

Codecademy redesign - equilibrium
http://www.codecademy.com/learn

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AVTizzle
Huge improvement over the last chromed out pseudo-jukebox guys. This is
simpler and more intuitive. It's easier for me to see my progress and where
I've left off, which was my biggest concern with the jukebleh.

What's with the color scheme? It kinda seems like Codecademy is looking for an
identity and throwing darts at a colorwheel. There's some variance in the
theme between the home screen, tracks/courses/lessons, and the lessons
themselves (and the jukebox that lives on! reborn on the "non-track courses
page!).

Also - When it comes to the changes to the menu screens and such, why the
friction? What's wrong with just laying it all out simply on one page? All the
courses with their lessons linked out on one page, separated by section, like
our friends at Khan Academy? Right now there IS a learning curve to using your
interface.

This is an improvement from the jukebox, but when you compare it to Khan
Academy's one-page smorgasbord, there IS friction before the good stuff.

(<3 Codecademy. Thanks for doing.)

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allisonhouse
<3\. Thanks!

> What's with the color scheme?

Haha. I promise there's just one cohesive color scheme I'm working on adding
to the whole site, which is what you see on the track index and track pages.
The thematic differences are just a side effect of shipping quickly—the visual
side will be coming together soon!

> When it comes to the changes to the menu screens and such, why the friction?

I think I have an answer to this question, but I'd really love to hear more of
your thoughts on this as far as what you think is causing friction on
Codecademy. If you have a chance, feel free to drop me a line at
allison@codecademy.com!

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hsmyers
I'm somewhat oblivious to color schemes, but I was a little annoyed by the
editor showing code with semi-colons and then getting the little yellow
triangle that complains about unnecessary semi-colons that you put there in
the first place. Can't tell if this is an accident or a test? Otherwise
enjoyed the hell out of the site! Keep it up!!

~~~
bgilroy26
I'm not a part of Codecademy, but that's part of the Auto-Linting that they
run all over the site, you can read more about javascript analysis tools
here[1].

I agree that the linter can be over-opinionated at times, and that definitely
clashes with the community approach to teaching, where seems every lesson
author has his or her own coding style quirks.

I doubt that at this point the decision about whether to have a strict style
policy, or to roll their own Codecademy linter, or to leave things the way
they are has made it to the top of their priorities list.

Until it does, the linter will be helpful most of the time and annoying some
of the time.

1\. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSLint>

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allisonhouse
Indeed! Just published a little blog post about these changes:
<http://codecademy.com/blog/8-tracks-gets-a-design-upgrade>

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pbreit
Seems an improvement. One thing that remains confusing is that mousing over a
course that I think is completed displays "Resume Course".

Also, the actual classes themselves need an overhaul. There's something really
confusing about trying to proceed through the lessons. The bolded instructions
are invariably below-the-fold. It's not always apparent that the "next
exercise" link is new (since it displays in the exact same location as the
previous link).

Also, some of the courses have exercises that bear no resemblance to anything
you'd actually do in reality. I'm pretty sure people learn better when they
feel what they are learning is applicable. Even more so than when I'm sure the
lesson creator offers something they feel is fun or funny.

~~~
allisonhouse
> One thing that remains confusing is that mousing over a course that I think
> is completed displays "Resume Course".

You're totally right. Thanks for the suggestion! We just changed this to
"review course" instead. Hope this makes things clearer.

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debacle
This just after I pointed about a dozen people to Codecademy yesterday.

Hopefully it doesn't suck.

~~~
allisonhouse
A dozen people? That's awesome. Thanks for the support!

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bgentry
Cliché: shameless use of Twitter Bootstrap for home page with minimal
customization

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scoot
Ack - I always thought it odd that you called lessons courses. Calling courses
tracks doesn't fix that - it just compounds the problem.

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allisonhouse
Courses are still courses! Tracks are just a way to group them, in order, by
an overarching theme—a needed change upon the introduction of multiple
languages. I hope this clarifies!

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jboggan
I miss the old-old UI, from before the HTML and CSS lessons were added.

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millzlane
I liked that it would show your progress immediately after you log in.

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instakill
Exercises are much slower to validate after running the code.

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equilibrium
definitely a far better design than the previous iteration, feels more
intuitive

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allisonhouse
Sweet. Thanks!

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equilibrium
i've sent you an email regarding keyboard shortcuts that would be nice.

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commanderkeen08
Lookin lot like Treehouse bro

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allisonhouse
I don't think so bro -_-

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paul9290
CodePupil just launched (in preview mode) and we'd love to hear your critic.

We just submitted a Ask HN <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3928702>

Appreciate any and all feedback - thnx!

~~~
paul9290
Why the downvote? Codecademy and CodePupil are working towards the same goal.

TO make learning how to code easier and more fun then before.

We are happy of Codecademy's success, as it shows there is a need for the
learning to code through gaming space. We just went live and are looking to
gain insight on what works best - our visual exercises, our games and or our
watch a video/typing exercise - thnx

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pfraze
It's a little off-putting to use a post about a competitor to promote your own
site.

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paul9290
Sure I understand this point but how does a unknown start-up in a similar
space bring in visitors/users to gain feedback & insight to make their product
better? Figure out what is resonating with visitors/users and focus on that
vs. what isn't.

After all Flickr started as MMORPG where they noticed their visitors/users
were using the upload photo feature more then playing their game.

~~~
AznHisoka
You got a good point. I also find it a bit disconcerting a post about a web
design change has gotten more comments than your post introducing a new
product. Call it fame bias or something. Codeacademy is vastly overrated right
now.

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apsurd
YC promotes their own; it's their house.

I'm not supporting the idea that 'YC alumn eats an apple for lunch' is indeed
noteworthy, just providing an explanation.

I used to think HN front page was heavily gamed. That is you had to have a
network of insta-voters in order to build up enough momentum. And while that
is probably true for _some_ stories, I honestly believe it's just a matter of
good timing, luck, and persistence. If you keep having something to say,
you'll eventually get lucky with good timing!

~~~
paul7986
agreed don't give up - keep at it!

Not many start-ups win the startup lottery immediately. A small margin do but
most need to work hard to figure things out and find their niche.

