Open an event on your platform and the first thing you see is a big image. To find out when the event is, you need to scroll. That's one of the things we're fixing with Galaxia, our design system, and at our Summit I showed what's coming next.
The full talk is below (about 30 minutes), and the slides are attached to this topic.
What you need to know
- There's no switch day. We're improving the interface one component at a time, so changes arrive gradually with regular releases.
- Your branding stays. New components use your existing appearance settings. You don't need to change anything.
- Accessibility is built in. Every new component works with a keyboard and a screen reader, with enough contrast by default.
Already live: the new top navigation
The top menu is now built with Galaxia on most platforms. It works the same way as before, so there's nothing to relearn. What's new:
- the menu item and its arrow are separate: click the name to go to the page, or the arrow to open the dropdown
- up to three levels of navigation, which you set under the menu settings
- it works well on mobile, with a keyboard and with a screen reader
In October or November, we'll send you a few short questions about how it's working for your members.
Coming next (see the video for designs!)
- Group header: text and image separated, so titles are always readable. Images keep their ratio. Location becomes clickable, and the visibility label looks the same everywhere.
- Submenu: only navigation in the menu, and all management (edit group, members, membership requests, invites, translations) behind one edit icon. When you scroll, the menu becomes a slim sticky bar so you don't lose your place.
- Large teasers: event, topic, group and other cards in lists get a clearer layout, so date, type and title are easy to tell apart.
- Small teasers and cards, like in the activity stream: each type shows what matters most. A topic shows its author, an event when it is and whether it's online, and a group how many members it has.
- Content pages: the information and actions (date, visibility, add to calendar, enrol) come first, with the image next to them at a fixed ratio.
Help us test..
Every component is tested with users before we build it. You'll get an invitation to a test environment where you can click through new designs and answer a few questions. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes, and it's the most important part of how we work. Your feedback in Rotterdam (text on the left, bigger action buttons) is already in the next round.
Which change are you most looking forward to? The room in Rotterdam said "all of the above", but I'd love to hear which one matters most for your members. Reply below.
Victoria
