Help me improve my blog design (be nice!)

Nothing is perfect. But like most people would, I was insanely proud of the current design for my blog when I released it, and I thought it was perfect.

A bit over a year later, I’m noticing bugs, or thinking about how I can improve the overall UX – that is, user experience ;) – of my blog. But instead of doing an overhaul and just deploying something totally different, I’m going to do this incrementally, pushing small changes every now and then, and I need your help.

As someone with a data science background, Nick made me get bloody Google Analytics up on my blog again, something I deleted a few years ago because I didn’t care about stats. :P (Considering my work history, that’s probably a big no-no…) So now, let’s just say I care about stats. And caring about stats means that I’m going to make small changes here and there, and see how they affect things. It means that I know whether my work is (or isn’t) making a difference, which makes me a better designer/developer/engineer, right?

(Nick, I give you permission to butcher this post and change my words if I am incorrect.)

So I’m going to come right out and admit that I have had some constructive feedback from my visitors so far, as well as from myself:

The teal is too bright.
The layout is too “blocky”.
No search bar on mobile.
Formatting should be disabled on search results.
The archives page is massive.
Too much pink.
Post summaries are too long.
Contact form was hard to locate.

It’s just a quick list, but I am working to improve all of these. I am sure there are other issues or bugs that you may have noticed but felt afraid to point out.

A while ago, when more people visited my blog (and I did have GA, haha), someone who had recently chatted with me thought I was a snobby know-it-all from the way I wrote, and were pleasantly surprised to find that I was really a nice person who actually interacted with fellow bloggers. So what I’m saying is, don’t be afraid to let me know what you think, even if it isn’t entirely positive. I’m not inviting you to start hating on me though. :P

Even though I am welcoming criticism, you are free to let me know what you like as well. I’m looking at this from a design/development point of view, but if you have comments about what I write, and really enjoy reading certain segments over others, let me know. I value your opinions and want to address any pain points you might have.

My goal for July is to give my blog a new look and feel, but without completely changing everything. I’ve decided to keep some form of the teal for branding purposes, and because a lot of people have associated that particular colour with my blog.

So like I said – small changes – because a little goes a long way. ;) Let’s discuss in the comments!