I think there is something about the HN layout that makes it feel more "homegrown", which has no ads or images at all. Kind of reminds me of an old-timey newspaper, or the WSJ "What's News."
Like the others have pointed out, the site is less information dense and I don't think it solves a real problem. HN looks "old school" but has good design, I think, because I come here to find a good article to read or browse an interesting comment section and the design helps me do that without getting in the way. Mostly I never even go to the second page.
Also I love HN's slightly yellowish background. It's better than a whole white bg.
Meh, the current design is good. HN has for one of its objectives to maintain content quality by obscurity. Lets not have a fancy design to attract people.
Cool idea, but the best part of HN (aside from the content) is how simple the layout and design is. Yours is not complex nor does it perform badly, but I don't get the same feeling.
I'd get rid of the infinite scrolling and the column with the "Subscribe" message.
I've yet to see a proposed redesign of HN that doesn't spoil the two best things about it: its focus on content and its information density. To me that suggests that its current design may be a sort of local optimum.
That the site looks old and minimal seems to me an advantage.
Personally, I believe that this layout deters those who might not be as serious about the content HN brings to the table. The type of person who would judge this website based on its simplistic layout is probably the same type of person who wouldn't read half of the articles posted, or contribute to the conversations at all.
HN is self selecting a higher quality audience. The content is interesting to an educated audience, the website contains very little fluff/idle entertainment and the ui is ugly to the average user.
HN doesn't have the prettiest, flashiest, most cutting-edge design. But so what? It loads quickly and, I have to admit, I do like the Craigslist-like aesthetic of HN.
Would having a more modern design make this site better? I doubt it.
I prefer HN website design for an entirely different reason: readability.
More "modern" designs put a lot of crap and distractions between me and what I'm at the site to do: read the articles and/or comments. HN doesn't so that, and that makes the HN design a million times better than most others.
I don't mind the classic HN layout - in fact I kind of like it because it's clean way to present information. And all the other designs of HN have added nothing but a reskin. Where as that one actually contributes a original (to HN) ideas itself.
I tend to agree that the design of HN isn't all that great. It's simple and usable, but it's not the easiest on the eyes. I've seen simple sites that were also beautiful. The design isn't what really matter on HN, though. The community is what's beautiful, so I can ignore the fairly uninspired design.
Not saying it can't be improved.
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