Archon UX Enhancements: Streamlining Descriptions & Enhancing Navigation

Hey there, gamers! Welcome back to our blog. Today, we have some exciting news to share with you all. The developers of Archon, after their recent acquisition of Subcreation, have released an update on the improvements made to the data aggregation website's layout and user experience. They have listened to the feedback from users and have implemented some key changes to enhance the navigation and overall usability of the site.

Background and Acquisition of Subcreation

Before we dive into the new updates, let's first provide some context on the recent acquisition of Subcreation. Initially, there was some confusion among readers regarding Archon's acquisition of Subcreation. It gave the impression that Archon had bought out a successful competitor. However, it was clarified that Subcreation was already facing closure on its former host network, and Alcaras, the creator of Subcreation, reached out to Archon for a partnership to save the project.

Alcaras explained that he was running out of time to maintain Subcreation and would have had to rewrite the entire platform since it was reaching its end-of-life at the end of January. Archon gladly stepped in to help, as they saw the potential in Subcreation's algorithms and features. Once Subcreation redirected its users to Archon.gg, the response was overwhelming, and Archon knew they had to work on integrating the best of Subcreation into their platform.

Navigation Improvements

One common feedback from users was that they were having difficulty finding the information they were looking for. Archon took this feedback to heart and made significant improvements to the website's navigation. They made the category navigation "sticky," meaning it stays with you as you scroll, making it easier to access different sections of the site. They also added buttons to allow users to jump to different sections on the same page, providing a seamless browsing experience.

Additionally, Archon enhanced the top breadcrumb navigation, adding more page filters for quick swapping between specs, Mythic+, and Raid categories. They also made Mythic+ the default content type, based on their analytics, as it had taken the lead in user preference.

Furthermore, Archon made sure to address user concerns regarding the default Overview build page. While this page serves as a quick overview of the most popular build, it could give the impression that there are no alternative options. To make this clearer, Archon added links from the talent build to the section showcasing alternative talents and from the gear overview to the gear tables section.

Layout & UI Improvements

Archon also received feedback regarding the layout and user interface of the website. Users wanted a more minimal UI, so Archon added a "Remove Descriptive Text" option at the bottom of the page. This option allows users to remove most paragraphs of text, giving more space for the actual data.

To tidy up the layout, Archon removed the large "ARCHON" title at the top of the page, opting for a more compact root breadcrumb on the navigation bar for branding purposes. They also reduced the number of colors used for UI controls to create a less busy design.

Additionally, Archon re-arranged the Gear & Tier Set category to prioritize the Gear Tables section, as users clicking into this category were usually looking for more detailed information. The design itself was made more user-friendly with minor tweaks to improve the overall feel of the site.

Data Improvements

Archon acknowledged that mistakes had been made in certain aspects of data representation. For instance, the formula used for high keys tier lists was incorrect for very low sample sizes. Archon addressed this by swapping the formula to use the 95th percentile of Mythic+ score, which provides a more reliable indicator of performance.

Another data-related issue was that the "Quick Stats" center tile was displaying DPS/HPS metrics when Mythic+ was selected, despite those metrics being less meaningful compared to score. Archon rectified this and now correctly shows the 95th percentile score achieved by each spec.

Furthermore, Archon realized that some gear tables were not showing multiple options for certain slots, giving the perception that data was missing. This was due to excluding items with less than 1% popularity to avoid misleading suggestions. They have now revised this threshold to 0.1% to provide more options and prevent confusion.

What's Next?

Archon values user feedback immensely, and they are committed to delivering even more features and improvements in the future. Some of their upcoming plans include:

1. Links to logs for every aspect of a build
2. A crafted gear section
3. An embellishments section
4. More information about secondary stats
5. Ensuring data for the current Mythic+ reset is available sooner

If you have any suggestions for features that you think would work well on Archon, don't hesitate to reach out to them. They have access to a vast amount of data and are eager to improve their products based on user input. Some of the current candidates for upcoming features include improvements to the alternative talent builds UI, a breakdown of popular compositions, and a minimal "compact mode."

Final Thoughts

The WoW community has been instrumental in shaping Archon and Warcraft Logs for over a decade. Archon's team is passionate about what they do and are dedicated to continually improving their products. They appreciate all the feedback they have received so far and are excited to see how Archon can evolve with the help of the community.

Got any feedback or ideas for Archon? Feel free to send them an email at [email protected], or join their Discord community and share your thoughts in the #archon-feedback channel.

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