Recolor feature (make it more intuitive than that, though.) Pattern testing, too. There are color testers out there, but Kuler was more intuitive, and had the ability to assert more control over the color, so it was preferrable.

      Those are my thoughts for now.

      Lisa

      C
      Casamia
      Known Participant
      May 30, 2013

      When creating a new color scheme, the color wheel is in the way of the palette. Alos, can you remove the black line around all the palettes?

      D
      Community Manager
      Dave ECommunity ManagerAuthor
      Community Manager
      May 30, 2013

      Thanks for the post.  We'll definitely take your input into consideration.  Though, I'm not sure what you mean a about "black line" around the palletes?  Are you referring to the frame around each theme on the explore page?

      Thanks.

      C
      Casamia
      Known Participant
      May 30, 2013

      Hi Dave,

      Yes, that's what I mean.

      Taking a further look at this thing... guys, the old app was so much better. I used HSV almost exclusively and that's gone. Why?

      Why is the color wheel in front of the palette? Seriously. Why?

      One of my peeves about the OLD Kuler app was how difficult it was to remove the white line around the current color. With some manipulation this could be done, at least when creating colors from photos. The designer wants to be able to see his/her colors next to each other and against black or dark grey. We do not want shadows, lines, borders, or anything else in the way.

      Please restore the old look. I hate to beg, but honestly, it was simple, beautiful, and it worked, albeit some of the time. This is "pretty" but not particularly useful. It might be beneficial for you guys to work with designers to see what they actually do when they use the old software - and then build your new version around that.

      Kuler was honestly the best app for building color schemes. It wasn't great. But it was the best that was available - largely because of the large boxes, the simple view, and the ability to see the colors right next to each other. It could have been great by just adding a few more features. This redesign has set you back. You've lost the great features that you had all for a "pretty" appearence.

      Try to remember this:

      Form Follows Function

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