I started using Cricinfo even before it became ESPNcricinfo in 2007. As a regular and a loyal user I have seen multiple changes and revamp happening to the site. Recently on 20 July, 2017 it upgraded to a new look. Being an avid user of Cricinfo and understanding the ever changing media, I completely agree about the need for a revamp of the mobile site (the new template looks good for that purpose). However, the outlay is really cluttered on the desktop site.
There are things which I did not like at the instant (though I understand that changes require some time to adapt). But there are certain things which kept Cricinfo way ahead of its rival, those things are now missing. In fact few other things that its rivals are adopting have been missed and/or lacking here which would not benefit Cricinfo. I will dwell into those, points by point. The reason why I chose to write an article like this is because my comments are not going to reach them, there’s no feedback mechanism like IT Tech support, they are not responding to my tweets. If they are not going to change for better then I am afraid to say that I may have to find some other cricket sites which would suit my needs.
Anyways here are the pain points:
- Check out the comments section in the article posted by editor of Cricinfo, Sambit Bal link shared above). Almost 95% of them are negative, while I don’t agree to all of it, but so many people not liking it should create a sense of awareness, right?
- Do visit the Google play store, the ratings have dropped drastically in the recent month (no guesses for what could be the reason). Do read the comments there as well
- All those stats provided in the beginning of Sambit Bal’s article suggests that world is moving towards mobile and I kind of agree to. But that doesn’t mean that people will totally ignore laptop/PC. Cricinfo’s decision to make desktop version also have a feel of mobile does not get to me. Everything looks to be cluttered, previously it was grouped very intelligently, now I find difficulty in searching for good article, or breaking news, or say stats which was previously available in one corner. Now I need to scroll and scroll and scroll and I wouldn’t even realize that I missed it while scrolling
- The desktop users still constitute 30-40% of the audience, they cannot discount them
- The excitement I had earlier to check the site every day for a good cricket article has decreased. And I am afraid it will be gone. Are they even listening to people what are their views? Like I mentioned earlier check comments section of Google Play store and Sambit Bal’s article. Or else they can do one more thing, why don’t they create a poll to get the pulse of the reader on their new upgrade or I dare downgrade
- Commentary section. This was USP of Cricinfo, but the recent updates have killed it. I will tell you why
- Earlier it was interesting to see and easy to filter ball by ball commentary for an individual bowler or batsman, now that feature is gone in this version. I don’t understand why? Was it obsolete or very complex for them to retain?
- As and when the wicket fell, a summary was provided something like this “Dhoni c Smith b Stark 62 (58 balls)”. Now this feature was there till the last version. After 20th July, this is also gone. Now I need to check the scorecard which is an extra effort
- Previous themes gave me commentaries for 50 overs in one page, now I need do endless scrolling (which is definitely not a user friendly feature)
- Freeze panes: For live matches I have suggestion to Cricinfo. Put the freeze pane not just on score but also consider the menu-tabs such as “Live”, “Scorecard”, “Report”, “Commentary”, “Coverage”, and “Statistics”
- Live matches in mobile: I agree that I scroll down for easier use of access, for the same reason I would also scroll left or right (swipe would be more apt word) but in the latest app I need to click on the tabs instead of swipe (which again is not so user friendly feature)
- Connectivity: As soon as I move away from network zone, the page auto refreshes and goes blank (only in live matches page in mobile). At least keep whatever was there so that I can read the commentaries
All in all it seems like a
downgrade, until Cricinfo fixes it, I am not be able use the site/app properly
